Happy birthday Richard James!

The founding Savile Row Bespoke Association member celebrates its twenty-first anniversary and twenty-first year of doing business on the Row this year.

The first, very small, Richard James shop opened at 37a Savile Row in 1992 and introduced - horror of horrors, to some - Saturday opening to the street. The ethos of the business was to respect the history of Savile Row and its unequalled reputation for craftsmanship, but to make it a more exciting, fashionable destination.

“We’ve always had great respect for Savile Row and the incredible reputation that it rightly enjoys,” states James, himself. “Some people don’t understand that when we opened, we did so as bespoke Savile Row tailors. We had our ready to wear collections too, but Richard James has always produced bespoke Savile Row tailoring. Personally, I’ve always felt that being on Savile Row obliged us to maintain its traditions and it has been an honour and great pleasure to do so.”

And so after moving to larger premises at 31 and then its now stunningly refurbished flagship shop at 29 Savile Row, Richard James opened a dedicated bespoke tailoring shop at 19 Clifford Street in 2007.

“It’s a large and very important part of our business,” continues James. “A number of our customers have grown with us and have gone from ready-to-wear to bespoke. It’s a natural progression, but as was the case when we first opened, we’re still very much catering for individuals. We made our first bespoke camouflage suit for a customer who likes the opera, but doesn’t like wearing suits. It got the reaction that he wanted.”