When looking for the finest tailored garment, there is only one place to go - Savile Row. It is without a doubt the home of tailoring, incomparable to anywhere else in the world and it is therefore fitting that Gieves & Hawkes should hold the most prestigious address: No.1.For over 200 years Gieves & Hawkes have hand-crafted the finest bespoke garments and have become established as the paramount English tailor, of international renown. Drawing on our formidable heritage of design and craftsmanship, combined with modern styling and innovation in hand cutting and tailoring, a bespoke suit from Gieves & Hawkes remains the ultimate sartorial investment – hand made in the work rooms of No.1 Savile Row. |
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The Bespoke Process
The Commission | The Creation | The Finished Garment | After Care | Contact Us | Savile Row Bespoke
Nothing compares to investing and dressing in bespoke. The iconic style and elegance afforded by a bespoke suit is timeless. You gain the comfort that comes from a garment created especially for your body and requirements, the pleasure of owning a piece of supreme craftsmanship and the quiet confidence from knowing that there is nobody in the room better dressed than you. Gieves & Hawkes' bespoke tailoring blends the traditional relationship between cutter and customer with an acute awareness to silhouette.
Marking out the cloth
The Commission
The process of bespoke begins with a detailed consultation with a specialised tailoring advisor. You will be offered help and guidance concerning all aspects of your proposed commission, be it a suit, sport jacket and trouser, or an elegant evening dress suit.
Your cutter (often attended by their undercutter) will then be called on to take your unique order. The cutter will have at least 10 years of tailoring and hand cutting experience - only the best work on Savile Row.
The cutter takes measurements from the body, taking into consideration all configurations. The creation of the garment is initiated with an individual paper pattern which is drafted and then cut by the cutter specifically for each customer. Your patterns will be permanently stored on the premises at No.1, ready for when you return to us again in the future.
The Creation
After cutting, each individual item is passed on to a separate master tailor with the appropriate skills. This single master tailor is responsible for the hand rendering of their item. Horsehair canvasses are washed, softened and hand-shaped over the knee following the cutters fitting instructions. This is completed to a basic stage known as a First Baste, where the garment is loosely stitched, without pockets, buttons or any other finish details.
Hand Rendering
The Finished Garment
Following on from the First Baste, the garment is advanced at the second fitting. By the third fitting the coat is almost ready to be closed, with a fourth and final fitting for a new customer.
Finishing the garment
Throughout the process your personal cutter works diligently to perfect your pattern for a supreme fit. All finishing is completed by hand including edge stitching, padding of lapels, individual buttonholes and application of buttons. All linings are felled by hand, with linen being used to reinforce pockets and gorge. Sleeves hand inserted and stitched and shoulder pads and canvases are hand-cut and shaped. The final pressing is completed by a separate finisher whose job is only to press.
Approximately four fittings will be required to complete the exquisite experience of having your first bespoke garment made. The time frame is dependent on the customer’s availability but we generally set a lead-time of eight to twelve weeks. However, once we have a finalised pattern, this can be reduced to four weeks or less for future commissions.
Saved Patterns in Savile Row
After Care
The life of a bespoke suit is considerably longer than a ready to wear suit due to the quality of its production and the attention paid to fit. There are, in addition, sufficient inlays to allow up to three inches of adjustment to the main body seams. Garments may be 'freshened' by the finishing team - including brushing, re-pressing and running repairs over the years.
We hope to welcome you into No.1 very soon and we all look forward to being of service to you.
If in the meantime if you have any further questions or would like to make an appointment for a consultation:
Andrew Goldberg
Email: agoldberg@gievesandhawkes.com
Tel: +44 20 7432 6446
Savile Row Bespoke
Gieves & Hawkes were instrumental in the founding of the Savile Row Bespoke Association in 2004 which unites the founding fathers of the Row with the newly established tailors to protect and develop the craft practised in this elite quarter of Mayfair for over two centuries.
Today Savile Row remains the home of a community of skilled craftsmen and associated artisan businesses that thrive and survive in the heart of London. The association seeks to protect the art of bespoke tailoring and ensure that the well-dressed man will always consider Savile Row his spiritual home.
As there are many companies who offer a 'bespoke' suit, many trading on the standards of Savile Row without delivering anything that would in fact be acceptable on the Row, the association sought to identify what makes a Savile Row bespoke suit.
Companies are only able to be members of the association if they meet set criteria, relating to standards and also to technical points needing to be present in a Savile Row Bespoke suit.
Commitments to the Craft Bespoke
To be a member of the Savile Row Bespoke Association a company must:
- Individually cut a paper pattern produced by a Master Cutter
- Have personal supervision of production by the Master Cutter
- Have cutters and Tailors trained to the exacting standards of Savile Row
- Typically create a two-piece suit almost completely by hand - with at least 50 hours of hand work
- Provide an expert cloth consultant on the premises
- Offer a choice of a least 2000 fabrics to the customer, which may include a range of exclusive cloths
- Retain full customer records and order details
- Provide first-class after care for garments including sponging, pressing, repairs and button matching
- Actively participate in a Savile Row training scheme, either an in-house scheme or one with a partner institution.
- Have apprenticeships that are at least 5 years long for a coat-maker and 3 for a trouser-maker
Hand Rendering
21 Technical Points
To be of Savile Row Bespoke standard, a suit must meet 21 Technical Points. It is not an exhaustive list of the features but they are required as a minimum:
The Jacket must have:
- Sufficient inlays to allow 3 inches adjustment to the main body seams
- All linings felled by hand
- Hand prick-stitched vent and front edge
- Top collar hand draw-stitched onto the facing
- Sleeves set by hand
- Hand stitched front buttonholes and left lapel buttonhole with sewn flower loop. Inlay under the collar.
- Hand cut and shaped shoulder pads and canvasses
- Slanting breast pocket with hand stitched border
- Armhole lining eased and hand felled
- Hand top-stitching on the front pockets
- Front and cuff buttons sewn on by hand with cross-stitch
- Linen used to reinforce pockets and gorge
- Hand canvassing on jacket foreparts
- Cuff with opening slit and hand stitched buttonholes
The Trousers must have:
- Internal waistband with inlays of 3 to 4 inches on the back and side seams for adjustment *
- Buttons sewn by hand in cross-stitch
- Hand made external buttonholes
- Hand stitched fly
- Half lined trouser fronts for comfort
- Hand stitched seat seam
- Pockets, band-lining and back curtains sewn in by hand
If you have any further questions or would like to make an appointment for a consultation:
Andrew Goldberg
Email: agoldberg@gievesandhawkes.com
Tel: +44 20 7432 6446
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