INSIDE STORY
Standing up for Savile Row
David Ward, an experienced independent Savile Row tailor, has worked with some of the biggest names in the business, including Henry Poole, Norton and Sons and Huntsman. Here, he argues that Savile Row has a unique place in history which deserves to be protected and, overleaf, talks to some of the people involved
Savile Row tailors are a nondescript bunch. Since their skills became the benchmark for British excellence they have generally been out of sight and voiceless. Down the ages, a general depiction of a tailor in any editorial was of an elderly bespectacled gentleman sitting cross legged, working with a piece of cloth.
As a senior cutter on Savile Row for over 20 years, my privileged access to this community has offered me an opportunity to redefine an outdated perception of these clothing savants, as the reality of what one looks like couldn ' t be more different. From an array of backgrounds and cultures, all of them posses a passion to dutifully apply the skills that have been sharpened for over 200 years and credited as the best on the planet.
During my years spent working on Savile Row I have witnessed a supply of tailoring apprentices come and go and only a select few have been good enough to execute the required high standards that are sought. This wonderful art is now awash with youthful bespoke tailors, incredibly passionate, and still upholding the traditions put down before them.
However, Savile Row is currently in a state of flux as its borders shrink and its fame plundered by anyone with the faintest interest in presenting themselves as a Savile Row tailor. My close relationship with these individuals and my interest in portrait photography has provided a platform to present these individuals for who they are and allow them to communicate their feelings and attitudes to the climate that Savile Row currently finds itself in.
Throughout history the word“ tailor” has been used to describe an individual who simply makes clothing. There is a presumption that the person had engaged in extensive training,
Savile Row is currently in a state of flux, says David Ward
encompassing many hours of instruction and a set way of working with a piece of cloth that would eventually produce a finished garment.
After many years of repetitive instruction and dedication to steam, shrink, stretch, and manipulate a flat piece of cloth in a variety of weights and colours, a yardage of worsted is, metaphorically speaking, transformed from caterpillar to a butterfly, opulent and beautiful in its form. R
SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE 17