There are few streets in the world that carry as much weight as Savile Row which is, by any means, a short street only a little over 150 yards long. Built between 1731 and 1732 as part of the Burlington Estate, it takes its name from Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington, and began as a residential address for military officers and statesmen. The first tailors to set up on the Row itself are thought to have been Henry Poole & Co., who in 1846 turned the workshops behind their Old Burlington Street shop into a grand new entrance on the Savile Row side. Within a century the street had become shorthand for the best of British tailoring, and for the word ‘bespoke’, understood to come from clothing being ‘spoken for’ by a particular customer.
When Nutters of Savile Row opened at No. 35a in 1969, it was the first new firm in generations, and it brought contemporary design to the street. Then, in 2001, Richard Anderson and Brian Lishak (who had met while working at Huntsman) opened the doors to Richard Anderson. It was the first new bespoke tailoring house to establish itself on the Row in more than half a century. The early days were modest, with a £5-a-week desk and a workshop in the garage. This year the house turns 25, and more than 40 years have passed since Richard first began his career on the Row. He remains of the very few tailors with his name above the door who still personally cuts every bespoke garment.
The anniversary is also the start of something new. For the past six years, Richard’s daughter Molly has trained at her father’s cutting table, learning the traditional techniques of the house while bringing her own perspective to womenswear. Below, Anima speaks to the father and daughter about what comes next: craft, family and how one of the Row’s last truly independent houses is preparing for its next generation.
What does Savile Row mean to each of you?
Richard Anderson: To me, it means quality, tradition, style and fabric. It means the very best – the crème de la crème. Everything we do here at Richard Anderson, the rest of the Row has to adhere to as well. We can rightly hold our hands up and say that Savile Row is known worldwide for the quality of the make, the cut and the style, and for all the customers we’ve dressed over the 200 years we’ve been here.
We’ve survived global crises, recessions and all sorts of adversity, yet we’re still here. It’s down to the quality of the make, the service and the cut we give our customers. There will always be people who want to look their best, and as long as we, and the Row as a whole, continue to strive for that, I think there’s a great future ahead. That’s really what Savile Row means to me.
Molly Anderson: I think the same: luxury and craftsmanship. It’s incredibly hard work to be here, but for me, it’s also very familial. I love it here, and growing up with it, I see it as part of my life. I associate it with my family, and I think the same is true of the wider Row. Unlike a lot of other streets, we all know each other, and a lot of my friends are here, so it’s not just the quality and craftsmanship that I love – it’s the sense of community as well.
I think a lot of the customers feel that too. They enjoy coming back, and some of them do become friends. That makes you want to keep up the quality. So, for me, it’s that real quality and craftsmanship, but also an important part of family and community.
What has changed most on the Row, and where do you hope it continues to evolve?
RA: Well, there are fewer tailors than when I started in 1982. There are more designer shops, coffee shops and restaurants now, so the ethos has changed to a certain extent, which it has to, really.
But with lots of young people coming into the trade, both on the cutting side and the making side, I think the future is actually really quite good.
MA: Yeah, I think definitely. Ready-to-wear is growing enormously too. When Dad and Brian started it, a lot of people were asking, ‘What are you doing?’ And now everyone is doing it.
The more casual nature of the Row is growing too, which we’ve really enjoyed adapting to, hence our safari coats and our other ready-to-wear products. We’ve got suiting and casual wear, so that side is expanding.
And womenswear is growing too. It’s very much in vogue now, but it’s something Dad has been doing since the beginning. More women are able to come onto the street, and womenswear is becoming more casual as well as expanding beyond traditional suiting.
What is it like learning and working together as father and daughter? Does the relationship change in the cutting room?
RA: Not really, I don’t think it has. It’s always been good. Molly’s got a great eye and a real sense of style.
Molly is also starting to get her own customers now, building her own book, as we call it, and getting the practice of measuring and meeting different bodies and personalities. She’s really moving into it, and that’s going very well here.
Richard, what has Molly taught you? And Molly, what’s the most valuable thing your father has taught you?
MA: I think it started even before I came to work here. I’d done a day in the shop when they needed someone, and I remember watching Dad work and thinking, ‘My God, this is something.’ Watching him with different customers was fascinating. He would notice things that I simply didn’t see, and he made it look so easy. I remember thinking, ‘I wish I could get to a place where I’m there.’
Then, after a few years, you find yourself doing something and thinking, ‘I wouldn’t have been able to do that three years ago.’ That’s just through observing and picking up little things along the way. We work on the fly, too. It’s not as though we sit down and have lessons – you don’t have time to say, ‘Right, now we’re going to have a two-hour lesson on how to cut a double-breasted jacket.’ It’s about learning wherever you can.
