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The chief executive of the trade lobby group for Britain’s luxury brands had told MPs that Savile Row suits should have the same protected status as Melton Mowbray pork pies and Cornish clotted cream. Helen Brocklebank, chief executive at Walpole’s, said: “If we don’t put protections around these incredible regional clusters of highly skilled craftsmen that are unique to our country, then we could risk losing those skills over the next 10 or 15 years. This is a massive opportunity. Why are we making ourselves less competitive?”

Ms Brocklebank made the comments as Walpole published a report into the economic value of the UK’s luxury sector, which found the industry was now contributing £81bn a year, a 69 per cent increase over the past five years.

Essentially, MPs are being urged to widen the Protected Geographical Indication regime to include Savile Row. At the moment, the regime grants certain products from a specific place legal protection from misuse and imitation and Walpole is urging the government to expand the category to cover hand-made crafts.

Ms Brocklebank added that it was a “really easy” change to make that would move the dial for these “unique national assets”. She said: “If the scheme was extended to include non-produce-based craft products – like Savile Row tailoring – this would help protect the skills these industries rely on and, in turn, the communities they support.”

There are fears that British craftspeople are being put at a disadvantage compared with those in the EU, which has granted protected status to certain non-food and drink products. This includes Limoges porcelain in France, which was given the status in 2017.

 

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The chief executive of the trade lobby

Launches, News, Tailor News

Richard James has opened a new bespoke £2 million store on Clifford Street, just off Savile Row, the third outlet in the company’s fashion armoury and its co-founder and managing director Sean Dixon couldn’t be more excited. “We started the business back in 1992 with what was the smallest store on the street, and now we have got some 2,500 sq ft here, so we have grown,” says Sean. “A lot of our customers have been with us since we opened that first store and many of them have gradually moved from ready-to-wear tailoring to made-to-measure and bespoke, so there is a certain symmetry to the way we are set up here.”

The new store – “a cathedral to tailoring,” is how the company describes it – is spread over three storeys with Sean adding: “There’s a lot of rich colour and that’s testimony to Richard himself, who I co-founded the business with in 1992. We really wouldn’t be where we are now without him. He retired from the business a few years ago, but he remains with us in spirit and style as well as name. The walls are in rich burgundy, orange, blue and yellow, and the patterns on the curtains and carpets neatly reference our in-house print design, which is something else that we have a reputation for.”

The work was led by international interior designer David Thomas who said: “I felt strongly about respecting the building’s exterior architecture – the only all-white building on Clifford Street – and bringing back the interior to its former glory. Restoring the original details, whilst adding elements of modernity.”

Head up to the first floor and you’ll find a stylish cocktail bar, complete with comfortable seats and classy artwork. Sean explains: “We wanted to create a space that our customers could use and feel at home in, so a bar seemed like a good idea. Our shops have always been convivial, sociable places that have forged friendships. I remember when Oasis, Elton John and Lord Brown all came in at the same time, and they all got on famously. An unlikely gathering, perhaps, but the thing is that we have always appealed to people with a certain attitude, rather than any particular demographic. I think our customers are the most adventurous on Savile Row.”

And, according to Sean, the novelty of loungewear which took off during the Covid-19 lockdowns has worn off, with more people now choosing to dress more formally. “The world of tailoring, and the suit, is actually having a bit of a resurgence,” he said. “But the most important thing is that people feel welcome when they enter the store. Buying a suit can feel intimidating, so we wanted to create a place where people can spend time and be helped through the process, whether they are buying ready to wear or having a suit made. It should be a very pleasant experience.”

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Richard James has opened a new bespoke

News, Savile Row Concours

Following last year’s highly successful outing for Concours on Savile Row, the third edition will take place in London’s famous tailoring district on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 May. The unique event drew more than 12,000 visitors in 2023, with over 40 cars and motorcycles on display from manufacturers and private collectors.

