The Crown Prince of Couture

Hardy Amies set up his eponymous couture house in 1946, taking over a bombed-out building on Savile Row after working as an intelligence officer during World War II. Though he is most remembered as official dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II—a position he took up in 1955—he applied his talents to a diverse range of projects during his career, including the creation of uniforms for British Airways in 1972 and costumes for Stanley Kubrick’s Sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Amies died in 2003, but this year marks what would have been his 100th birthday, and to celebrate an exhibition of artifacts from the Hardy Amies archive is taking place at the house’s Savile Row Premises, from November 14.