What Is Savile Row? The Home of Bespoke Tailoring Explained

Savile Row is a single street in Mayfair, running parallel to Regent Street between Conduit Street at its northern end and Vigo Street at its southern end. It has given its name to a whole way of making clothes: a suit drafted on paper for one person, cut by hand and shaped over several fittings. If you are thinking of commissioning a suit there, it helps to know how the street earned that reputation and what it means today.

Why is Savile Row famous?

Savile Row is famous because, for two centuries, the houses on and around it have made suits for royalty, statesmen and film stars from patterns cut for each client, with the work done in their own workrooms nearby. That concentration of cutters, coatmakers and trouser makers within a few hundred yards has no equal anywhere else. The street's name became shorthand for the English way of building a suit: a shaped canvas chest, a defined waist and fittings until the coat is right.

Today the street mixes houses founded in the 19th century with younger firms and some ready-to-wear shops. The tradition survives because the old houses still train apprentices, still keep paper patterns for clients who first ordered decades ago, and still do most of the making in London.

A short history of Savile Row

Savile Row was built between 1731 and 1735 as part of the Burlington Estate development. The 3rd Earl of Burlington named it after his wife, Lady Dorothy Savile. It was first a fashionable residential street, home to military officers and statesmen, and those wealthy residents are the reason tailors followed.

Tailors set up first in nearby Cork Street around 1790 and were trading on Savile Row itself by 1803. The firm most associated with the street's rise is Henry Poole & Co. James Poole began in London as a linen draper in 1806 and turned to military tailoring during the Napoleonic Wars. When his son Henry inherited the business in 1846, he converted the workshops behind the family shop at 4 Old Burlington Street into a new entrance on the Savile Row side, at No. 32.

Henry Poole was a celebrity tailor with friends in sporting and aristocratic circles. His premises became a social hub for the set around the Prince of Wales, and this, the house says, is how Savile Row became known as the home of London's best tailoring. Poole held royal warrants from Napoleon III from 1858 and Queen Victoria from 1869, and the house says it made the first dinner jacket (tuxedo) for the Prince of Wales in 1865. The firm is now at 15 Savile Row and is still run by descendants of Henry's cousin, Samuel Cundey.

The 20th century added new names. Huntsman, founded in 1849, moved to No. 11 in 1919. In 1969 Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton opened Nutters of Savile Row at No. 35a with an open shop window, a break with the street's closed-door habits. The Beatles' company Apple Corps had moved into No. 3 the year before, and the band's rooftop concert there on 30 January 1969 was their final live performance.

What does Savile Row bespoke mean?

Savile Row bespoke means a garment made from a paper pattern cut for one client by a master cutter, built largely by hand and finished over several fittings, by a house on or close to the street. The word comes from the verb bespeak, to order in advance. Our guide to what bespoke means covers the term in full.

The word itself has little legal protection. In 2008 the UK's Advertising Standards Authority ruled that bespoke could describe a made-to-measure suit with machine sewing. The houses had already formed the Savile Row Bespoke Association in 2004 to protect and develop bespoke tailoring on and around the street, and its published standard is now the clearest test a buyer has.

How does a Savile Row house work?

A Savile Row house is a team of specialists led by a cutter. The cutter measures you, studies your posture and drafts your pattern. Coatmakers build the jacket, trouser makers the trousers, and finishers sew buttonholes and other hand details. Apprentices learn each role over several years. You will mostly deal with the cutter, who stays responsible for the fit from first measurement to final fitting.

Your paper pattern stays at the house, so a second suit needs fewer fittings. For a fitting-by-fitting account, read bespoke fittings explained.

Which tailors are on Savile Row?

Most of London's best-known houses are on Savile Row itself, but several sit one street away. Anderson & Sheppard spent almost a century on the Row before moving to Old Burlington Street, which runs parallel one block to the west. The table lists the houses in TailorGuide's London ranking and where they actually are.

Other names on or near the Row include Davies & Son, Richard James, Ozwald Boateng, Maurice Sedwell and Cad & The Dandy, alongside made-to-measure and ready-to-wear shops. For our view of which houses are worth a first fitting, see the 10 best tailors in London.

How much is a Savile Row suit?

A Savile Row bespoke two-piece suit starts at about $6,600 to $9,900. The bands below round the starting prices published in Luxury London's guide to the street, last updated in December 2025. Expect a premium fabric, a waistcoat, a double-breasted front or an overcoat to raise the bill.

For how London compares with New York, Milan and Dubai, see our bespoke suit prices by city.

What do you get for the price?

You pay for skilled hours and for a pattern that belongs to your body. The cost covers far more than the suit you take home on the day.

• A paper pattern drafted for you alone and kept on file for future orders.
• Two to four fittings in which the cutter corrects balance, posture and proportion.
• A canvas chest shaped by hand, which molds to you with wear. It is the main structural difference between bespoke and cheaper suits.
• Hand-sewn details: buttonholes, collar, linings and finishing.
• Aftercare such as sponging, pressing and repairs, which association members must offer.
• Generous seam allowances, so the suit can be let out or taken in over the years.

Savile Row bespoke vs made-to-measure on the Row

Not everything sold on Savile Row is bespoke. Several houses also sell made-to-measure and ready-to-wear, often in the same building. Gieves & Hawkes, for example, offers bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear under one roof at No. 1, and other brands on the street sell made-to-measure alongside ready-to-wear. These are good products, but they are not the same as a suit cut from your own pattern.

Made-to-measure from a Savile Row house is a sensible way to try a house's look before committing to bespoke, or to add a second suit in a cut you already know. Our bespoke vs made-to-measure guide explains the trade-offs in detail.

Is a Savile Row suit worth it?

A Savile Row suit is worth it if you will wear it often, want a cut you cannot buy off the peg, and have the time for three or more fittings. It is a poor buy if you need a suit next month or rarely wear one. Our guide to whether bespoke is worth it goes through the decision.

What should you tell a Savile Row cutter?

Tell the cutter how you will wear the suit before you talk about style: how often, in which seasons, for which occasions, and whether you travel with it. A good cutter will steer the fabric weight and details from that. Then bring pictures of suits you like, wear the shoes you will wear with it, and say clearly what you dislike about your current suits. Be open about your budget too: the cutter can then show you fabrics within it rather than the most expensive books first, and tell you which details add cost.

Savile Row today

High rents and retail pressure have long worried the houses. When Abercrombie & Fitch planned a children's store at No. 3, tailors and the association protested in 2012; the store opened in 2013 and had closed by 2021. Westminster City Council's planning rules treat the street as a special policy area intended to protect its tailoring. In 2026 Gieves & Hawkes reopened its refurbished flagship at No. 1.

If you plan to go, our first-timer's guide to visiting Savile Row covers appointments, etiquette and the streets nearby. Then choose a house from our London ranking.

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