Hardy Amies was a British brand specialising in luxury menswear, founded by Sir Hardy Amies in 1946. In its formative years, the Savile Row store focused on couture, and had a great reputation for quality tailoring. Hardy Amies became one of the first European designers to create ready-to-wear, resulting in a menswear line for Hepworths tailors in 1961. This collection was created with the intention of making his customers feel young and modern, inspired by the popular American and Italian styles at the time. History was made again when Hardy Amies showed the first ready-to-wear men’s catwalk show in 1961 at the Savoy Hotel in London.
Hardy Amies is perhaps most well known for their catering to high-profile clientele. Among these was Queen Elizabeth II, who, in 1955 awarded Amies with a Royal Warrant as her official dressmaker. The gown which Hardy Amies designed for the 1977 Silver Jubilee portrait is classic and famed. Amies described how it would be ‘immortalised on a thousand biscuit tins’. The warrant as royal dressmaker won the brand notoriety and respect. Hardy Amies as a fashion house held the warrant until up until Amies’ death in 2003. From 1990, creative directors Ken Fleetwood, and then Jon Moore, designed for the Queen until 2002.
Having pioneered and changed the game for luxury men’s ready-to-wear, this historic and celebrated fashion house experienced many owners throughout the course of its existence. After going into administration for the second time in 2018, the Savile Row store closed in 2019.