Savile Row, Westminster, London

History
Savile Row was created with the development of the Burlington Estate in 1695 and, as with other area roads such as Cork St, the name has connections to Lord Burlington himself, in this case, that of Lady Dorothy Savile, his wife.

Initially, The Row was occupied by military officers and their wives; William Pitt the Younger was an early resident. During the 1800s, the gentry became concerned with neat dress, and Beau Brummell, 1778–1840, epitomised the well-dressed man. He patronised the tailors congregated on the Burlington Estate, notably around Cork Street, and by 1803 some were occupying premises in Savile Row. In 1846, Henry Poole is credited as being the 'Founder of Savile Row' after opening a second entrance to his late father's tailoring premises at № 32 Savile Row, however there were tailors on the Row long before Poole's but sadly none of those originals survive to this day.

In 1969, Nutters of Savile Row opened on Valentine's Day and unleashed the Tommy Nutter / Edward Sexton style on swinging London. Backed by Cilla Black and The Beatles' record company Apple's executive Peter Brown, Nutters of Savile Row dressed the entire social spectrum from the Duke of Bedford and Lord Montagu to Mick and Bianca Jagger and The Beatles. Nutters was the first shop on Savile Row to pioneer 'open windows' and wild displays executed by Simon Doonan. Nutters revolutionised the perception of Savile Row and paved the way for the arrival of other non-conventional inhabitants like Richard James and Ozwald Boateng in the 1990s.

Since 2005, the Savile Row Bespoke Association meets regularly to ensure the future of the tailoring craft in the centre of London. The association meets to address common industry problems, to encourage training and to organise events and other initiatives.

In February 2007, the Lord Mayor of Westminster held a reception in Savile Row to honour the trade and its future.

Further information on the Row, on the tailors and bespoke style, may be found at the online magazine www.savilerow-style.com, also covering other areas of excellence.

[edit] Other inhabitants
The offices of The Beatles's Apple Corps were at 3 Savile Row; The Beatles, Badfinger, Mary Hopkin and others recorded in the Apple Studios in the basement. The Beatles' final, live performance was on the roof, on 30 January 1969, that "Rooftop Concert" concludes the documentary film Let It Be. Three decades later, The Bootleg Beatles played atop the same building, on January 29, 1999. [1]

The offices of the Building Societies Association are at 3 Savile Row. Savile Row is in Mayfair, London's traditional art business district. The upper floors of its eighteenth-century houses are home to galleries, such as the Matthew Bown Gallery and Laurent Delaye Gallery, both at (№11 Savile Row.

American retailer Abercrombie and Fitch opened its first European location here in 2007, a flagship store.

[edit] References in Popular Culture
№7 Savile Row was the London address of Phileas Fogg, protagonist of Jules Verne's classic adventure novel Around the World in 80 Days.
The Row is mentioned in Annie in the song You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile. The line is, "Who cares what they're wearing on Main Street or Savile Row?"
The Row is also mentioned in the song The Jet Set Junta by The Monochrome Set, a satire of the Falklands War:
Broom, broom, goes the armoured Cadillac through Montevideo
Rat-a-tat goes the sub-machine gun to restore the status quo
Snip, snip, go the tailor’s scissors on the suit in Saville Row
The Japanese band GLAY has a song titled Savile Row ～サヴィル ロウ3番地～ (№3 Savile Row) about travelling to London. The title presumably was decided on because the writer, the band's leader Takuro, is well known to be a Beatles fanatic.
In Japanese, one word for suit is "sebiro" (背広), purportedly a corruption of "Savile Row". [2]
Savile Row is mentioned in The Kinks's song End of the Season.
Savile Row is mentioned in Elton John's 2006 song Tinderbox.
Saville Row appears in the Monopoly Here and Now edition, a mis-spelling of the correct name.
The Row is mentioned in the British cult movie Withnail and I (1987) when Withnail criticizes his drug dealer, Danny, for having no taste after Danny has remarked on Withnail's 'old suit'. Withnail replies: "This suit was cut by Hawkes of Savile Row. Just because the only tailoring you've ever seen is above your appendix doesn't mean anything." Withnail is referring to surgical stitching as 'tailoring'.
The Row is mentioned in the television series The West Wing following the death of character Leo McGarry. Staff members share fond memories of Leo in the episode 'Requiem', during which it is remarked that Leo's suits must have cost something equal to the national space budget. Charlie informs the group that Leo's suits all came from Savile Row. In a much earlier episode of the series, the Russian ambassador also remarks on the fine quality of Leo's wardrobe, and notes that he must be having all of his suits custom made.
The Row is mentioned in the James Bond movie Dr. No. Ian Fleming patronised a number of tailors on the Row.
The Row is mentioned in the episode 05x10 of the sitcom Frasier.

Made to measure suits (both trouser suits and skirt suits).