A History of Tailoring in London

London tailoring's modern identity was largely built on one street: Savile Row, which took shape in Mayfair through the 19th century as tailors relocated there to serve the era's fashionable elite.

The birth of Savile Row

Henry Poole & Co, generally credited as the street's founding house, opened its doors in the early 1800s. Its clientele over the following century came to include European royalty and heads of state, cementing Savile Row's reputation as the world's reference point for bespoke tailoring.

Military roots, civilian influence

Much of the structured, sharply padded silhouette associated with 'English tailoring' has roots in military uniform-making — several Savile Row houses built early reputations dressing officers, and that structured shoulder line remains a hallmark of the London house style today.

From institution to evolution

The 20th and 21st centuries brought both decline and renewal — periods where bespoke tailoring's popularity waned against ready-to-wear, followed by a new generation of tailors, some trained on the Row itself, opening independent houses that keep the craft evolving rather than frozen in tradition.