Abercrombie & Fitch appeal against Savile Row party ban
American fashion chain Abercrombie & Fitch are to appeal against a decision to ban a their planned ‘nightclub style’ launch party on London’s Savile Row after traditional tailors on the historic street bandied together to block the plans.
The brand had planned to celebrate the opening of a dedicated childrenswear outlet on the genteel enclave by shipping in bus-loads of bare chested male models and pumping out high octane music.
That prospect so incensed the neighbours that they undertook to lobby Westminster Council to block the event, an action which has subsequently proven successful.
Mark Henderson, chairman of Gieves & Hawkes and the Savile Row Bespoke Association told the Evening Standard: 'Slapping an American kids' shop in the middle of Savile Row would be a knife in the gut for us.
“This street is unique. There are 100 tailors in our workshops. Abercrombie are brilliant at what they do, but $30 shirts are not Savile Row.
“We have celebrity clients but they get dropped off by limo and come to shop in privacy. It's not about lining everybody up to stare open-mouthed at them in a red carpet.
“Our clientele is more Tatler and Country Life than Hello! magazine.”