SAVILE ROW COMPETES AT ASCOT

Savile Row showed its mettle at Royal Ascot this year, not just in the numbers of bespoke morning suits being worn but with a capsule collection from Gieves & Hawkes that romped down the catwalk in the prestigious Besborough Restaurant, for the edification of well-heeled punters.

The Besborough, at the top of the grandstand marquee, allows an unrivalled view of the course. And with flowing champagne and fine food, not to mention form to be studied, and hats both male and female to be controlled, a fashion show had some stiff competition to contend with for attention. 

Frederik Willems’s designs for G & H managed to capture the audience. He arrived at Gieves just last year, fresh from success at Pringle, and has proceeded, as he puts it, to “utilise the bespoke facilities as my laboratory”. Here, he can work with the head cutters to create designs for the ready-to-wear collection and which can also be translated into bespoke garments.

Wearing a beautiful grey morning suit, he admits to being hooked on bespoke.  He loves the craftsmanship that goes into it and is keen to encourage more young people to enter the trade.

“We are working with the London College of Fashion and have our own trainees in the workrooms. It can be difficult to get the right people but there is a change in attitudes. Young people are more interested in the Savile Row craft now, where once they were intent upon working with computers.”

The one bespoke item included in the Ascot show was the evening jacket with splendid frogging detail, as shown in the Spring edition of savilerow-style (see Archives).  The Autumn 2010 collection is now being planned and though it will undoubtedly remain true to the classic styling expected of Gieves & Hawkes, Frederik Willems promises some rather more contemporary ideas that will filter through into the bespoke.

 “The attraction of working at Gieves & Hawkes is that I have the best of craftsmen and women to create my ideas – and I love it.”

Other designers entertaining diners in the Besborough Restaurant over the five days of Royal Ascot included the milliner Stephen Jones,  womenswear designer Luella and the redoubtable Vivienne Westwood, whose creations caused a certain frisson between courses.
This is the morning suit worn by Frederik Willems at Ascot.

MALE DRESS OUTSHINES THE FILLIES

It isn’t often that men get to outshine their female partners but they definitely do at Ascot. Viewing the assembled crowds from the vantage point of  the Press Box in the main stand, it was the men who looked elegant, their tailcoats and toppers flattering even the most portly figures and lending an attractive style element to this high spot of the London Season.

Much of the media spotlight, alas, focuses upon young ladies in revealing dresses and ridiculous titfers. At Waterloo station, where crowds embark for Ascot, they looked like a gaggle of dizzy-headed disco-goers strangely adrift in the morning light.

The problem is that for too many the art of dressing up has been lost, so that dressy is now connotated with evening wear.  It’s a problem evident at other Season events too, which may have dress rules but no way of compelling dress style.  And egged on by media attention, ladies attending go in for the sort of outfits more suited to the end of the pier. The clowns have been sent in.

But thankfully, a higher standard did emerge in some immaculately tailored outfits, stunning black and white contrasts, and complementary, as well as impressive, millinery. The green shoots of dressing for the occasion may be emerging.

Thankfully, the rules bring men out in formal attire. They look good – and despite protestations, most feel good. And with renewed attention on the Season events, whatever the economic climate, it has brought a new wave of customers to Savile Row, seeking the very best in morning attire.