Savile Row in London is known for bespoke tailoring, with shops offering custom-made garments to high-end customers. The street has a rich history and is home to prestigious tailors such as Anderson & Sheppard, Hardy Amies, Norton & Sons, and Henry Poole & Co. The Savile Row Bespoke Association was formed to protect and develop the art of bespoke tailoring in the area. Bespoke tailoring is different from ready-to-wear and made-to-measure clothing.
Savile Row is a street in central London that is famous for bespoke and bespoke clothing. Aimed at high-end customers, the Savile Row shops offer bespoke garments designed to a customer’s exact specifications. The street itself is a small strip that runs from north to south in Westminster. It was named for Lady Dorothy Savile, who was the wife of the 3rd Duke of Burlington, and was built as part of the Burlington Estate in the mid-1730s.
In the Mayfair area of London, Savile Row runs from Conduit Street in the north to Vigo Street in the south. The commercial district has developed over two centuries to include restaurants and other fine shops, but is famous for its tradition of tailoring suits and other garments. Famous patrons include Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra, Mick Jagger and Jude Law.
None of the original tailors who were around in the early 18th century still exist today, but there are many fine tailors on Savile Row who give the area its prestigious distinction. These include Anderson & Sheppard, Hardy Amies, Norton & Sons and Henry Poole & Co. They are all members of the Savile Row Bespoke Association.
The Savile Row Bespoke Association is a trade organization designed to develop and protect the art of bespoke tailoring that is unique to the area. Some tailors became concerned around 2005 that rents in the area were becoming too high and that the art of tailoring was lagging behind. The need to address some of these concerns was the driving force behind the formation of the Association. The commercialization of the products of the area, the organization of special events and the ways to protect the industry are just some of the topics that the Association considers important.
The term bespoke tailoring refers to the process of custom tailoring. It goes back to when a tailor reserved a piece of cloth and literally means that that item is “spoken”. It’s similar to women’s couture, another term meaning custom tailoring, but is generally reserved for women’s clothing.
Bespoke tailoring is different from the terms ready-to-wear and made-to-order. Ready-to-wear refers to clothing that is manufactured off-site and shipped to a location for sale. This is also called clothing off the rack. The term made-to-measure is closer to tailoring because it is created to certain size specifications tailored to a particular customer, but is considered lower quality because the garments are made from standard base patterns.
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