Savile Row is justly famous as the home of men’s tailoring. It is the only road in the world that is synonymous with a form of clothing and – delightfully – is so well-known that in Japan the word for a suit is ‘sebiru’, a corruption of ‘Savile Row’.

The Row’s fame derives from a period of roughly 300 years – from the Restoration to World War II – when British style dominated men’s clothing. The British Empire put bespoke-clad men in charge of a quarter of the world’s population, and its aristocracy toured countries clad in its off-duty tailoring

. While areas like Naples in Italy also have rich traditions of tailoring, they all spring from watching, copying and then adapting British style. Local tailors in Naples, for example, saw the Row-clad men on their Grand Tour and copied the cuts while removing much of the structure, to make it more suitable to the heat of southern Italy.

What Is Savile Row?

Savile Row

Savile Row is a short street in London’s West End, just behind the busy shopping parade of Regent Street. It was built as part of the Burlington Estate – the palace of which is the Royal Academy of Arts today.

Although it has been a home for the city’s finest tailors since the 19th century, Savile Row has always had other businesses on the street, such as The Royal Geographical Society at number one, and the offices of The Beatles’ record label, Apple Corps, at number three. Beatles fans are often found today on one side of the street, staring up at number three in the company of a tour guide.

And while many of the great tailoring houses remain on the Row, there has always been other tailors in the surrounding streets and districts. Today, greats such Henry Poole, Huntsman, Dege & Skinner and Gieves & Hawkes have shops and workshops on the Row, but Anderson & Sheppard has moved to Old Burlington Street, and there are other clusters on Sackville Street and on St George’s Street.