PICTURED: JAMES MACAUSLAN, ANDREW ROWLEY AND KIERAN WRIGHT.
Jermyn Street’s Open Door Series will be honouring the brands and businesses that make our street the home of gentleman’s style, and the pinnacle of British craftsmanship, by spotlighting your favourite brands, and the people behind them, as we get ready to invite you through our doors once more!
Budd Shirtmakers have encapsulated British luxury since their inception over one-hundred years ago. Harold Budd, an exclusively bespoke shirtmaker, founded the brand in 1910, and his passion for high-quality garments laid the foundations for what Budd is today.
The Budd collar, Budd bows, the Budd stripe, and even the brand’s penchant for Madder silks, all find their origin in Harold Budd himself. The current location of the store, in the iconic Piccadilly Arcade, which connects Piccadilly to Jermyn Street, is also vastly similar to the original shop opened by Mr Budd, which was also in the Arcade. After the bombing of the Arcade during the blitz, Mr. Budd purchased the only shop-front still standing, which happened to be directly opposite his original shop, and this became the Budd we know today. Budd Shirtmakers are now the only original tenants of Piccadilly Arcade, and their traditional shirt-cutting practices remain unchanged – making them true icons of gentleman’s tailoring.
Budd’s cutting room is above the shop – again one of only a handful of establishments in Mayfair to still have this on-site – and this is where their bespoke shirts are created. The cutting room and the cutting team, made up of three artisans who have almost ninety-years of experience between them, are the beating heart of Budd and the place where they create what they believe to be the most important component of an outfit – the shirt! They carry over 1000 shirting options from the finest mills Europe as well as offering their own, in-house cloths. After being measured, a pattern is drawn up, the cloth is expertly cut and then it is sent to their workshop in Andover for construction; the team here goes through a complex, twenty-step process to make each shirt.
Budd’s authority of cut, quality and craftsmanship translates into their made-to-measure and ready-to-wear shirts, as well as their famed bespoke pieces. Budd is a destination for dress wear and dress shirts, and Budd customers know there will be no better feeling than the sartorial excitement of walking into a party wearing Budd when we have the chance to dress up once more. Their nightwear range, also synonymous with the brand, has unsurprisingly dominated sales over the last 12 months, meaning you can live in the luxury and refinement of Budd twenty-four hours a day if you so choose.
Everything about Budd Shirtmakers is a celebration of British craftsmanship and time-honoured tradition, a perfect fit with Jermyn Street. The meticulous and personal approach to what they do so well is only made possible by Budd’s fantastic team – a loyal and tight-knit community. A live-chat feature has been recently launched on their website, so you can now engage with the people behind the brand from the comfort of your own home, though Budd are very much looking forward to welcoming you through their doors once again in person.