The line-up was eclectic and included the debut of two Huntsman-designed Bentleys, a Jaguar E-type art car, a JPS Lotus F1 machine and a number of highly significant cars from private collectors. Savile Row is the world’s ultimate destination for bespoke tailoring and craftsmanship, with an ever-expanding selection of made-to-measure, ready-to-wear and complimentary accessories. The event – which is free to the public – celebrates the long history that automotive manufacturers and tailors share, with many partnerships and collaborations entered into over the two days. Savile Row is closed to traffic during event, thanks to the cooperation of Westminster City Council. Visitors are able to browse the spectacular cars and the fascinating tailors’ displays, as well as enjoy the talks and live music on the central stage. People will see some of the greatest cars ever made, matched with specific tailors to continue a long tradition of car manufacturers pairing with the craftsmanship of Savile Row. Many important names in the car design and tailoring worlds will be speaking on the main stage, and there will be live music too. Refreshments will be available from The Service café as well as several pop-up venues.

Jenny Casebourne, Head of Portfolio at The Pollen Estate, said: “The Pollen Estate is delighted to host Concours on Savile Row for a third year in 2024. Savile Row is London’s iconic destination renowned for tailoring, craftsmanship and style, and we are excited to see the new collaborations and the synergies with the car manufacturers come to life. The event is a fantastic opportunity for visitors to go inside the tailoring houses and meet the individual tailors as well as experience the expertise and craft behind a bespoke suit first-hand. Concours on Savile Row is a great addition to London’s events calendar and will showcase the very best of British tailoring to a global audience.”

Looking forward to 2024, Geoff Love, UK Managing Director of organiser Hothouse Media, said: “The second edition of this unique event established Concours on Savile Row as a key date in both the automotive and bespoke-tailoring calendar. The response to the event from manufacturers, sponsors and tailors has been tremendous, and 2024 will see further innovation as we continue to focus on the opportunities presented by such a special event.”

concoursonsavilerow.com

 

 

 

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Following last year’s highly successful outing for

News

The show – now extended until April 7 because of popular demand – is a celebration of Warhol’s unique and radical contribution to art history; displaying many of his most iconic pieces from across his career 

Warhol’s rarely seen original Ads paintings, a set of 10 canvases, will be on view to the public in the UK for the first time

Andy Warhol, Flash – November 22, 1963, 1968. This artwork is on show at Halcyon Gallery.

Halcyon Gallery is staging an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of American pop artist and cultural icon Andy Warhol. Bringing together his most iconic print portfolios, commercial work and rarely seen original canvases, Beyond the Brand will encompass the full range of Warhol’s pictorial inventions and demonstrate the extraordinary power of his unique artistic vision. The exhibition is spread across the gallery’s two Mayfair sites, at 29 and 148 New Bond Street.

Warhol explored the intersection between art and commerce like no other artist in history and this has had profound implications for subsequent generations. This is most clearly expressed in the Ads series, which was created both as a portfolio of prints and as a set of ten paintings on canvas. For this body of artworks, Warhol reimagined famous adverts, marketing Apple computers, Volkswagen cars and Chanel No. 5 amongst others, rendering them with vibrant colours and transforming them into powerful works of art. Both the silkscreen prints and the paintings are being displayed together in the UK for the first time making this show a must-see for Warhol enthusiasts and collectors alike.

Paul Green, Founder and President of Halcyon Gallery said: “For over 30 years, Halcyon has been privileged to participate in the acquisition and sale of works by one of the most important and influential artists the world has ever seen. Our long-standing commitment to building distinguished art collections; putting on world class, museum scale exhibitions that are freely accessible to the general public; and working closely with prestigious institutions around the globe, has only enhanced our expertise in showcasing and handling his work.”

Kate Brown, Halcyon Gallery’s creative director and curator of the exhibition, said: “This exhibition is a comprehensive overview of Warhol’s creative life, from his earliest artworks and illustrations to the last works he ever produced. Visitors to the gallery will be given an overarching view of his entire career, including the chance to see many of his iconic portfolios in their entirety. Warhol’s seismic contribution to the story of art is that he tied his work to a collective consciousness more closely than any other artist had before. His art is a pure reflection of popular culture in his lifetime and the spirit of western capitalism.”

Art historian and museum curator Joachim Pissarro’s accompanying essay to the exhibition explains: “Ads is a masterful culmination of Warhol’s career-long interest in the blurred lines between commercialism and fine art, and it resituates these omnipresent themes into a new state-of-the art array consonant with this late era’s zeitgeist. These ads radiate themes such as cosmopolitanism, technology, movie stardom, political power, elegance and luxury in a visual vocabulary that was at stark odds with the deceptively homespun, quaint but enchanting output of Warhol’s own wildly successful career as a commercial illustrator thirty years prior.”

