Renowned, Savile Row trained bespoke tailor Frazer Haart opened his proprietary workshop in Bristol over a decade ago. Having perfected his craft at a many of London’s finest sartorial studios, Haart made the decision to go it alone and establish his atelier closer to his home in the West Country. Today, clients can avail of his masterful fully bespoke or made-to-measure tailoring service.
Tag Archives: CHECK THE LABEL
A. J. HEWITT
A very well regarded Savile Row tailoring house, Anthony J. Hewitt was established in 1976 by Anthony Hewitt who had previously plied his trade at Gieves & Hawkes and Anderson & Sheppard. He founded his eponymous studio having earned a reputation as an excellent cutter with a keen eye for the perfect silhouette. Many of his early customers migrated with him to his new home and were joined by a growing class of international businessmen, with many, notably, deployed to the Middle East or hailing from the region. In 1979, Hewitt hired a young cutter who hailed from a family with a great tailoring lineage tracing back to colonial India and, subsequently, to Zambia. That young man, Ravi Tailor, would later take the helm at the renowned institution upon the retirement of his mentor. The firm continues to produce bespoke pieces for their international clientele and has acquired the legendary safari and tropical tailoring house, Airey & Wheeler.
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
Founded in 1892 as a premium gentleman’s outfitter and sporting goods supplier, Abercrombie & Fitch was a one-time rival to brands like Willis & Geiger and Airey & Wheeler. Their Manhattan store showcased a range of camp and safari wear, tailored sporting apparel, countrywear and equipment, including canoes, tents and guns. The firm was particularly well known as a supplier of fine sporting wristwatches and durable outdoors goods. The firm was also a pioneer in catalog business, dispatching across North America. However, the marque experienced a period of great decline following the Great Crash of 1929 which financially destroyed many of the brand’s most loyal and prominent customers. The Abercrombie name would begin a great resurgence in the 1990s when it was acquired by Limited Brands. The brand would become hugely popular as a lifestyle and casualwear brand as a consequence of a number of controversial marketing and management initiatives. Today, the brand continues as a lifestyle apparel brand, albeit with a heavy nod to it’s sporting and outdoors-oriented past. Vintage pieces, particularly those that pre-date the Limited Brands ownership, are highly sought after by collectors and connoisseurs.
AQUASCUTUM
A legendary outfitter, famous, particularly, for their trench coats which rivalled that of Burberry and DAKS, Aquascutum was founded in 1851 and introduced their iconic waterproof outerwear range in 1853. The firm grew to become cherished by London’s most distinguished clientele, including a great many royals whom bestowed their respective warrants upon the brand. Aquascutum expanded their range to include a full suite of fashions, menswear, womenswear, accessories and tailored items, many featuring their distinctive house check. The brand has undergone a series of ownership changes in recent years with varying degrees of success.
DUNHILL
An iconic British gentleman’s brand, Dunhill, like so many of its peers, started out as a saddlery business that offered various equestrian accessories for well-heeled customers. When Alfred Dunhill took over the family business he began to manufacture various accessories for the motoring enthusiast and for wealthy travellers. A successful foray into smoking accessories for the travel market opened an entirely new business for the brand which opened its first tobacco shop in 1907 and continues to trade in cigars and smoking instruments today, now under the watchful eye of its parent company, Richemont. Dunhill is a quintessential English gentleman’s outfitter, continuing its tradition of supplying “everything but the motor”, with various accessories, leather goods, apparel and even bespoke tailoring.
ALAÏA
When Tunisian-born designer, Azzedine Alaïa arrived in Paris in 1956 at the age of 21, he was already an experienced and accomplished seamster, having apprenticed for an acclaimed dressmaker in Tunis. He was a capable dressmaker who was accustomed to meeting the needs of the women of high society. He was often sought out by wealthy Tunisians and visiting French tourists alike. In Paris he first interned with Christian Dior before moving to Guy Laroche shortly thereafter. In 1964 he began to produce couture to his established client base under his own label, finally opening his own atelier in 1979, by which stage he had become the doyen of Parisian society. A student of female form, his designs would accentuate and flatter, elegant and understated and always with a nod to his Tunisian heritage and the traditional attire of his homeland. Today, Alaïa is a brand within the Richemont luxury brands stable and continues to show annual couture collections alongside an extensive women’s ready-to-wear range. Alaïa also produces beautiful ladies’ shoes, accessories, bags & handbags and occasional jewellery pieces.
PETER MILLAR
Launched in 2001, Peter Millar set out to offer luxurious and elegant sportswear and casualwear for the well-dressed man. Taking inspiration from the golf courses of old and using those styling cues to create clubhouse appropriate clothing lines, Peter Millar quickly established itself as a go-to label for the sports enthusiast. The North Carolina label uses cottons and fabrics from the region, renowned for their high quality and comfort, to produce sophisticated tailored pieces to elevate golfwear and redefine business casual attire. The brand, now within the prestigious Richemont stable, has expanded to offer a full range of menswear and womenswear from performance apparel to countrywear lines borrowing from the British and American traditions.
LOAKE
Since 1880, Loake Shoemakers has been one of the pre-eminent English shoemakers. The firm was founded in the Northamptonshire town of Kettering, located within that pocket of England’s green and pleasant land that is renowned for its shoemaking tradition and which has given the world a number of footwear brands of great distinction. Loake may be considered to be amongst the best of them. The brand was founded by three brothers, descended from a shoemaking dynasty, who set about making the very best handmade shoes a gentleman could desire. The brand’s custodians today are descendants of the original founders with the house controlled by the Loake family.
HERMÈS
The ultimate in luxury brands, Hermès is synonymous with opulent and sumptuous goods, finished to the highest standards. This house has perfected the art of luxury since its foundation as a saddlery in 1837. From the outset, the Hermès brand was a favourite of the highest of nobility and the Parisian elite who would seek out no other maker for their equestrian and carriage equipment. The maison would use it’s leather-making expertise to craft various other accoutrement essential to the comfortable travel of its distinguished customers, including luggage and travel cases. With the advent of the automotive age, the brand would apply its prestige and know-how to upholstering the very best motor cars and expanding into leather goods, such as handbags, belts, boots and so forth. This also marked the transformation of the brand into a high fashion label, renowned for their selection of the best materials and elaborate prints to create beautiful accessories and apparel. Today the brand stands as the height of luxury, admired and desired throughout the world.
MOYNAT
Moynat is one of the great Parisian malletiers alongside Goyard and Louis Vuitton, famous for it’s high-end luxury trunks and luggage and synonymous with the golden age of travel. Similar to their rivals, Moynat is easily identified by their distinctive patterns and colourways and the high-quality finish. The brand became a darling of European society, with many celebrated and royal patrons. The brand fell out of favour as air travel replaced ocean liners but the brand was revived by LVMH with Luvanis and reinstated as one of the world’s pre-eminent luxury brands, specialising in leather goods, bags & handbags, luggage and fragrances.
FITZGABRIELS 