Think Savile Row, think tailoring and bespoke. Think suits and country pursuits. But don’t think American leisurewear. So incensed are the arbiters of good taste and fine British tailoring at The Chap magazine that, along with their readers, they are petitioning Westminster Council to overturn the decision to allow Abercrombie & Fitch to open a store in the street that has been home to British tailoring for 200 years.
This ‘ghastly mistake’ has made some of the world’s finest craftsmen sign the petition (which is already 500 strong) against the development which they feel is absolutely against everything that Savile Row is famous for. David Coleridge of H.Huntsman & Sons said, “The arrival of Abercrombie & Fitch at the end of Savile Row would dramatically change not just the tone but the safety of the street”.
Is this the thin end of the fashion wedge in terms of destroying an area known for it’s bespoke tailoring or just progress, bringing in a new generation to the area? What do you think?