SRBA member Henry Poole and Co. is putting its incredible archive on display for the first time next month.
The founding father of the Row – Henry Poole was established in 1806 and opened its doors for business on Savile Row in 1846 – is the subject of The Art of Bespoke Tailoring and Wool Cloth at The Bowes Museum (pictured), from 21st September until 11th May 2014.
“The exhibition, the first of its kind, will celebrate the supremacy of men’s tailoring on Savile Row together with the finest cloth in the world, still woven in Yorkshire and Somerset,” commented Henry Poole’s Managing Director Simon Cundey, the great-great-grandson of the house’s founder, Samuel Cundey.
This is the museum’s inaugural exhibition of tailoring and it will take place in its internationally renowned Fashion and Textile Gallery.
Garments on display will include a contemporary dinner jacket (Henry Poole made the original dinner jacket for the Prince of Wales in 1865), a single breasted jacket in Churchill stripe, a gentleman’s wedding suit from 1842, a tweed shooting jacket with waistcoat and plus twos and a sports blazer bearing the Napoleonic Eagle, Emperor Napoleon III being another of Henry Poole’s illustrious former clients.
The exhibition will celebrate the art of bespoke tailoring and look at the history of high-end British tailoring and the use of wool in fine clothing. All of the wool fabrics used in the exhibition have been sourced from British mills.
The clothing on display will be complimented by never before exhibited items from The Bowes Museum’s fashion collection, including a Jules Vignon portrait of Emperor Napoleon III in a full ceremonial outfit that was tailored for him by Henry Poole.
A programme of events to illustrate the art of bespoke tailoring will include live demonstrations by tailors from Henry Poole.
The exhibition has been made possible with the kind support of The Woolmark Company; The Drapers’ Charitable Fund; The Daphne Bullard Trust and Kathy Callow Trust.
The bottom picture shows Keith Levett, head of the ceremonial department at Henry Poole & Co.
> Read the Archive
