sygyzy
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2006
- Messages
- 1,548
- Reaction score
- 13
Has anyone watched this excellent 3 part special on BBC 4 on Savile Row? I watched Part 1 last night and it was very well done though it felt quite lengthy and drawn out. The narrator is excellent and so are the videography. They had this voice that would make lame comments like "Oh gosh, four thousand pounds for a suit?"
The first part talked mostly about the new face in town, a brand new Abercrombie & Fitch store opening up on the first address of SR. Everyone was very upset about it for obvious reasons. What's interesting is all the tailors of SR are such gentlemen, they have this hard time expressing their feelings. You can tell they want to go kick some butt but they can't. They even address Abercrombie & Fitch by the full proper name.
The video had some great insight on the history of SR, their profit margins (very small), attention to detail and customer service (very high), etc. They even talked about Harris Tweed and what a volatile situation that is with one supplier basically buying out the whole island and pushing out the competition to create a monopoly. A
They even went into lease problems. For example, all the rich people want an address on SR and they want a good view so they pay top dollar for upstairs spaces. Well tailors need natural sunlight to work but now they are getting pushed out of their spaces and into basements! They also talked about how they have rules for leases like most of the places have to be for tailoring but somehow A&F fits in that category.
The final shots were about the founder of A&F who was getting a suit fitted on SR!!! I had to pause the recording and shake my head. Imagine your arch nemesis coming into your store and you want to punch him but you can't because you are so civilized and because you could probably use the business. If you guys haven't seen this guy before, he is a wreck. He looks like those 50 year old actresses with way too much plastic surgery and botox (Janice Dickenson comes to mind).
The first part talked mostly about the new face in town, a brand new Abercrombie & Fitch store opening up on the first address of SR. Everyone was very upset about it for obvious reasons. What's interesting is all the tailors of SR are such gentlemen, they have this hard time expressing their feelings. You can tell they want to go kick some butt but they can't. They even address Abercrombie & Fitch by the full proper name.
The video had some great insight on the history of SR, their profit margins (very small), attention to detail and customer service (very high), etc. They even talked about Harris Tweed and what a volatile situation that is with one supplier basically buying out the whole island and pushing out the competition to create a monopoly. A
They even went into lease problems. For example, all the rich people want an address on SR and they want a good view so they pay top dollar for upstairs spaces. Well tailors need natural sunlight to work but now they are getting pushed out of their spaces and into basements! They also talked about how they have rules for leases like most of the places have to be for tailoring but somehow A&F fits in that category.
The final shots were about the founder of A&F who was getting a suit fitted on SR!!! I had to pause the recording and shake my head. Imagine your arch nemesis coming into your store and you want to punch him but you can't because you are so civilized and because you could probably use the business. If you guys haven't seen this guy before, he is a wreck. He looks like those 50 year old actresses with way too much plastic surgery and botox (Janice Dickenson comes to mind).
