Founding father of the Row and founding Savile Row Bespoke Association (SRBA) member Henry Poole has looked back to its very first Royal Warrant to mark its 220th anniversary.

Established in 1806, Poole’s became the first bespoke tailor on Savile Row in 1846 and the first of the many Royal Warrants it has been granted followed in 1858, courtesy of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Napoleon III.

While revisiting its archives to mark the anniversary, Henry Poole uncovered references to a “superfine blue” cloth recorded in commissions for the Emperor. Further research revealed corresponding entries in the archives of Vitale Barberis Canonico, the historic Italian mill founded in 1663, which had supplied some of the fabrics used for Napoleon III’s original orders.

Cloth orders placed by the mill in 1847 align directly with Henry Poole’s own ledgers from the same year, suggesting that the material travelled from Biella to Savile Row before being tailored for the French ruler. Those parallel records have now inspired a collaboration between the two houses to recreate the distinctive blue as a new cloth to mark Henry Poole’s 220th anniversary.

Napoleon III was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the first president, second emperor and last monarch of France. He lived in exile in London during the 1840s, but when he granted Henry Poole his Royal Warrant in 1858 he was firmly established on the French throne.

“The priority of this project was to honour the “superfine blue” recorded in both the Henry Poole and VBC archives,” explains Henry Poole Managing Director Simon Cundey (pictured). “We explored a wide range of shades before blending a soft pastel blue with a deeper RAF blue to bring this reimagined “superfine blue” to life. Woven as a lightweight flannel with a herringbone finish, the cloth is understated yet distinctive.”