SOHO Tailors

[Alderbaran]

The following article is from the LIVE supplement which comes with the Mail on Sunday newspaper in the UK. It was written by Nick McGuinness.
The article was printed on the 1st April 2007.

Title: SOHO: So the new Savile Row
Bored with Savile Row stuffiness but still want a bespoke suit? Cross Regent Street to find twice the edginess - at half the price...

Savile Row: a byword for exclusivity, where tailors greet you on first-name terms in stylish, family-run salons, and whose genteel elegance is the most comforting way of being relieved of large amounts of cash; an impregnable bastion of moneyed taste and beautifully cut couture.

At least, that was what Savile Row used to stand for. But a chill has descended. Its tailors now have ready-to-wear collections in department stores. The biggest players, such as Richard James and Ozwald Boateng, are opening larger, glitzier premises later this year. Now a tribe of its edgier clientele sense that what was once a cut above has become a little frayed. And they are now seeking a more intimate, less in-your-face approach, and haven't had far to go.

A short walk away, Soho has, in the past decade, quietly established itself as the hippest place to buy bespoke. It has more niche, but no less skilful, tailors, who - crucially - are prepared to bend to their clients' more flamboyant and eccentric needs. Johnny Depp, Ewan Mc Gregor, Daniel Radcliffe, Matt Lucas, Vernon Kaye, Brad Pitt, Gordon Ramsay... all use these edgier tailors, and for half the price of Savile Row. At Mr Eddie & Chris Kerr in Berwick Street, you can pick up a beautifully made bespoke suit in the finest cashmere wool, pure-silk red lining and mother-of-pearl buttons, with three fittings for £1,200. Yes, it's steep - but it's a lot less than the £2,000 an identical suit would set you back in Savile Row.

"There are more of us in Soho now, and most of us are on a par with Savile Row," says John Pearse, who trained with the Duke of Edinburgh tailors Hawes & Curtis, and founded the legendary King's Road shop Granny Takes a Trip before returning to tailoring.

"In fact, we're more exclusive, offering on Meard Street a true salon experience that the earliest clients on the Row, such as Beau Brummel and the Emperor Napolean, would have appreciated."

However, one of the major selling points is that because the area has such a long-established tailoring heritage, much of Savile Row's work is subcontracted to Soho. So you are effectively buying a Savile Row suit for a fraction of the price. Unlike their more formal Savile Row counterparts - still frequented by high court judges, Establishment figures and military types - Soho tailors are willing to dabble with a touch of the outlandish; even if it is turnbacks on your sleeves, coloured edging stiching, lapel embroidery or velvet jetting - anything goes. Mark Powell's wide-pinstripe, Thirties 'gangster' three-piece suits, worn complete with watchchain, have become almost a signature style. Chris Kerr - son of legendary tailor Mr Eddie, who opened for business in Soho in 1963 - created a Seventies-style two piece for one of his clients with outsized lapels and flared cuffs in purple velvet. But most clients opt for classic with their own distinctive twist: for Johnny Depp, Kerr made a double-breasted suit, but in a two-tone chalky-blue fabric. "It's the client who makes Soho tailoring different," says Kerr.

"The people who walk down Soho streets are not Bond Street types. Soho is full of artistic people with their own ideas for tailoring. You wouldn't ask a Savile Row tailor to do anything too left-field because they have their heritage to protect. But we are asked for that kind of thing, and we accomodate."

The same Soho tailors are also practised in maklng clothes for films, videos and West End shows. "There's a freshness in Soho tailoring, and its reputation is rising because the broad appeal allows it to attract a younger clientele that is new to bespoke," arugues tailor Tom Baker, who was an Apprentice to Hardy Amies for five years. "Savile Row is populated by bigger organisations under greater financial pressures, and that can kill creativity. It becomes a closed book - you have to have what they offer and that seems out of step with the way we consume now. In contrast, Soho is full of character and characters - and that shows in the clothes."

One such Soho legend is tailor Mark Powell, who famously kitted the Kray twins while they were in prison. He concedes that a large part of Soho tailoring's appeal is its ability to integrate more of a street-style edge in the suits - Soho's urban touch against Savile Row's urbane touch. "Soho has always had that maverick spirit," he says. "That means your work as a tailor can get overshadowed sometimes.

"But, you know what? It still makes tailoring a lot sexier than the dry stuff found elsewhere."

The article features five Soho tailors:
Cutting Loose: The Big Names in Soho Tailoring

Mark Powell
Bespoke suits from £1,500 to £2,500, as worn by Bryan Ferry, David Bowie, George Clooney and Daniel Radcliffe. No.12 Brewer Street, http://www.markpowellbespoke.co.uk

Tony Lutwyche
Bespoke suits from £1,300 to £1,500, as worn by Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Cullum, Michael Sheen and the England Polo Team. No.83 Berwick Street, http://www.lutwyche.co.uk

Mr Eddie &Chris Kerr
Bespoke suits from £950 to £2,000, as worn by Johnny Depp, Lee Evans, Ewan McGregor, Matt Lucas and Vernon Kaye. No.52 Berwick Street, http://www.eddiekerr.co.uk

Tom Baker
Bespoke suits from £950 to £1,600 (for a two-piece) as worn by Gary Barlow and Mick Jagger. No.83 Berwick Street, http://www.tombakerlondon.com

John Pearse
Bespoke suits from £2,000 to £4,000, as worn by Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Brad Pitt, Eric Idle and Charlie Watts. No.6 Meard Street, http://www.johnpearse.co.uk


Regards

Alderbaran

[ky.choy13]

Interesting article!! thanks for posting.

[uppercase]

Great information!

[kirsch]

Can anyone here post a bit about their own experience with Soho tailors?

[Alderbaran]

Thank you for the kind comments. This particular newspaper supplement regularly has articles on men's clothing, but rarely on bespoke tailoring. They have featured Kilgour on several occasions in the last 2 years.

Nick Faulkes wrote several articles on bespoke shoes, shirts and suits in this supplement several years but I don't have copies of them anymore, otherwise I would have posted them.

Kirsch: one member of the LL has used Chris Kerr, I have posted the link below:
http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/vie ... c&start=15

Alderbaran

I have fixed the link now.

[Jack_Rabbit]

The link above doesn't appear to work. Try the following -

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/vie ... php?t=7379

and then jump to page 2.

[MaestroUK]

soho is not the only alternative either. there is goldings in St Albans, wiht a royal Warrant.
Also in Davies St just off Berkley Square is Pogson and Davis: who are superb! With great atmosphere.

[rjman]

You really love Pogson & Davis, don't you?