A legendary whisky from the Isle of Skye, Tallisker has been at the forefront of the Scotch whisky industry since the distillery’s foundation in 1830. Produced at the same facility ever since, the brand focuses on its rugged seaside location and its unique heritage as one of the most iconic makers in the highlands and islands. Known for its peaty tones, using spring water sourced from its immediate vicinity, Tallisker has often been touted as the greatest whisky in the world with famous patron Robert Louis Stevenson suggesting it may even be the “king o’ drinks”. The brand today sits within the Diageo portfolio and produces a range of aged single malt whisky, with various cask varieties to meet the preferences of the most discerning of palates.
Tag Archives: UNITED KINGDOM
HAND & LOCK
Hand & Lock has plied its trade as the leading embroiderer in the United Kingdom since its foundation back in 1767. The firm is regularly sought out by the Royal Household, high-ranking military officers, City livery companies and bespoke tailors to undertake intricate embroidery work and is a go-to supplier when commissioning specialist ceremonial or costume pieces. The firm’s celebrated customer list has also included a host of glittering names from Hollywood and high society, with many famous wedding dresses having been embroidered by hand by the Hand & Lock team. The firm sits under the Firmin House group, which includes tailoring, medallier and military outfitter brands.
ANDERSON & SHEPPARD
A bastion of British tailoring, Anderson & Sheppard has been one of Savile Row’s pre-eminent houses since it’s establishment in 1906. The firm has been the preferred tailor to many international celebrities throughout its history (names such as Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Noël Coward, Laurence Olivier, Cole Porter, and Rudolph Valentino), in part due to the more relaxed structure championed by Frederick Scholte and Per Anderson, the firm’s founder who trained under Scholte. This style marked the firm as maverick young Turks, a counter to the traditional, heavily structured military style that had long defined the Savile Row suit. Anderson & Sheppard and their contemporaries essentially revolutionised the English-style, with the English cut today being synonymous with the silhouetted and drape espoused by this cadre of tailors. The style would attract a young Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and latterly, the Duke of Windsor), earning the firm the prestige and honour of being a tailor by appointment to the Court of St James. Many decades later, another Prince of Wales would commission his suits from the house before he too would become King, HM King Charles III. The firm would also become a benchmark reference for the high couture fashion industry, having influenced customers including Tom Ford. No longer on the Row but located off-Row on Burlington Street, today the firm continues the bespoke tradition whilst also supplying a range of ready-to-wear apparel from their nearby haberdashery.
GIEVES & HAWKES
Gieves & Hawkes is one of the grandest of the Savile Row tailoring houses, an institution dating back to 1771. The house is renowned as a military tailor of distinction and a bespoke tailor of choice to many of the world’s best-dressed men. The firm has a long legacy as a tailor by appointment to various members of the British Royal Family and other royals, with the warrants to boot. The brand was formed in 1974 when two established tailoring houses merged, Hawkes & Co and Gieve & Co (pronounced with hard ‘G’). Hawkes & Co was founded in 1771 and had carved out a reputation as a preferred tailor to the most senior British Army officers and members of the Royal Household. Gieve & Co was founded in 1887 when it took over an older studio for whom James Gieve had apprenticed, with a legacy of dressing the most senior officers of the Royal Navy. The military tradition of both houses would come to define the Gieves & Hawkes silhouette and, indeed, the English style of defined shoulders and narrow tapered bodies. Today, the firm continues to offer a bespoke tailoring service together with a wide range of ready-to-wear apparel making them a go-to outfitters for their distinguished clientele.
HERBERT JOHNSON
With a reputation for excellent military and uniform hats, Herbert Johnson has been producing fine hats for soldiers and civilians alike for more than 100 years. Founded in 1889, this renowned hatter has given us many of Hollywood’s most iconic headwear, including the legendary fedora worn by Indiana Jones throughout the franchise’s cinematic series. Herbert Johnson was a renowned milliner who masterfully crafted pieces to the exacting function-first standards of the military and also to the grand statement needs of the theatre and, later, the movie industry. The brand became an institution for London’s best-dressed gentlemen and a must-visit for international jet-setters too. Herbert Johnson often engaged Patey Hats to manufacture some of the house’s designs. Today, the marque sits under the umbrella of brands helmed by Swaine.
SMYTHSON
Frank Smythson opened his eponymous stationers in London in 1887 and soon garnered a reputation as a purveyor of the highest quality provisions for London’s smartest families. The house’s bespoke stationery was comprised of the finest materials allowing their customers to convey their extremely high tastes, not to mention their capacity to spare no expense. Smythson’s became a firm favourite of the Royal family and other great households across Europe. The firm expanded their range to include diaries, notebooks, travel accessories and leather goods, particularly bag & handbags, made to the same exacting standards and luxurious brief as their traditional stationery.
A.A. BROWN & SONS: BESPOKE GUNSMITHS TO THE MOST REFINED SPORTSMEN
A luxury high-end gunmaker, A.A. Brown & Sons has been producing bespoke arms to order for the most discerning of sportsmen since 1930. A true gunsmiths, the firm produces their own side by side (the Supreme de Luxe model) and an over and under model (the ABAS Series 8), as well as refurbished pieces from various other marques.
FREDERICK SCHOLTE
Frederick Scholte is often heralded as the originator of the Drape suit and the London Cut / English-style tailoring, the style that has come to define Savile Row. A Dutchman, Scholte emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1880 at the age of 15 or 16. He apprenticed as a tailor, working with the Household Cavalry where he cut military uniforms to the exacting standards of the officers of The Life Guards, The Royal Horse Guards and The Royal Dragoons which then comprised the Household Cavalry and today are better known as The Blues and Royals and The Life Guards. These regiments were historically associated with the nobility, with many of their officers being commissioned from the upper echelons of society. These officers would have deep pockets and high expectations. Scholte would have needed to produce pieces to meet these specifications, with many of the officers using their bespoke uniforms as a means of demonstrating wealth and status and informally competing with one another to be the best presented. Scholte quickly earned a reputation as an outstanding tailor, whose craft was sought out by various members of high society outside of the military. He established his own workshop in the late 1890s and took on a number of apprentices, including Per Anderson who would go on to found his own atelier, Anderson & Sheppard. Scholte’s eye for an exquisite suit, borrowing from the military silhouette but giving a more relaxed, elegant look earned him an envious client list, including the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII, becoming the Duke of Windsor on his abdication), an icon of men’s style. The studio ceased trading on Scholte’s death in the 1940s but the occasional vintage piece still attracts great interest and many are featured in museums and galleries.
FRAZER HAART
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.
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.
FITZGABRIELS 