Book
Savile Row
For the joy of men
Savile Row by James Sherwood, l´Éditeur 2010
Gary Cooper photographed by Clarence Sinclair Bull in 1934.
Left page: Alfred Hitchcock in 1969, Joan Crawford in company with William Haines, Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Ivor Novello in 1932, Gary Cooper an Marlene Dietriech in 1937 and Rudolph Valentino in 1925. Right page: Rex Harison from 1944.
Rex Harison (1944) in a tailored suit by Sullivan, Wooley & Co.
Cary Grant outside Kilgour, French & Stansbury, in 1946.
Steve McQueen in a suit by Douglas Hayward for ”The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968). Here McQueen poses together with Faye Dunaway.
Michael Caine and Douglas Hayward, 2005.
Photographs from the universe of Douglas Hayward, where Michael Caine was the icon. Sammy Davis Jr was also a client chez Hayward.
John Stephen, the king of Carnaby Street in 1964, a famous shop at Portobello Road in 1966, John Lennon outside the shop Apple Tailoring and Geroge Harrison in 1968 in a jacket by John Pearse.
John Stephen, the king of Carnaby Street in 1964, a famous shop at Portobello Road in 1966, John Lennon outside the shop Apple Tailoring and Geroge Harrison in 1968 in a jacket by John Pearse.
Mick Jagger in a suit by Tommy Nutter. Here in Venice together with Bianca in 1971.
Elton John photographed around 1970 by Norman Parkinson in a suit by Tommy Nutter.
Left page: Hugh Grant in a Richard James Bespoke, photographed with Elizabeth Hurley and prince Charles in 1999. Right page: Tom Cruise in Richard James Bespoke with Nicole Kidman at the Oscars in 1997.
Left page: Jude Law in Kilgour, with Gwyneth Paltrow in 2004. Right page: The Beckhams photographed on Manhattan in 2008. David Beckhams suit is by Timothy Everest.
David Bowie in a Bespoke Couture suit 2002, Billy Zane and Laurence Fishburne in 2002, Daniel Day-Lewis and Rebecca Miller in 2007, Paul Bettany dressed in Bespoke Couture in 2004 and Dame Vivienne Westwood together with Oswald Boateng in 2006.
Photographer Nick Knight worked between 2004 and 2008 together with Kilgours creative director, Carlo Brandelli, and art director Peter Saville on a collection devoted to the icons of the house.
Advertising campaigns for Richard James (a/w 2005 - a/w 2007) by photographer John Spinks.
Advertising campaigns for Richard James (s/s 2006 - a/w 2007) by photographer John Spinks.
Savile Row by James Sherwood, l´Éditeur 2010
A street, a neighborhood, a principality in the heart of London:
Savile Row. In this kingdom where since the 18th century, tailors rule, one sacrifices all to the cult of custom made menswear. A sumptuously illustrated book by James Sherwood, “The London Cut: The Master Tailors of British Bespoke” was just released and tells the story, through time, of it’s the fashion’s most adept politicians, princes, movie stars, rock stars. These majority of these previously unreleased images came from the archives of several centuries old manufacturers.
Entering this territory of masculine elegance, one discovers a language unknown to the profane. People turn their bodies over here to expert hands who dress them in soft or voluptuous fabrics, clothes that will hug their shapes, whether young, old, heavy or thin. A large part of the book is devoted to the meticulous, intelligent work photographed by Guy Hills: here a tailor’s hands, fabric sculptors, are worth their weight in gold. From designer to designer, we discover the actors of this theater of elegance, but also their most loyal patrons – in beautiful black and white pictures – dandies including Cary Grant, the ultimate fashion Prince, featured on the book’s cover.
Throughout the pages of this elegant masculine trip, we discover Hollywood stars including Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Sammy Davis Jr., etc…. full pages for Steve McQueen, Michael Caine, or even Roger Moore with the disco Diva Grace Jones etc… But Savile Row also owes its notoriety and its renaissance to rock stars including the Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, who each had a Savile Row collection, as did the Stones (pictures of Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts) or even the Thin White Duke David Bowie, pictured here in a tuxedo alongside his wife Iman, without forgetting the dandy from Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry. A fabulous picture of Elton John, (taken in the 70’s by Norman Parkinson) wearing an extravagant suit designed by Edward Sexton who was, before Oscar Boateng, on of the best young tailor kings of Savile Row.
The book also provides the occasion to discover the original publicity pictures by John Spinks for Richard James, a Savile Row giant. Guy Hills was the author of the impressive group shot of the master tailors. This book is designed for lovers of unpublished archival photos, and for anyone who dreams of one day owning a custom made Savile Row suit.
Paul Alessandrini
« With an evening coat and a white tie, anybody, even a stock broker, can gain a reputation for being civilized » oscar wilde
Savile Row by James Sherwood is published in France by L’Editeur
(59,90 euros). Original version by Thames & Hudson (Londres)
Links
http://www.thamesandhudson.com/
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