Interview: Henry Herbert Tailors | TQS Magazine

Savile Row has to be one of most famous fashion streets in the UK – or even the world. As synonymous with tailoring as Macy’s is with garish department stores, there’s nowhere that graciously says sartorial style than the suit lined street of Savile Row. Sure, it might have a truely awful tourist trap plonked on the end of it, but past that is like stepping into another world – of when things were Done Proper and good style meant being suited and booted to the nines. So how does a industry steeped in tradition fare in today’s modern world? Well, by the looks of it, by investing in some wheels and a YouTube channel. We chat to Charlie Baker-Collingwood (there’s a Savile Row name if we ever saw one) of Henry Herbert Tailors – Savile Row by scooter. No really…

Tell us about your business.
Henry Herbert Tailors is a Savile Row by Scooter service, meeting customers around the clock – wherever and whenever is good for them.  Based at our premises on Savile Row, our scootering tailors go out to meet customers to make perfectly fitting bespoke suits and shirts.

What sort of clients use your service?
We have a very healthy mix of customers, ranging from young men being treated to their first bespoke suit, to City board directors, needing to update their wardrobe, to customers who are getting married. As bespoke tailors, we can cater for all sizes and requirements, however unusual they may be.

Where have you been asked to take your scooter service to?
As a scootering tailor service, we have been asked to meet at palaces through to tops of building sites and everything in between. Similarly, we have been asked to meet customers either first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

Any interesting / funny stories of you and the scooter?
Obviously, we have to be discreet about our discerning client base, but we have had customers before where our 60 inch tape measure will not quite stretch round their waist and a lady who came to be measured and thought it necessary to take ALL of her clothes off … but, we always remain professional and ready to serve a customer, in any situation.

What’s it like working on Savile Row?
We meet customers at either their own premises or on Savile Row. Savile Row is a very small industry, where everyone knows everyone which, obviously, makes it a personable and enjoyable place to work. We are a young firm and so, hopefully, the more traditional firms can learn from us as we can learn from them.

You’re clearly embracing technology and the immediacy of the modern world with your service and your social channels – how is Savile Row, famed for it’s tradition and it’s almost unwillingness to embrace change, adapting to the new?
Savile Row is constantly changing and has to in order to remain relevant to changing customer trends – just as we go out on our scooters to see customers now, the traditional Savile Row tailoring firms fly out to New York to see their customers. We are always ready to take on board new ideas, if it benefits the customer.

Find more from Henry Herbert Tailors on their site or their Facebook page.