“Savile Row has always been, and remains, the international byword for bespoke, but today’s customers are not always willing or able to wait weeks or months to receive their finished items,” explains Jhangir Azam, co-founder and CEO, Arthur Sleep – a bespoke shoemaker transforming the traditional Savile Row experience with cutting-edge technology.
Fitted at breakfast and delivered by lunchtime, Arthur Sleep customers can place an order and receive a pair of the finest bespoke shoes on the same day. They can even watch them being made, and by extension witness the return of bespoke shoemaking to London for the first time in 150 years. In the best Savile Row tradition, their shoes will be entirely personalised and made to measure.
Azam continues: “As both a bespoke shoe company and a technology and manufacturing pioneer, our approach is one of preservation through innovation. We inject new life into Savile Row and uphold its traditions by offering our customers the most technologically advanced service ever seen in this market. In particular, our same-day model enables international business and leisure visitors to enjoy an authentic Savile Row experience and receive their order in time to return home – something that has simply never been possible with an authentic Savile Row product before.”
The company has established its new micro-factory, covering just 64 square metres, in the heart of London’s Mayfair on the principles of ‘hyper-proximity’. This not only brings the entire manufacturing process much closer to its customers, reducing delays, waste, and carbon expenditure through logistics chains, it also enhances speed, efficiency, and responsiveness.
While such prosaic matters may be anathema to more traditional denizens of Savile Row, they are of
urgent concern to today’s younger luxury consumer. While eager to own bespoke garments with the cachet and story associated with any Savile Row product, they can be deterred by long lead times. Historically, this has affected international sales significantly, with travellers unable to wait for their items to be made, or unwilling to make a special return trip for a second or third fitting.
Commissioning a pair of bespoke Arthur Sleep shoes, known affectionately as ‘Sleepers’ by its cohort of international patrons (a reference to the evening-wear slipper silhouette that Arthur Sleep popularised on Savile Row) solves this problem without compromising on the peerless quality of product, service, and experience that its location demands.
The process begins with taking measurements of the customer’s feet in a lasting trunk equipped with a modesty lid, allowing customers to avoid exposing their bare feet to the public gaze. Customers stand on a lasting pad to take an imprint of their feet, which is used by cordwainers (the traditional British name for shoemakers) to create a perfectly fitting upper. This takes no more than three minutes to complete. Customers are then able to select their upper material, sole type, and colour, as well as specify a personal monogram or motif.
Arthur Sleep also enables its patrons to submit their own materials to test the cordwainers’ skills and ingenuity: an endeavour cherished by the brand’s customers. To date, the team has produced unique bespoke shoes from customers’ redundant yacht sails, a Royal Mint coin bag, cherished suits that have finally exceeded their capacity for economic repair, damaged ski apparel, offcuts of material used to re-trim a 1952 Jaguar XK120, and even a parachute that saw service in the Second World War.
Chris Boadle, co-founder and CTO, adds: “London remains one of the world’s leading luxury shopping destinations for overseas customers. Savile Row has historically struggled to take advantage of this demand: the sheer amount of time involved in commissioning and making bespoke items doesn’t fit with people’s travel plans.
“Through our advanced technology and hyper-proximity, micro-manufacturing model, we’ve addressed this issue. In doing so, we also answer the wider shift in priorities among a younger generation of consumers. They require a faster, more streamlined yet highly bespoke and effortless personal service. Arthur Sleep, through its farm-to-table offering, unquestionably provides this.”
Prices start at £1,000 for bespoke Arthur Sleep shoes, including local taxes.
Factbox
Address: 7-8 Savile Row, Mayfair, London, W1S 3PE
Phone: +44 (0) 208 123 6619
Website: arthursleep.com
