Savile Row
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Savile Row is a road in the City of Westminster in central London that runs parallel to Regent Street between Conduit Street at the northern end and Vigo Street at the southern. Linking roads include Burlington Place and Burlington Gardens.
The Row is considered to be the major center of traditional bespoke tailoring, primarily for men. Tailors in Savile Row include Gieves & Hawkes (No 1 Savile Row), Kilgour French Stanbury (No 8), Dege & Skinner (No 10), H Huntsman est. 1849 (No 11), Darren Beaman (No 12), Henry Poole & Co est. 1806 (No 15), Hardy Amies, Maurice Sedwell est 1938 (No 19), Welsh and Jeffries (No 20), Stephen Hitchcock, Anderson & Sheppard (No 30), Davies and Son est. 1803 (No 38), James and James (No 38).
The nearest London Underground station is Oxford Circus, which lies to the northwest. Piccadilly Circus is to the southeast.
History
Savile Row was created with the development of the Burlington Estate in 1695 and, as with other roads in the area, was given a family name; in this case, that of Lord Burlington's wife Lady Dorothy Savile.
The Row was initially occupied by military officers and their wives. William Pitt the Younger was one early resident. During the 1800s, the gentry became more and more concerned with neat dress, and Beau Brummel, 1778–1840, came to epitomise the well-dressed man. He patronised the tailors who had started to congregate on the Burlington Estate, notably around Cork Street, and by 1803 some of these were occupying premises in Savile Row.
In early 2005, some local tailors expressed concern an increase in commercial development in the area could lead to the death of the business locally, as tailors — many of whom traditionally manufacture their suits on the premises, in basement studios — could be priced out of the local real estate market. [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4465191.stm), [2] (http://www.englishcut.com/archives/000035.html)
Other inhabitants
The offices of The Beatles' record label Apple were located at 3 Savile Row. In the basement of the building an eight-track recording studio was built. In the latter the recordings of the documentary movie Let It Be were made; other artists that were on the Apple label, like Badfinger and Mary Hopkin, used the basement studio to record their work.
As is to be seen at the end of the movie Let It Be, The Beatles gave a concert (referred to as "The Rooftop Concert", which took place on 30 January 1969) on the roof of the Apple Building. A tribute band performed a show on top of the same building three decades later, on January 29, 1999. [3] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/265696.stm) For more details about Apple Records, consult Richard DiLello's book The Longest Cocktail Party, which reveals the inside story behind Apple.
Savile Row is situated in Mayfair, the traditional art-dealing district of London, and the eighteenth-century houses are home to a number of galleries on the upper floors, including Matthew Bown Gallery and Laurent Delaye Gallery, both at no. 11.
It is also worth noting that 7 Savile Row is the fictional address of Phileas Fogg, protagonist of Jules Verne's classic Around the World in 80 Days.
External links
- Business Week: The Battle for Savile Row (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_15/b3825629.htm)
- Kilgour: Savile Row History (http://www.8savilerow.com/historysr04.html)