On the morning of St George’s Day, April 23rd, swathes of immaculately dressed chaps and chapettes gathered outside No. 3 Savile Row to demonstrate peacefully – but firmly – against Abercrombie & Fitch’s proposed plans to open a children’s store there.
The protest began in earnest at 10:15am, when chumrades in arms marched around the corner to Abercrombie’s flagship store on Burlington Gardens, stabbing the air defiantly with home-made banners declaring “Give Three-Piece a Chance”. On the very steps of enemy HQ, Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer led the troops in song, chanting “All we are saying is, give three-piece a chance” adapted from John Lennon’s original.
Once pitched outside A&F’s flagship store, demonstrators were greeted by hordes of press, both local and international, accumulated on the opposite pavement. Also in attendance was the Chief inspector of Savile Row Constabulary, who commented to one of the protestors: “In all honesty, this is the best dressed demonstration I have ever seen.” We hope the Chief Inspector will add his signature to our petition and help keep riff-raff off the Row.
After a final rousing chorus of Give Three-piece a Chance, the protesters dashed off to the French House for a much-needed mid-morning snifter, since the Martini hour had long since passed. By 9pm GMT on Monday night, news of the protest had ripped through the press, both in the UK and across the pond, with reports featured in The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Fox News, The Metro, The Evening Standard, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Business Week and more. With all this media attention, we’re confident Westminster Council will veto A&F’s application to open a children’s store on Savile Row, and allow it to remain the heartland of British bespoke tailoring.
www.guardian.co.uk
www.thisislondon.co.uk
www.metro.co.uk
www.gq.com
wwww.express.co.uk
www.forbes.com
www.washingtonpost.com
www.latimes.com
Photo by Stephanie Wolff. To view more, visit www.flickr.com
To sign our petition against Abercrombie & Fitch, visit www.petition.co.uk
