The English Gentleman at the Cabinet War Rooms - January 2014

In the January 2014 presentation, the Woolmark Company, the tailors of Savile Row and the shirt and shoemakers of St James’s paid tribute to Winston Churchill in the former PM’s secret underground hideaway. The title of this presentation was the idea of the late AA Gill who, along with a number of other notable British characters (and one notable Canadian), agreed to model for the event in the historic Cabinet War Rooms. The result was an extremely atmospheric and evocative evening, when the labyrinthine corridors and spaces below the streets of Whitehall came alive once more with an army of smartly-clad men, animating what is these days usually a silent museum. The inspiration for this presentation was the British wartime spirit, which required people to make do and mend. This is of course a philosophy that lies at the heart of Savile Row, where garments are made to last a lifetime, and often will be handed down from generation to generation. In this way, styles often remain timeless, or evolve to be tailored and adapted from father to son.