Last Friday Michael Skinner, the wonderfully warm master cutter and chairman of Dege & Skinner, was kind enough to invite me and a handful of others to lunch at the Merchant Taylors. The occasion was the launch of Michael’s book, The Savile Row Cutter, which has been written as a conversation with artist Hormazd Narielwalla (pictured below, left).

Covering Michael’s life in tailoring, beginning when he joined the family firm in 1952 as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, it discusses the cutters that he has trained and the characters he has come up against. It also includes some great pictures, including a specially requested plate of the Princes William and Harry in their Blues & Royals dress uniform.

Although I have yet to read the book, and will write a full review when I have done so, it looks like a great insight into the Row – particularly the first couple of decades that few but Michael now remember. Fortunately, given the recent growth in popularity of tailoring, more publishers are becoming confident in commissioning works like this that will broaden the common knowledge of the Row and preserve its great stories.

The book is available on Amazon and elsewhere from next month, priced £25. Thank you for lunch, Michael.