The London Lounge

For any of you who may be lamenting the move of Anderson & Sheppard from its historic Savile Row premises to new ones at 32 Old Burlington Street, there is rather reason to rejoice than despair. What has been characterized as a big step down by some inveterate and highly motivated AS detractors is in actuality a big move up in terms of the comfort and overall club-like feel of the new AS. In my opinion, the new premises are superb, better in many respects than the former.

I had a chance to visit the new premises of AS yesterday in the company of Monsieur Bengal Stripe. The ever affable Mr. John Hitchcock was kind enough to give us a guided tour of the new premises. The new layout is as cozy as a Gentleman's club with rich wood paneling, fireplace, magnificent ceiling, tasteful leather furniture and a leather bound library featuring the archives of all of AS's history.

One of the most pleasant surprises awaited us in the new fitting rooms that are spacious and particularly well organized. From the fitting room, one has a view into the cutting room. I thought it was a great touch to see the tailors working away as we discussed the move in the fitting room.

While we were watching the action in the cutting room, the pattern of John Elkann was being worked on for some new suits. It should be pointed out in the context of the discussions I have read regarding the death of English tailoring and its replacement by the Milanese, that the heir to one of Italy's greatest dandies of the last century (along with Malaparte and D'Annunzio) Mr. Agnelli, who could have his suits offered to him ,along with a first born daughter or son, by any Italian tailor in practice, chooses instead to be dressed by Anderson & Sheppard. Does this tell you anything? It should. Be careful what you read and what you believe.

In any case it was a short but very pleasant visit to the new location that bodes well for the future. The ever elegant Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Matthews will be visiting the East Coast of the US in the end of April. A few pictures of the new AS premises are located in the PJ and a more complete selection will be made available next month.

There is also a short entry about the move in Mr Mahon's blog: http://www.englishcut.com/archives/000035.html

Andrey

Well, the important thing is that one of the main point of reference of the sartorial world is alive and doing well. Indeed, even better.

I also have visited the new premises on the first day of opening. Mr. Alden is spot on - the place has a nice cozy, warm (especially with the working fireplace!) and clubby feel about it. A few people have told me that they thought the store has more of a feminine feel to it (the designer was Rowland's daughter). In my opinion, the store certainly has more of a grand feeling compared to the worn down, carefree, turn of the century look it had before at number 30 Savile Row

On the positive side, A&S has a more friendly vibe going, which might make it a bit more accessible to younger clientele or first time ''walk-ins'' (I remember being ever so intimidated when I walked into those hallowed walls for the first time). On the down side, there aren't those lovely tables stacked with tweeds and other A&S specials.
And being a little smaller, one can't possibly wonder around without being noticed (in the old days, you could be left to your own devices!). So they've had to display two or three coats on mannequins instead (a first in almost a hundred years!).

I am going to miss seeing those Shetland tweeds. There are a few still there on display but not like in the old premises.

I just got back from picking up my latest A&S suit (a single breasted, peak lapelled, partially lined, all navy blue seersucker) and saw the new shop for the first time. I agree it is much more elegant than the old shop. But it also struck me as a little bit like a show room. There's much more working space (with natural light) for the staff, but the area for customers is rather small. John Hitchcock did say they are thinking of ways to display some of their "specials" (fabrics made exclusively for them) as bolts of cloth instead of pieces on a swing arm in a narrow part of the store.

What is sad is that their old premises will likely be divided up into three retail outlets, of which the landlord has offered A&S the right of first refusal in one of the spaces (presumably for even more rent for a third the space). It is likely that some cheesy ready to wear store will go in the old A&S space trying to sell bad clothes at expensive prices, trading in on the Savile Row name, while the firms who made Savile Row a bastion of quality get pushed off to surrounding streets.

But those of us who have travelled up and down the Row for a few too many decades have seen many changes. The flowering of so many fashion oriented RTW shops is a bit of a blow though and cashing in on SR fame is clearly the marketing strategy "du jour". Will it last? People buy the stuff. Its that simple.

Does anyone have photos of the new premises? I visited A&S last year, before the move, and was very impressed by the patina of the place. Just goes to show that some things get better with age.

Minh

I found the section of the photojournal devoted to Anderson and Sheppard. The camel-colored windowpane sportscoat featured in this picture is magnificent:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/gallery/AS/IMGP0083

To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, first God made Anderson and Sheppard, then He copied it and made Paradise!

Minh