Andy Warhol inspired skateboards on show at Halcyon Gallery.

In addition to the Ads series, many of Warhol’s most iconic print portfolios will be on display including Marilyn Monroe, Queen Elizabeth II, Chairman Mao, Muhammad Ali and the Endangered Species collection, which, says Kate Brown, “is a much-loved portfolio and still very relevant today”. Other highlights include rarely seen original canvases such as Warhol’s portrait of Pelé. This painting was owned by the football legend who was presented it by Warhol himself. Some of the artist’s monumental late works will be exhibited such as his painting of Mount Vesuvius and a vibrant canvas depicting a watch by Swiss brand Rado, produced in the final months of Warhol’s life. 

Halcyon Gallery’s smaller exhibition space, at 29 New Bond Street, celebrates Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans, which are accompanied by ephemera that illustrates the extraordinary impact that the artist’s best-known motif has had on culture. Accompanying the soup cans is a Campbell’s Soup Box, a vibrant three-dimensional canvas that was commissioned by Campbell’s to commemorate the launch of a new product in 1986.

Andy Warhol, Ads: Chanel, 1985. This artwork is on show at Halcyon Gallery.

An immersive room in 148 New Bond Street will feature the much-admired Andy Mouse portfolio by Keith Haring portraying Warhol as Mickey Mouse, swimming in dollar bills and dancing in a nightclub. These works are a testament to the remarkable influence of Warhol on artists like Haring and Jean Michel-Basquiat – as well as the changing face of the New York art scene. This immersive space takes inspiration from Haring’s ‘Pop Shop’ to celebrate the convergence of graffiti art and fine art, that took place for the first time in the 80s, and for which Warhol was a crucial driving force.

Writes Pissarro: “Andy Warhol’s revolutionary contributions to art history are often measured through his paintings, particularly their power, subject matter, technique and reception: huge canvases, immense personalities, gargantuan sums garnered at auction… What made his paintings so bold and new was, by contrast, the increasingly mechanistic techniques he used to create his compositions.

“As his paintings grew increasingly removed from the idea of individuality, he introduced new, cutting-edge elements to his prints. The relationship between the two worlds is a bit like an artistic Turing test: as the two arenas, painting and printmaking developed in tandem, they marched inexorably towards an almost, but not quite, asymptotic singularity. Never the twain would meet, but Warhol would not cease to blur the boundaries as much as he could. [This] exhibition provides a precious opportunity to look back at the history of Warhol’s printmaking practice and look afresh at several series that illuminate fundamental truths about the famously enigmatic artist’s worldview.” 

Andy Warhol, Endangered Species Portfolio: Bighorn Ram, detail, 1983 (detail). This artwork is on show at Halcyon Gallery.

Andy Warhol exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery, 148 New Bond Street, Mayfair, London until April 7

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The show - now extended until April

Events

Christmas lights are twinkling along Savile Row  in the heart of Mayfair. The new Christmas lights are inspired by iconic tools found in every tailor’s workshop: a pair of shears, representing some of the key values of Savile Row, craftsmanship, skill and knowledge. Photo credit: Aaron Chown/PA Wire and images from retailers by Matt Flynn

The giant illuminated golden shears are seen cutting through a glittering pealight swathe of ‘fabric’, with the message of ‘Savile Row Christmas’ twinkling against the winter sky. For the first time ever, these new festive lights will illuminate The Row, from the corner of Clifford Street and finishing on the corner of Burlington Gardens, adjacent to the Royal Academy of Arts.

In celebration of the new lights being switched on, a host of tailors and retailers came together by keeping their doors open for late night shopping and offered customers and visitors festive treats, drinks and more in-store. These included: Cad & The Dandy, clothsurgeon, Cremieux, Gaziano & Girling, Gieves & Hawkes, Davies & Son, Dege & Skinner, Drake’s, Edward Sexton, Holland & Sherry, Norton & Sons, Pineider, RE:New & Lingwood, The Service, Arthur Sleep, The Deck and Thom Sweeney, as well as the newly opened Daniel Hanson, Fedro and Marcel Rodrigues.

 

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Christmas lights are twinkling along Savile Row