When the governor of the Bank of England stood up to address 300 City bigwigs last month, there was a striking difference from previous Mansion House dinners — no-one was wearing black-tie.
The historic relaxation of one of London’s stuffiest dress codes was a relief to many attendees after temperatures struck a record-breaking 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier in the day.
But heat waves and increasingly casual fashion habits pose a headache to one of the capital’s best-known industries on the other side of town: the tailors of Savile Row.
Savile Row has faced a tough time after stores closed during Covid following several years of rising rents, but the latest threats in its 200 years of history are perhaps more subtle and pervasive.
“The boundaries are blurred now” between the office and the outside world, said Nick Paget, senior editor at WGSN, a retail trends forecaster. “The very traditional pinstriped suit starts to feel like an anachronism.”
