For two weeks, visitors have an opportunity to take a peek at what happens behind the Savile Row shopfronts.
To mark the end of lockdown, Savile Row’s finest are opening their doors for an event dubbed ‘Theatre of Craft’, to allow visitors a socially-distanced glimpse behind the scenes of the Savile Row world.
The event — organised by The Pollen Estate, who own 45 buildings in East Mayfair, including Savile Row itself — runs for two weeks from Monday April 12, from 8am-4pm (9.30am-4pm on Saturdays).
A meander down The Row will encourage full immersion in the craft of bespoke tailoring, guiding legitimate people through each stage of making and caring for the garments.
On the East side of the street, you’ll see the pieces in production, with craftsmen and women beavering away on the production of exquisite garments — cutting patterns and chalking up cloth.
On the West side, the focus is on rejuvenating said garments with the new arrival of Savile Row Valet, Hawthorne & Heaney and Dobrik & Lawton, whose job it is to repair and clean, keeping clothes in tip-top condition — here you can admire the hand embroidery and leatherwork in action.
If that builds up an appetite then The Service café — a favourite of Country Life’s luxury editor Hetty Lintell — will be open for take-away coffee and cake, but also a bit more since they’re putting on an exhibition by Dugdale Bros & Co. It showcases the journey of a Savile Row suit from raw fibre to finished garment, which features textural artefacts from Dugdale’s 125-year-old archive, together with an exhibition by photographer Arran Cross.
‘We are delighted to see the tailors doors open following restrictions and look forward to welcoming customers down to immerse themselves in our community and to give them an insight to the world of tailoring,’ says The Pollen Estate’s property director, Julian Stocks.
