“There are two artists behind every article of bespoke clothing conceived on Savile Row: the cutter and the customer” – Richard Anderson, Making the Cut.
London’s Savile Row is the home of menswear. It is here where the world’s finest suits hail. With tailoring powerhouses flanking the ‘Golden Mile’, the sartorial street lays claim to having dressed the world’s most celebrated entertainers, athletes, businessmen, politicians and royalty. None more so than Richard Anderson, one of the ‘Rows’ most famous faces.
Starting his career as an apprentice at Huntsman & Sons at the age of seventeen, which at the time was one of the world’s most expensive and respected tailoring houses, Anderson went on to become the youngest master cutter in Huntsman’s 150 year history.
By 2001 Anderson had taken his shears and tailors chalk on to new pastures and co-founded his own Savile Row Company, Richard Anderson Ltd., with Brian Lishak. The Savile Row tailoring house now combines over 100 years of experience on one of the world’s most iconic sartorial streets. Led by Anderson and Lishak, the experienced duo has forged a reputation for their exuberant take on tailoring and inspirational design and to award winning acclaim no less.
So to Anderson’s latest piece of craftsmanship to come from the famous 13 Savile Row residence in London’s prestigious Mayfair area. Out now, Making the Cut, Richard Anderson’s second book, is a bible of sartorial heritage, craft and creativity. Full of insight, information and inspiration and not forgetting its 230 illustrations, Making the Cut contains stories of sartorial icons by one of Savile Row’s master tailors.
Following on from the success of his memoir Bespoke: Savile Row Ripped and Smoothed, published in 2009, Anderson’s second book discusses how, in the 21st century, tailors are embracing unusual fabrics, new colours and modern tastes to update the long-held traditions and reach an ever-growing client base.
This “sartorial kaleidoscope” as Anderson describes it, contains stories and garments that showcase the care, skill and imagination that the Richard Anderson tailoring house bring to every piece that is seen sauntering out of its Savile Row residency.
Making The Cut: Stories Of Sartorial Icons by Savile Row’s Master Tailor, by Richard Anderson (Thames & Hudson) is available now, £29.95.
Edward Lumley is Editor-in-Chief for Of Wealth & Life and a Freelance Men’s Fashion Writer. Edward has written for publications such as FashionBeans, Harrods and a variety of online outlets specialising in Men’s fashion for the past eight years. Follow Edward on Instagram.
