Gieves & Hawkes

Founded over 200 years ago as a naval and military uniform supplier, Gieves and Hawkens now boasts ready-to-wear showrooms from Hong Kong to Moscow. Yet it is their bespoke service which is in demand by au fait Britons, including new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Under the tutelage of Chief Executive Mark Henderson, who arrived ten years ago, the house that once fitted the UK's most eminent historical figures, including King George III, is now catering to modern-day cognoscenti-all the while maintaining its enviable roster of royal warrants, including being Tailors and Outfitters to The Prince of Wales, Naval Tailors and Outfitters to The Duke of Edinburgh and Livery & Military Tailors to The Queen. The firm fashions 10,000 bespoke suits a year, starting at about £3,000 apiece.
 
 
 

Henry Poole & Co.

When Winston Churchill was photographed toting a Tommy gun in 1936, it was notable not because of the armaments he was clutching but because of the bravado of his ensemble: a daring single-breasted, three-button pinstriped suit by Henry Poole. The Savile Row tailor has reissued that very item, the forerunner to today's power suit, with a two-button front and with the added benefit of cashmere. Established in 1806 and considered the oldest name on the Row, Poole has dressed everyone from Charles de Gaulle to the Duke of Windsor and was the first tailor on the Row to cross the threshold into the Japanese market; today Poole's capable tailors journey quarterly to the U.S. for fittings. But to see them in all their glory, be sure to visit their 15 Savile Row head office, where also on view is their dedicated Livery Department, which creates ceremonial uniforms for state occasions.
 
 
 

Ozwald Boateng

Typified with bold, vibrant linings (think canary-yellow) that announce the suit you're wearing is his, 40-year-old Ozwald Boateng is the Ghana-born, London-raised face of the new Row. His eponymous shop, he says, "revolutionized Savile Row" with sleek hand-made designs that in the 10 years he's been operating have given purists plenty of sleepless nights. Today, this former Creative Director at Givenchy is in demand by the likes of Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson for his trio of tailored clothing lines, including bespoke, which starts at £3,000; made to measure from £1,400; and ready-to-wear at £795-all of which have silenced his once-rowdy critics.
 
 
 

Dege & Skinner

Established in 1865, Dege & Skinner has been outfitting everyone from military men to company directors and Middle Eastern Royalty with custom-made suits and sporting country clothes for over a century. Today, under the watchful eye of head cutter Robert Bailey, men are still seen to with hand-crafted and hand-stitched corporate offerings that start at £2,350; but increasingly, women too are being kitted out, including the likes of Helen Mirren, who wore a zip-up with a corduroy collar and hood and two Dege & Skinner jackets in The Queen. Dege & Skinner also have a range of Scottish Highland dress and riding coats.
 
 
 

Anderson and Sheppard

The onetime purveyor of suits to Prince Charles, who was fond of their distinctive £4,000 double-breasted variety, Anderson and Sheppard is a legendary name dating back to 1906. In the years since, they've created bespoke ensembles for Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper and Noel Coward, among others. Today, having moved off the row and working out of a clubby new showroom on New Burlington Street, customers are seen to with equivalent care and thorough attention-to-detail-even those living in the U.S.: their representatives make bi-annual trips to the States, visiting San Francisco, Chicago and New York.
 
 
 

Kilgour French Stanbury

Helmed by creative director and London-born fashion wunderkind Carlo Brandelli, the house that once outfitted the likes of Cary Grant and Rex Harrison is today a stylish Savile Row bolthole with an arch-modern ethos that trades heavily on lean, narrow silhouettes. Established in 1882, the house was relaunched and rebranded as Kilgour in 2004 with new minimalist interiors done-up in oak hidden behind a 1920s façade of Portland stone. Inside, the bespoke range on offer falls into two categories: an entry-level range consisting of two fittings starts at $2,250, whilst a full-out do-up costs $5,000-good enough for Jude Law and Daniel Craig, both of whom are clients.
 
 
 

Richard James

With a just-launched standalone bi-level bespoke outpost at 19 Clifford Street, directly opposite their 29 Saville Row flagship, Richard James is putting the emphasis on the craft of creating one-off wonders. The decade-old couturier, who has dressed Hollywood royalty and A-list celebs, including Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Elton John, is now aiming to attract more patrons who wish to have his trademark look-single-breasted, two-button suits with side-vents and hacking pockets. James, who was a once named Designer of the Year by British GQ, also boasts a showroom in Tokyo where he sells items from a ready-to-wear line.
 
 
 

H. Huntsman and Sons

Dating back to 1849, it's impossible not to feel special at H Huntsman & Sons: the showroom features a roaring fire and a huge leather chesterfield while the atmospheric workshop buzzes with cutters using antique paraphernalia. Inside, everyone from property brokers to traders and hedge fund brokers get suited to the tune of £3,000 or £1,000 for a lesser ready-to-wear number. But while the corporate look is in demand, the company is known for its country wear, and especially tweeds and checks.
 
 
 

Timothy Everest

With a triumvirate of lines-bespoke, made to measure and ready-to-wear-retailed out of an unlikely East London locale, Timothy Everest's rundown Georgian row house in Spitalfields has lured everyone from corporate execs to sporting legends like David Beckham. They've all made the trek for Everest's no-frills one and two button jackets, complete with slanted pockets, side or center vents and subtle stitching and plane trousers, which led The Guardian newspaper to exclaim, "Everest is a new kind of tailor. He is a champion of what some call the New Bespoke Movement."
 
 
 

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