Edward Sexton is back on Savile Row with 'contemporary' new shop

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 11, 2022

Edward Sexton has opened a new flagship store on London’s historic home of made-to-measure high-end tailoring, Savile Row.

Sexton worked with interior designer Daniel Hopwood to create the new Savile Row space, which marks a return for him after he originally opened there with business partner Tommy Nutter in 1969 via the founding of Nutter’s.

The new store is a few doors along from his earlier home as he’s now at number 35, with the opening also marking Sexton’s sixth decade in bespoke tailoring. 

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With an interior created by Hopwood and his studio team, it's meant to “transport clients into the glamorous ever-so-slightly rebellious world of Edward Sexton with dark indulgent design features throughout”. 

The large central marble island “evokes a familiar bar-like feel for clients to gather round and socialise and doubles as a bespoke tailor’s cutting table”. Two fitting rooms are separated by plush navy velvet brocade curtains finished with standing mirrors and mid-century furniture.

The walls feature a collage of corduroy and geometric vinyl shapes to mirror “the sharp lines and smooth textures of a Sexton suit while dramatic lighting shapes the space inviting customers to consider standout pieces”. 

There are also artworks from the Carl Kostyál gallery that’s a neighbour of the store on the other side of Savile Row.

It’s clearly designed to create a contemporary feel in what could otherwise have been a very traditional interior. The company said that “with Studio Hopwood's imprint, No.35 is more comparable to the boutique of a Bond Street designer brand than a bespoke tailor, channelling the forward-thinking approach to design that Sexton has always been known for”.

Sexton creative director Dominic Sebag-Montefiore said: "We wanted to create something that was very masculine and British but also fun. We've tried to channel a sense of the classic Savile Row retail experience and charm but bring it into a much more modern environment. We've got products on display that are beautifully lit with the light drawing the attention to where it needs to be and there's a real sense of theatre and occasion with the huge mirror we've got. Little touches like the trays that house our ties give a slice of that classic gentleman's outfitters experience, where the shop assistant might pull them out from a drawer behind the counter. 

“The shop has an old-world charm, but above all it's a meeting place where people can come hang out and chat and hopefully feel really comfortable. For us luxury is about being welcoming warm and indulgent. I want people to take their time and engage with our world rather than shop in a more structured rigid way that you might find elsewhere on the street.”

To mark the opening, the label has also released a new brand film that can be viewed on its home page and that “tackles the themes of sartorial rebirth”. Inspired by David Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars’ it stars former Royal Ballet Principal Edward Watson as “the physical embodiment of Sexton's return to the Row”.

It’s an interesting film that’s about as far removed from the idea of traditional Savile Row marketing campaigns as it’s possible to get.