Savile Row tailors lose fight to preserve the term bespoke

Tag : Pattern Cloth
A group of Savile Row tailors have lost their fight to stop theterm "bespoke" from being used by menswear retailers to sell suitswhich have not been made entirely by hand. The AdvertisingStandards Authority has dismissed a complaint that labellingclothes which have been cut from a template as bespoke ismisleading.

The word was coined by tailors on Savile Row, London, in the 17thcentury and referred to a suit which was hand-crafted from a singlebolt of cloth without the use of a pre-existing pattern.

Clients would have numerous fittings for the outfit, which would behand-stitched and finished to the highest standard. These creationshave long been synonymous with the best of British craftsmanshipand even the simplest of bespoke suits can fetch £5,000.



However, Savile Row institutions such as Hardy Amies and Gieves &Hawkes are concerned that the term "bespoke" is being used by someretailers for suits which are just made-to-measure. These suits are considered a step-down from bespoke, and arecreated with a basic template which is then roughly adjusted to fitindividual measurements.

Sartoriani, a menswear retailer, was referred to the ASA foroffering bespoke suits that they admitted were not entirelyhandmade. For the bargain price of £495 consumers were promisedthe choice of the finest Italian fabrics. But after an initialfitting session in London, the fabric was sent to Germany to be cutand sewn mostly by machine.

Although this is not strictly bespoke in the old-fashioned sense,the ASA has ruled that the historic term has moved on. Sartorianicalled the decision a victory for "affordable luxury''.