Financial Times FT.com

It’s hard to keep Savile Row out of the news these days. First it is creating a headline-making sartorial kite mark to distinguish its high-end suits from those of lower-grade impersonators. Then it embarks on a form of mass-market outreach borrowed from other global names. After Karl Lagerfeld and Jimmy Choo for H&M, and Giles Deacon for New Look comes ... Timothy Everest for Marks and Spencer and Richard James for Austin Reed.

Richard James for Austin Reed

The move, not surprisingly, is causing some controversy. One minute Savile Row is fighting for untouchable supremacy and a physical emblem of superlative quality; the next it is setting up camp in the inherently democratic high street. Can such a seemingly illogical evolution really ever work?