Savile Row

Savile Row occupies a quiet corner of Mayfair in central London, England and is known globally as the home of men’s bespoke tailoring.

Savile Row was created with the development of the Burlington Estate in 1695 and, as with other area roads such as Cork St, the name has connections to Lord Burlington himself, in this case, that of Lady Dorothy Savile, his wife.

Initially, The Row was occupied by military officers and their wives; William Pitt the Younger was an early resident. During the 1800s, the gentry became concerned with neat dress, and Beau Brummell, 1778–1840, epitomised the well-dressed man. He patronised the tailors congregated on the Burlington Estate, notably around Cork Street, and by 1803 some were occupying premises in Savile Row. In 1846, Henry Poole is credited as being the ‘Founder of Savile Row’ after opening a second entrance to his late father’s tailoring premises at ? 32 Savile Row, however there were tailors on the Row long before Poole’s but sadly none of those originals survive to this day.

In 1969, Nutters of Savile Row opened on Valentine’s Day and unleashed the Tommy Nutter / Edward Sexton style on swinging London. Backed by Cilla Black and The Beatles’ record company Apple’s executive Peter Brown, Nutters of Savile Row dressed the entire social spectrum from the Duke of Bedford and Lord Montagu to Mick and Bianca Jagger and The Beatles. Nutters was the first shop on Savile Row to pioneer ‘open windows’ and wild displays executed by Simon Doonan. Nutters revolutionised the perception of Savile Row and paved the way for the arrival of other non-conventional inhabitants like Richard James and Ozwald Boateng in the 1990s.

Since 2005, the Savile Row Bespoke Association meets regularly to ensure the future of the tailoring craft in the centre of London. The association meets to address common industry problems, to encourage training and to organise events and other initiatives.

In February 2007, the Lord Mayor of Westminster held a reception in Savile Row to honour the trade and its future.