INTERVIEW
became Prime Minister in 1940, a member of staff at Henry Poole, in desperation, sent the outstanding bill to Number 10 Downing Street. The bill was paid immediately, but Churchill never visited Henry Poole again! Although
Angus’s father, Samuel
Cundey, made no reference to this great legacy, he did set in motion a plan that continues to reap benefits for British tailoring to this day. “I had two weeks’ holiday and was then sent to Paris,” recalled Angus. “Our Paris branch had been ransacked by the Germans in 1940 and we never opened it again, so I was sent to learn to sew at Lanvin Menswear. They showed me how to pad collars and even how to hold a needle, but more importantly for me, and for Henry Poole, they taught me French.” After Paris and National Service – Angus drove ambulances for the RAF in East Anglia – he spent time at the Tailor and Cutter Academy, before heading through the doors of Henry Poole. However, it was not long before Angus was back in Paris.
“My father had written to all our pre- war French customers in 1963 and said I am sending my son with cloth samples and measuring tape. Business took off and so I began to take our head cutter with me. This was really the start of my career because the Paris business became quite big and we acquired some wonderful customers in Paris. “General de Gaulle was one,” explains Angus, “until he suddenly went the other way and said ‘I am not going to wear English suits anymore’.” We had Prime Minister Balladur, who was a most charming customer for years. He would send a police car to fetch me from the hotel to take me to the Matignon and I used to be embarrassed as the police would put on the sirens and people would stare and wonder what I had done. But then Balladur put himself up for President of France and a spin doctor told him he shouldn’t wear waistcoats and he shouldn’t wear English suits and he promptly lost the election. “President Giscard d’Estaing became a wonderful customer and remains so to this day. In fact, one of our senior cutters went to Paris just a couple of weeks ago because d’Estaing had phoned up – he must be
about 90 now – and said ‘I want a new sports jacket’. As our cutter was leaving he said: ‘I hope Henry Poole doesn’t do a Brexit and not come to Paris anymore.’” With such fond memories of Paris and possible plans to open again in the French capital, “maybe sharing with a shirt maker”, it is a surprise to learn that Angus voted to leave in the recent EU Referendum. His reasoning is simple though. “Henry Poole has always been a totally international company,” he says. “The EU is really not so busy as it once was. Switzerland is busier than Paris and America accounts for 40% of our business. The UK is 32%, while the EU accounts for 11%, but we also do 11% in Japan and we would like to extend our business in China and even more in Japan.” Leave or not though, Angus remains in regular contact with the EU Commission thanks to his work on creating a geographical indicator (GI) for Savile Row with the Savile Row Bespoke Association (SRB), which he co-founded some 15 years ago. This pioneering work aims to protect the name Savile Row in a similar way to the existing protection for foods such as champagne and Parma ham. “As it stands at the moment you cannot protect the name Savile Row as it’s the name of a place, but we have registered Savile Row Bespoke. Despite Brexit I remain very confident of it working successfully – a wine maker in Kent is not going to suddenly produce white wine and call it champagne is he?” An unlikely supporter of SRB’s GI campaign is the GMB union. During the annual wage negotiation for the Savile Row tailors, which Angus still oversees, there was a discussion about GI. The union was immediately behind the campaign. “They realise it will protect their workers and so have been really helpful,” said Angus. “They explained that they have a branch in Brussels and offered the services of their European officer Kathleen Walker. The upshot is that we have already addressed the 300 delegates in the European Parliament and are now in touch with a chap in Switzerland who looks after the whole of the wine and food GI and he is keen on getting involved on our behalf.” The success of the GI campaign would be the perfect way for Angus to conclude R
SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE
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