British tailoring - from Savile Row to Paul Smith, Tommy Nutter and Ozwald Boateng - goes under the spotlight tonight, as the series exploring what makes British fashion and style so distinctive continues.
Tonight's programme delves into the history of tailoring and Savile Row, tracing its roots in military and aristocratic dress, and featuring contributions from Paul Smith; Ozwald Boeteng; Timothy Everest; Michael Caine (pictured in the 1960s), Roger Moore; Edward Sexton; John Pearse; Twiggy; Salman Rushdie; and Richard James.
The film shows how tailoring is a story of elegant craftsmanship. Honed in the workshops of Savile Row tailors including Henry Poole, Anderson & Sheppard and Timothy Everest, it describes the process of creating a bespoke suit - from the 40 separate measurements that create a blueprint of the wearer's body to the painstaking weeks of cutting, stitching and fitting that go into making a suit unique to the wearer.
Paul Smith is a household name in Japan. The programme traces the growth of his business from its humble beginnings in Nottingham back in the early 1970s to the global brand it is today, with more than 200 shops in Japan alone.
The film follows Smith on one of his many trips to Japan where he explains the enduring appeal of his "classics with a twist" formula, and how an interest in tailoring, combined with a love of all things colourful, eccentric and distinctively British, is at the heart of his clothing.
High-street retailer Burton was founded in 1900 and, in its heyday, clothed a third of the male population of Britain. The programme meets the company's brand director, who reveals plans to revive Burton's classic styles with a Heritage line of clothing.
The programme also looks at the some of the greatest style icons in men's fashion - from James Bond in the 1960s and Twiggy's Tommy Nutter suits in the 1970s to "Cool Britannia's" young tailors such as Ozwald Boateng, Richard James and Timothy Everest in the 1990s.
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