In two weeks’ time, on Monday October 5th, there will be a reprise of Sheep On The Row – the event that five years ago saw the Row carpeted in grass and covered in sheep.
You can see coverage of that previous event here. It was a wonderful atmosphere. Sheep strolled peacefully, bespoke-clad shepherds tended casually to them, and all the bespoke houses had work on display – with their front doors open.
The format will be similar this year. There will be two sheds at either end of the grass, housing information on the major sheep-growing regions. There will be two flocks of sheep on display, Bowmont Merino and Exmoor. And 25 tailoring houses are making special pieces to be displayed on models, in cloths of different mills. (It will be the biggest group of tailors ever to put their work on display at the same time.)
The event is open to anyone to come along, though be warned GQ will be roving about taking street-style photos. It runs from 10am to 6pm and marks the beginning of Wool Week in the UK.
For any young tailors and apprentices out there, a photo shoot is also being organised for the morning of the 5th, around the postbox on the corner of Burlington Gardens. Intended to celebrate the wealth of new talent coming into the industry, it is open to anyone to come along. Email [email protected] for more information.
(I can’t believe it was five years ago. And I had hair back then!)
On the subject of wool , is it ever acceptable to hav,e for example , a Pea Coat with 80% Wool and 20% Polyester?
Or is wool able to withstand the worst of a Britsh shower?
P.S. And no ,Simon. 5 years ago you also did not have hair . More the remnants of a shaven Mohican !
I’d always go with 100% wool. Polyester will be slightly more waterproof, but as long as you look after your coat (hang it up after wear, somewhere with ventilation and not near direct heat) it will be fine.
Is this done in conjunction with the guys at Finisterre? I seem to remember they had something to do with the Bowmont sheep, I have a bennie made from their wool.
No
Sounds like a lovely event, but isn’t pretty much all fleece used in all major tailoring fabrics now Australian or New Zealand derived? (With the obvious exceptions of Harris Tweed etc and other homespun tweeds).
I was under the impression that was kind of a done and dusted thing and that British sheep farmers had long ago resigned to farming lamb solely for meat with the fleeces going into industrial uses, carpet etc, but the fleeces from these isles too coarse for clothing fabric.
Hoping I’m wrong.
The vast vast majority is Aus/NZ and a bit of SA, yes. But there is a small number of English and obviously they’re trying to highlight those
Is the coarseness due to the breeds reared in the UK vs. Aus/NZ or is it to do with the way they are farmed? Or maybe some other factor? Have to confess I’d never really noticed those countries have a such monopoly on clothing wool…
Environment mostly. You couldn’t produce the same breeds in the UK
Ignore the hair comment Simon, the suit and the look are timeless.
I haven’t noticed that particular a&s suit on your posts in recent times: do you still own/wear it?
Yes, it was the first Savile Row suit I had made. Haven’t featured it for a while though, no. It’s a three piece Prince of Wales in Fox Flannel
I recently bought a cardigan in geelong wool, but I am struggling to find any information about that type of wool. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it “animal friendly”? More durable? How does it compare to other types of wool?
Geelong is a city in Australia, and a type of merino wool. It is usually a particularly fine merino, though the term isn’t always used consistently with any quality type
There have always been sheep on Saville Row.
Most of them have two legs.
It was only a matter of time before somebody made that very obvious joke so… thanks for being the one Richard.
There’s an upside to every truism.
But calling out the obvious doesn’t automatically disprove it (Logical fallacies 101).