Tourists and shoppers stopped and stared at the extraordinary sight of dozens of sheep all the way up Savile Row.

The eye catching initiative is part of the first ever National Wool Week which has been organised by the British Wool Marketing Board.

Mark Henderson from the Savile Row Bespoke Association commented (in the video below):

“We are big users of wool. In fact, I guess it’s our staple product and we have been fighting a campaign over the five years about keeping people working, making high quality craft in the middle of London, and I guess part of our campaign involves the quality of wool and why people should pay what they do”

Costessey comprehensive school is being turned into a new Academy, and has commissioned Savile Row tailor, Thomas Mahon, to design a new uniform. The school has reportedly spent £34,000 on new blazers, trousers and skirts.

Read the full story here

The influential British designer was in mourning for his mother who recently died.  He posted a message to his now-deleted Twitter account last week saying “awful week but my friends have been great but now i have to some how pull myself together”. His very last Twitter message was posted earlier today and said: “im here with my girl annie tinkerbell wishing kerry the slag ,happy birthday in NY ,your 40 now girl time to slow it down we think.”

His death was confirmed with an official statement on his website:

ON BEHALF OF LEE MCQUEEN’S FAMILY, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN TODAY ANNOUNCES THE TRAGIC NEWS THAT LEE MCQUEEN, THE FOUNDER AND DESIGNER OF THE ALEXANDER MCQUEEN BRAND HAS BEEN FOUND DEAD AT HIS HOME. AT THIS STAGE IT IS INAPPROPRIATE TO COMMENT ON THIS TRAGIC NEWS BEYOND SAYING THAT WE ARE DEVASTATED AND ARE SHARING A SENSE OF SHOCK AND GRIEF WITH LEE’S FAMILY.

His career started with an apprenticeship at Savile Row Anderson & Sheppard, before moving on to Gieves & Hawkes.

McQueen’s body was removed from his Green Street apartment this afternoon and then ghoulishly followed through London streets by a 24 hour news channel’s helicopter.

The clothing store in Savile Row, famed for its beautiful models and shop staff, hired law student, Riam Dean, but she claims because of her prosthetic arm, was forced to work in the stockroom rather than face customers. She claims she was told she would be allowed to wear a cardigan to cover her arm, but was later told by a manager, she could only work with customers if she took the cardigan off.

The BBC quotes her as saying: “I was always prepared for children to be curious about my disability, but to be faced with adult bullying, no-one could have prepared me for such debasement” . She is suing the company, which denies her claims, and seeking damages up to £20,000.

To find out more about the M&S; Bespoke shirt range, visit the Marks and Spencer website and select the Made To Measure option under Menswear.

Read more in the Telegraph

The deal does not include the historic company’s other retail outlets and they look set to close.

Hardy Amies had been struggling and went into Adminsistration last month. Kroll were appointed to handle the company’s assets but were not able to sell the entire business as a going concern.

More on this story from Drapers Online.

Related:
Hardy Amies Appoints Administrator

The Financial Times quotes Andrew Manders (chairman) as saying: “We are working against quite a tight deadline. Either we find someone to buy the business as a whole or to buy a stake, or someone to inject more funds into the business. It’s only a matter of time before we need funds.”

Hardy Amies was dressmaker to the Queen for nearly 50 years, but over in the Guardian, the brand faces criticism from Jeff Banks who says the company has let it’s image become too “mumsy”.

The complaint centered around Sartoriani in Old Bond Street who advertised bespoke suits, but employed the use of machines to cut the cloth once measurements had been taken.

The ASA has rejected the claim that suits have to be entirely hand made without the use of the a pre-existing pattern to warrant the description “bespoke”. Their findings concluded:

We considered that both fully bespoke and made-to-measure suits were “made to order” in that they were made to the customer’s precise measurements and specifications, unlike off-the-peg suits. We considered that customers would expect a bespoke suit to be tailored to their measurements and specifications. We considered that the majority of people, however, would not expect that suit to be fully hand-made with the pattern cut from scratch. We concluded that the use of the word “bespoke” to describe the advertised suits was unlikely to mislead.

Read more
Telegraph: Savile Row tailors lose fight to preserve the term ‘bespoke’
AFP: Ad watchdog fails to suit Savile Row