Savile Row

• 1. Origins And Architecture

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  Savile Row emerged from the earth between 1731 and 1735 as part of a grand development project. The street was built on land known as Ten Acres, which belonged to William Maddox, a merchant tailor. Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington, gave her name to this new thoroughfare. Henry Flitcroft served as the main architect under the supervision of Daniel Garrett. They designed the street with a specific architectural style called Burlingtonian, influenced by Palladian architecture. This design choice shaped the visual identity of the buildings for centuries. William Kent designed the structures at numbers 1 and 22 through 23. The original plan is believed to have been drawn up by Colen Campbell before construction began. Houses were initially built only on the east side of the street. In the 19th century, developers added houses to the west side as well. The freehold ownership remains with the Pollen Estate today.

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• 2. Historical Residents And Uses

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  Military officers and their wives occupied the first houses when the street opened in the early 18th century. Politicians soon followed these military residents into the area. William Pitt the Younger wrote letters from the street while it still bore the name Saville Street. Richard Brinsley Sheridan lived at number 14 from 1813 until his death in 1816. Jules Verne placed his fictional character Phileas Fogg at address 7 Savile Row in his novel Around the World in Eighty Days. The Royal Geographical Society established its headquarters at No. 1 from 1870 to 1912. From this location, significant British explorations to Africa and the South Pole were planned. David Livingstone was laid out in state at the society's headquarters before burial in Westminster Abbey. The Savile Club moved into rooms overlooking Trafalgar Square in 1871. It changed its name during its residence at 12 Savile Row before moving to Piccadilly in 1882. Fortress House, an eight-storey block of offices faced with Portland stone, stood at 23 Savile Row from 1949 to 2009.

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• 3. The Beatles And Apple Corps

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  Apple Corps, the multimedia corporation owned by the Beatles, moved into 3 Savile Row in July 1968. The band purchased the building on June 22 for £500,000. A recording studio was constructed in the basement despite poor initial design choices. The group recorded Let It Be there before a new studio opened in 1971 at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. Various artists including Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, and Marc Bolan recorded in the basement until it closed in May 1975. The final live performance known as the rooftop concert took place on the 30th of January 1969. John Lennon spoke his last words to the police as they stopped the performance: I hope we passed the audition. The event was recorded for the documentary film Let It Be. The street now stands as a historic site where music history unfolded during the late 1960s.

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• 4. Evolution Of Bespoke Tailoring

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  Tailors began doing business in the area around 1790 first in Cork Street then by 1803 directly on Savile Row itself. Henry Poole opened an entrance from Old Burlington Street to Savile Row in 1846 after taking over his father James Poole's premises. He is credited with creating the dinner jacket when he made a smoking jacket for Edward VII in 1860. H. Huntsman & Sons moved to No. 11 Savile Row in 1919 following the end of World War One. During that war, Huntsman produced dress uniforms for British officers. Frederick Scholte developed the English drape style for the Duke of Windsor in the early 20th century. Per Anderson later created the London cut based on Scholte's work at Anderson & Sheppard. Gieves & Hawkes formed in 1974 through the merger of two separate businesses dating back to the late 19th century. Hardy Amies founded his company in 1946 and converted the bombed-out shell of No. 14 into a tailoring shop.

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• 5. Modernization And The New Movement

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  Nutters of Savile Row modernized traditional tailoring styles on Valentine's Day 1969. Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton opened the business with financial backing from Cilla Black and Peter Brown of Apple Corps. Simon Doonan created bold window displays for the new store before becoming famous elsewhere. Clients included Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Andrew Lloyd Webber alongside the Beatles themselves. Nutter left the company in 1976 to work at Kilgour and died in 1992. By the early 1990s, Savile Row tailors struggled to find relevance with an increasingly disassociated audience. Ozwald Boateng, Timothy Everest, and Richard James broke away independently to revitalize bespoke style. Alison Hargreaves coined the term New Bespoke Movement to describe this collective effort. Interest peaked in 1997 when all three appeared together in Vanity Fair magazine. These designers altered their shop fronts and used marketing to challenge traditional styling conventions. They brought color twists and contemporary silhouettes to suit making while attracting celebrity clients globally.

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• 6. Preservation And Commercial Challenges

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  Westminster City Council began attempts to protect the street's tailoring heritage under the Savile Row Special Policy Area in 2016. Norway's Oil Fund acquired a 57.8% interest in the Pollen Estate in 2014. The number of tailors declined from approximately 40 in the 1950s to just 19 by 2006 due to rising rents. However, businesses increased again so that October 2014 saw 44 tailoring and clothing operations listed locally. The Savile Row Bespoke Association formed in 2004 to protect traditional practices requiring at least 50 hours of hand labor per two-piece suit. Members objected to Abercrombie & Fitch planning a children's store at 3 Savile Row in 2012. A successful protest occurred but the retailer opened its doors anyway before closing later in 2013. Hardy Amies went into administration for the second time in 2018 and closed its Savile Row store in March 2019. Hackett took over the space as its flagship store in June.

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