Inside Rich's, Savile Row's New One-Stop Ready-to-Wear Shop
Down the basement steps that front Richard Anderson's tailoring house on London's Savile Row, a newly installed neon sign glows bright green. It reads RICH'S, and invites passersby into a refurbished space which aims to keep pace with the increasingly relaxed tastes of a historically traditionalist street.
The ready-to-wear sub-shop, which opened its doors in early November below the bespoke atelier, sells seersucker sports coats, Japanese jeans, dressing gowns, baseball caps and the like. Curious about the venture, I headed to the OG parlour – prior to the opening party for downstairs, held, yes, downstairs – to speak with the man himself and his daughter, Molly, who has been learning the ropes for a few years now.
They continued to cut and measure as we talked. After all, there's always a customer (or two, or four, or more) waiting, perhaps someone as famous as Benicio del Toro or Sir Ian McKellen, judging by the pattern card scraps that hang on the wall behind them. There are names of some late greats up there too, including George Michael and American fashion icon, Andre Leon Talley. What a rich (ba-dum-tssch) 23 years the brand has had so far.
“We've been here since 2001, and we started doing ready-to-wear a couple of years later,” Richard tells me of the boutique he co-founded alongside fellow Savile Row veteran Brian Lishak, following shared stretches at Huntsman down the road. “Although it's a big shop, we were running out of space.”
“So,” the craftsman stops crafting to look me in the eye, “the logical thing to do when the basement went up for sale just pre-COVID was to take that and expand our business in a more casual way, keeping with today's wearability without losing track of what we do up here: the handwork.”
Richard's decision to advance further into ready-to-wear is, he tells me, inspired by his customers' advice as well as a desire for growth: “There's only so many units we can do when it comes to bespoke. There's only so many units I can cut per year, that's static.”
But I can't help but assume that 28-year-old Molly, who has worked with/for her father for a few years now, has been pushing this approach.
“The ready-to-wear is a really nice gateway in,” she deftly replies, emphasising the importance of catering to a diverse clientele, regardless of their comfort with formalwear. Richard Anderson's ready-to-wear, she explains, has always appealed to a wide audience, including those seeking last-minute solutions.
“We had a customer this week,” she offers up as an example, “a very loyal customer, who was like, 'Rich, help me! I've got an event in two days,' and he was like, 'Done.'”
She looks over to her father, admirably. He opts to share the praise: “We couldn't do that with bespoke, of course. But because we have the ready-to-wear velvet jackets, we had him sorted in an instant.”
That's not to mention the new generation of Savile Row devotees who often lack the disposable income for a made-to-measure suit. “It's more affordable, and – obviously, or typically – the young don't have as much money.”
Ever since founding his eponymous enterprise, Richard says he has felt a duty to foster an inclusive environment on the Row.
“Because of the way we've done the shop here — brighter, not very traditional without the big stag heads etc. — and because of Molly and the rest of the young team here, we get a lot of younger people come through. Certainly compared to my old life [as head cutter] at Huntsman.”
Molly believes that her generation is drawn to high-quality apparel due to a preference for timeless pieces and a commitment to sustainability. She hopes Rich's opens the brand to more people her age, as she believes the pieces up for offer “are wonderful investments”.
“It's better to do that investment than to spend little bits on all these fast-fashion things which are not only a big contributor to polluting the environment but also don't last.”
Richard turns to me to add, bluntly: “It's expensive but it’s all about value for money.”
Tailoring, it should be said, is tough work, and Molly's enthusiasm for the family business is palpable (though she does tell me that her siblings encouraged her towards the role: “Please do that so we don't have to”). She tells me she has learned to enjoy the “fast-paced nature" of the business and “the fact that you actually have to do it well”.
“There's no choice in the matter, what with the clientele and the quality," she continues. She loves “Interacting with the characters that come through the door”. But, above all, she relishes the job because she's “always loved making things”.
“It's about product, and making customers say 'Wow'. I love the fact that here, from beginning to end, you're actually creating something, which is quite rare for jobs nowadays.”
Molly's desire for tangible results are what diverted her from a career in writing, despite studying for an English language degree and completing work experience in newspapers and publishing houses. She officially joined her father in 2019, first as a front-of-house stand-in. She instantly and unexpectedly found enjoyment in the role.
Then the pandemic hit and everyone was put on furlough. After a brief period of working from their garage, she and her father returned to Mayfair where he trained her as a tailor. “I used this time to get my skills in, and when customers started returning, they didn't even recognise me as his daughter – I was just getting on with it!”
“Now, Molly has her own book of clients,” Richard chimes in, reflecting on her career progression with more than a hint of pride in his grin.
“You know, someone like me — my customers have been with me for many years. You get the bandwidth of those who are 10 years younger than you and 10 years older than you. Molly can fill the gap. I already see it now: she's got some customers who will just come to her for advice. They don't come to me for advice! It’s good; it has to happen. You have a new generation – a new breed of customers – coming in.”
Molly, slightly bashful after hearing this, throws the spotlight back onto her father. “Obviously, a lot of my advice has come from Dad. But it's nice that people want to hear from us both, as I always put my own spin on things.”
Together, via Rich's, they aim to stitch together a fresh approach on sartorial sophistication.
“We have so many ideas for the future,” shares Molly. “Every other week we'll be like, 'Why don't we do this,' and then a prototype comes up.”
“What I want to do with Rich's is combine the very traditional formal elements that I was taught, put it in a more contemporary, relevant setting but never taking away from the property that I was taught,” Richard says. “The products and space have been well-received so far, but we will see how it goes.”
Rich's is now open on Savile Row. You can also shop Richard Anderson's ready-to-wear line on the brand's webstore.
You Might Also Like
