The Chaps Don’t think it’s Cricket……………..

…………….And I am inclined to agree with them. I was walking along Savile Row yesterday when I came across demonstrators from The Chap Magazine protesting against  Abercrombie & Fitch opening a children’s shop at No 3 Savile Row, which incidentally is where The Beatles gave their final performance on the rooftop on January 30th 1969. I know that time waits for no man, but this does have implications for Savile Row tailors who still practice the art of bespoke tailoring, and I am genuinely concerned that it is becoming a threat to peoples livelihoods.  I work in Savile Row, and as I measure and cut all the patterns myself, am able to keep my overheads at a minimum. I do not know how much Amercrombie & Fitch will pay for the shop, but as a guess this will become the new benchmark for Savile Row and I believe they have an unfair advantage. Having just browsed their website I noticed that their Hoodies sell for around £100 and I would imagine with their buying power, the mark up is eye watering.  I like to think that I support local people because all my suits and jackets are made locally, and this is the case with a number of other Savile Row Tailors. If we are driven out of Savile Row there are a number of support trades that would suffer as well, and I am sure that Abercrombie & Fitch will not provide work for them. Gieves and Hawkes also made the press this week, and for all the wrong reasons. They have the most famous address in Savile Row – No 1, and Hawkes has been there since 1911, but it would appear that all is not well as they have not made a profit since 2005 and have now been taken over by a Hong Kong company who are planning to sell their suits in China. I am absolutely determined to carry on the tradition of Savile Row bespoke tailoring, but I just hope that I am not ‘the last man standing’.