I really like that. It’s taught me a different way of learning, which you don’t necessarily get at university or college. It’s incredibly valuable to learn a skill simply by observing someone who is a master of their craft. I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity.”
RA: Patience. Although, to be fair, Molly is always teaching me the technical side of things – the phones, the computers and all that sort of stuff. That’s invaluable. Passwords, especially. I haven’t got the patience for that sort of thing!
What makes a Richard Anderson suit a Richard Anderson suit – and how do you think that house style might evolve in the future?
RA: The house style has really been what it is ever since I was taught the Thornton system in the mid-80s. The Thornton system gives you a great, balanced way of cutting a coat, based on an equestrian riding coat. Once you’ve got that A-to-Z, dot-to-dot framework, it’s really up to the cutter – whether that’s me, Molly or whoever is cutting – to put their own spin on it.
The Thornton system gives you a balanced garment. Within that, you can make the lapels wider, make the coat shorter, change the pockets and really design it. But if you cut it correctly, it’s going to give you a beautiful garment. So there’s no real need to reinvent the wheel.
Within that framework, though, it’s down to you to move with the times. You have to move things forward, create trends and embrace the ones you like. You have to be relevant. You can’t still be doing what we were doing in 1985 – twenty-ounce pinstripe suits, for example.
That’s why we’re hopefully moving in a more modern direction. I’m getting older, but now we’ve got Molly, Beth and Alex and the younger team, who are seeing things that I wouldn’t necessarily see. That’s really where the future lies.
Women’s tailoring is becoming an increasingly important part of the house. What have you learned from designing and cutting for women that has changed the way you think about tailoring more broadly?
RA: We changed the block, which was the biggest change for us on the women’s side. I was taught to cut women’s jackets from an equestrian, riding point of view, and I did that until about 12 years ago. Then I changed the block to a more contemporary style, because I didn’t think that look really translated to the suits that Molly and modern women would want to wear. You could wear them in the saddle and in the field, but that way of cutting wasn’t really designed for a more contemporary lifestyle.
We changed the block and, since then, it’s been a big success and a real game changer. Having younger people wearing the clothes in the shop really helps too. Customers can see they can buy something for their wife, girlfriend or daughter. The whole thing has grown organically over the last 10 or 12 years, and social media has helped as well.
There’s also been a big explosion of women working on Savile Row over the last 20 years. When I started, the only women we had working here were the tailoresses – the ladies who put the buttonholes in. Those barriers have gradually come down over the last 25 or 30 years, and that’s been in keeping with the growth of the suits we’ve been making for women.
MA: I think it’s such a nice garment. Beth and I have very different styles, and yet the block works for both of us. I’ve found that, especially with women in the States, they’re having a lot of fun with it.
There’s also so much more colour and experimentation in womenswear. There’s a feeling of, ‘I’ve earned this money, I want to do something really fun with it.’ We’ve found that with the womenswear as well – because the block is so good, you can really be creative with it. I think our female customers enjoy creating their own piece, and the block allows for that.
The business is now balancing bespoke, womenswear, ready-to-wear and an increasingly international clientele. How do you preserve the soul of the house while allowing it to grow?
RA: Well, I control it! It’s a good answer, I suppose. There aren’t many cutters here – there’s literally just us – so in that sense, it’s a blessing in disguise.
But you have to be on top of everything. You have to make sure the quality of the bespoke is absolutely right, but everything that goes out with our name on it has to be the best we can make it. That’s how we need to proceed.
After 25 years, what are you most proud of, and what are you most excited about next?
RA: I think getting to 25 years is really quite something in itself. When we started, we were only weeks in and then we had 9/11. We had the crash of 2008, then COVID and various other things that we’ve had to get through. We’ve had to build a business through periods that certainly had their challenges.
I think we’ve done it on a shoestring, really, so that’s probably the overall thing I’m most proud of. There are lots of things within those 25 years too – the books, the awards – but I think that’s really it.
I’m also proud of training young people and, of course, enjoying the customers. As Molly said earlier, we now have three or four generations of families coming to us. You build that rapport and connection over that kind of timespan, which is lovely.
MA: Even people on the street have been coming in and saying, ‘Congratulations, guys.’ It’s a lovely thing. I think it’s not only us who are proud – other people are proud of Dad and Brian for keeping it going too.
I think it’s amazing to be part of something that’s so full of quality. Every day is different because of the characters you meet, and it’s just a great environment to be in. It’s really, really cool.”