Sustainability on Savile Row

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SUSTAINABILITY IS at the heart of Concours on Savile Row. Tailoring may be about fashion, but by choosing clothing that is bespoke, hand-crafted and beautifully made, it’ll last for years, not months.

You don’t simply ‘buy’ a Savile Row suit; it is the beginning of a relationship that will last for as long as the suit does. By its very definition, the fabric of that relationship will have bonds that will endure much longer than ‘fast fashion’, with refinements and alterations to keep your suit looking its best. Essentially, buy a garment once, to last, and maintain it.

The same approach is true of the cars on display at Concours on Savile Row; each one, whether it uses the latest battery tech or is a traditional internal-combustion machine, has been engineered to last, rather than be replaced after a few years. The Association of Heritage Engineers is a key partner of the event, extolling the virtues of maintaining the skills that can repair and renew. You can read more about the organisation elsewhere in this catalogue.

For 2023, the Concours has further embraced electric propulsion, with a line-up of classics that boast EV units under their traditional lines, so giving new life to classic motoring style.

However, such conversions can be controversial, which is why we’re also showcasing sustainable fuels courtesy of P1 synthetic fuel. It’s being used in Jonathan Turner’s 3 Litre – the first Bentley to compete at Le Mans. The issue of how cars are powered – past, present and future – is a hot topic, and we’re looking forward to hearing debates play out in the Row’s tailors.

We have also partnered with NetHero, a carbon-offsetting platform for motorists who are looking to become environmentally responsible drivers. Net-Hero is powered by a database of millions of registered vehicles that allows drivers to accurately calculate the greenhouse-gas emissions for both new and classic cars.

After entering the details of their vehicle to calculate its carbon footprint, motorists can contribute to high-quality carbon projects by purchasing from the Net-Hero offset basket, which has been developed with decarbonisation specialist BeZero Carbon. They will then be emailed a certificate and a custom vignette to showcase their new status as an environmentally friendly driver, from as little as 0.2 pence per mile.

As part of the collaboration, NetHero will be analysing Concours on Savile Row itself to see how the event can be as environmentally sustainable as possible in coming years.

The future is all about making the very best out of our resources – and Savile Row’s grand traditions of craftsmanship are at the heart of recyclability and sustainability.

THIS YEAR, Concours on Savile Row is all about the Art of Bespoke – and fittingly, we’ve teamed up with the nearby Royal Academy of Arts to stage both a gala dinner and a seminar on Cars as Works of Art.

For more than 250 years, the Royal Academy (RA) has championed art and design, led by the Royal Academicians – artists and architects elected by their peers in recognition of their exceptional work. The RA is also home to Britain’s longestestablished art school, RA Schools, and each year since 1768 it has hosted the Summer Exhibition –the largest open-submission art exhibition in the world.

The Royal Academy stages free displays throughout the year, as well as touring art exhibitions from around the globe. The RA is currently displaying Souls Grown Deep Like The Rivers: Black Artists from the American South, until June 18. This showcases unique African American artistic traditions and methods of storytelling. The exhibition brings together 60 works from the early 20th century to the present day, in various media including sculpture, paintings, reliefs, drawings and quilts, largely drawn from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta. This will be the first time many of the artworks have been seen in Europe, and artists include Thornton Dial, Hawkins Bolden, Bessie Harvey and more.

From June 13 until August 20, there’s a chance to take in around 1200 works of art at the 255th Summer Exhibition, while from July