Bespoke tailoring on Savile Row is one of London’s most rewarding experiences, and it begins long before the first measurement. The street itself was laid out between 1731 and 1735 on the Burlington Estate in Mayfair and named for Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington. Tailors had arrived by 1803, and more than two centuries later the short, elegant row still hums quietly with cutters, coatmakers and the soft thud of heavy cloth on wooden benches.
What sets the Row apart is time. The Savile Row Bespoke Association, founded in 2004 to protect and develop the craft, typically expects its member tailors to put at least 50 hours of hand work into a two-piece suit. Here are five houses where that patience is on full display.
1. Henry Poole & Co, 15 Savile Row
Henry Poole & Co was founded in 1806 and moved to Savile Row in 1846, which is why it’s often called the founder of the street’s tailoring tradition. Its most charming story concerns evening wear. In 1860 the house made a short smoking jacket for the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, to wear at informal dinners at Sandringham. Years later an American guest, James Potter, was advised to have one made at Poole, wore it home to the Tuxedo Club in New York, and the tuxedo found its name. The house holds royal warrants and still supplies court dress, and its rooms carry that sense of ceremony gracefully.
2. Gieves & Hawkes, No. 1 Savile Row
The address alone is worth the visit. No. 1 Savile Row began as a townhouse designed by William Kent, passed to the Dukes of Devonshire in 1756 and from 1870 was the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society, whose Map Room survives inside. Hawkes & Co bought the building in 1913, and after Gieves acquired Hawkes in 1974, the combined house settled here in 1975. Gieves & Hawkes traces its heritage to 1771 and its naval and military tailoring roots to Portsmouth and London. Today the townhouse holds a full bespoke workshop alongside made-to-measure and military departments.
3. Huntsman, 11 Savile Row
Huntsman was founded in 1849 by Henry Huntsman, with roots in a New Bond Street breeches maker, and it built its name dressing the riding and hunting set of nineteenth-century Europe. It moved to No. 11 after 1919. The house signature is the one-button jacket, a cut admired for its clean, sculpted line. Huntsman is also known for its exclusive cloths, particularly bold checked tweeds woven on the Scottish island of Islay. Ask to see the cloth books; they’re a pleasure to leaf through even before you’ve chosen a thing.
4. Dege & Skinner, 10 Savile Row
Founded in 1865 and owned by the Skinner family, Dege & Skinner is among the oldest continually operating bespoke tailors in the world. It has been at 10 Savile Row since 1989 and holds royal warrants, with deep roots in military and ceremonial uniform. It also offers bespoke shirtmaking cut on the premises, a service it introduced in 1994, which makes this a natural address if you’d like a full wardrobe of tailoring and shirts made under one roof.
5. Anderson & Sheppard, Old Burlington Street
Anderson & Sheppard was established on Savile Row in 1906 and moved around the corner to Old Burlington Street in 2005. Its house style, the celebrated London cut, descends from the teaching of Frederick Scholte through Per Anderson, and over the decades it has dressed figures from Fred Astaire to Marlene Dietrich. Before or after a fitting, stroll to the house’s Clifford Street shop for ready-made menswear and accessories chosen with the same relaxed polish.
How Bespoke Tailoring on Savile Row Works
A first appointment is a conversation. You’ll talk about how you live, where the suit will be worn and how you like a garment to feel, then look through cloth books together. The cutter takes a long list of measurements and observes your posture, then cuts a paper pattern that belongs to you alone.
From there the coat is made up in stages, with fittings along the way to refine the balance and line. Expect more than one fitting and allow generous time; each house will happily walk you through its schedule at the first visit.
- Book your first consultation in advance and bring a garment you love, so the cutter can see what feels right to you.
- Wear the shoes and shirt you’d pair with the finished suit to your fittings.
- Leave room in your itinerary; a relaxed afternoon on the Row lets you visit more than one house before you choose.
- As a final flourish, look for No. 3 Savile Row, where the Beatles played their famous rooftop set on January 30, 1969.
