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What’s This About
Huntsman’s own history names the Prince of Wales who became Edward VIII, Gregory Peck and Clark Gable among its clients.
This guide covers the clients the house names, the claims that belong to other tailors, and how to wear the cut, such as:
The one-button jacket with a strong shoulder and long skirt
Colin Hammick, the head cutter who set the house cut
The Kingsman films, which took Huntsman as inspiration
Why Bing Crosby’s denim dinner jacket was a Levi’s
A tweed one-button jacket with flannel trousers
and many more!
Borrow the one-button cut from any tailor, and judge the jacket by its fit.
Key Points
01Huntsman dates itself to 1849 and moved to 11 Savile Row in 1919.
02The house names Edward VIII as Prince of Wales, Gregory Peck, Clark Gable, Adele Astaire and Nicole Kidman among its clients.
03Alexander McQueen trained at Anderson & Sheppard and Gieves & Hawkes, not Huntsman.
04A high price does not prove quality; judge cloth, construction and fit.
Huntsman is a bespoke tailor at 11 Savile Row in London, known for a one-button jacket with a strong shoulder and a long skirt.
The house dates itself to 1849, when Henry Huntsman took over a gaiter and breeches maker, and its own history traces that business back to a breeches maker of 1809.
Huntsman moved to Savile Row in 1919 and also has a showroom in New York.
This guide looks at the clients Huntsman itself names, corrects some claims that are often repeated about the house, and shows how to wear its cut.
For the history of the street, see our guide to Savile Row tailors.
A Note on Celebrity Client Lists
Long lists of famous Huntsman clients circulate online, but many names on them have no source and some belong to other tailors.
On this page we name clients that Huntsman names in its own history or that a reference source records, and we correct the claims that dated records contradict.
From Breeches Maker to Bespoke Tailor
Huntsman began by making riding breeches and gaiters, the hard-wearing country clothes of Victorian men’s fashion.
Its history credits Robert Packer with turning it into a full bespoke tailoring house in the 1930s.
Colin Hammick, who joined in 1942 and became head cutter in the 1950s, set what the house calls the Huntsman cut: a clean, structured silhouette with strong shoulders, a defined chest and a long line.
The house describes its signature one-button coat as having a strong shoulder, a clean chest and a long skirt.
Wear: a one-button navy or charcoal wool jacket, a white poplin shirt, a dark silk tie, grey flannel trousers and black Oxford shoes.
Royal Clients
Huntsman’s history names the Prince of Wales who later became Edward VIII among its clients.
Its first royal warrant, in 1886, was as leather breeches maker to an earlier Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.
The house also states that royal warrants and royal patronage followed its move to Savile Row, without naming every holder.
Hollywood Clients: Gregory Peck and Clark Gable
Gregory Peck and Clark Gable are the two film stars Huntsman names in its own history.
If you are weighing up whether such a suit is worth its price, see our guide to whether a Huntsman suit is worth the price.
Wear: a mid-grey single-breasted wool suit with a structured shoulder, a pale blue shirt, a navy tie, a white folded pocket square and dark brown leather shoes.
Other Clients the House Names
Huntsman’s history also names Adele Astaire, the dancer and sister of Fred Astaire, the actor Nicole Kidman, the Vogue editor Hamish Bowles and the England team that won the 1966 World Cup.
The list shows that the house has dressed women as well as men, and sportsmen as well as actors.
Huntsman and the Kingsman Films
Huntsman says Matthew Vaughn’s films Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The King’s Man took the house as their inspiration.
In the films, the Kingsman spy agency works from behind a tailor’s shop on Savile Row.
Clients Listed in Reference Sources
Wikipedia’s history of the house, citing Huntsman’s own client list, also names clients including Winston Churchill, Lord Mountbatten, Laurence Olivier and David Bowie.
Reference sources such as Wikipedia also list Gianni Agnelli among Huntsman’s clients, though he is better known for suits from the Caraceni tailors in Milan, as our guide to Gianni Agnelli’s style explains.
The Fiat chairman was also known for sprezzatura, such as wearing his watch over his shirt cuff.
Claims That Belong to Other Tailors
Several stories often attached to Huntsman are recorded differently elsewhere.
Alexander McQueen: his Savile Row training is recorded at Anderson & Sheppard, where he served a coat-making apprenticeship, and then at Gieves & Hawkes as a pattern cutter.
Bing Crosby’s denim dinner jacket: after Crosby was refused entry to a hotel in Vancouver for wearing denim, Levi Strauss & Co. made him a denim tuxedo jacket in 1951.
Winston Churchill’s siren suits: reference sources name Turnbull & Asser, which made a bottle-green velvet one, and Austin Reed as makers.
How to Wear the Huntsman Look
You can borrow the house cut from ready-made, made-to-measure or bespoke tailoring.
Try a one-button jacket: a single button set at the waist gives a long, clean line from shoulder to hem, and suits both suits and odd jackets.
Look for a defined shoulder: a firmer shoulder gives a crisper outline than a soft, unpadded jacket, so choose by the look you prefer.
Use country cloth in town: tweed and flannel, from the house’s riding roots, work well for autumn and winter jackets.
Keep and repair: a well-made suit that you wear often and repair when needed is a practical step towards a more sustainable wardrobe.
A high price does not prove higher quality, so judge any jacket by its cloth, construction and fit.
For how a cut like this fits into a consistent personal look, see our guide to aesthetics in fashion.
Wear: a brown or green tweed one-button jacket, a cream or blue Oxford shirt, a wool knitted tie, mid-grey flannel trousers and brown suede brogues.
To compare Huntsman with its neighbours, see our guides to Anderson & Sheppard’s documented clients and Gieves & Hawkes’s documented clients.
Styling Beyond Huntsman
Knowing how a tailor cuts is a useful start, but your own wardrobe works best when it suits your build, your colouring and your plans.
Further reading: dressing for your body shape, seasonal colour palettes, garments, accessories, our list of luxury fashion brands and the old money style guide.
1. Check Your Body Shape
Start with our body shape quiz for men.
2. Find Your Seasonal Colours
Then take our seasonal colour quiz for men.
3. Take the Fashion Style Quiz
Then take our fashion style quiz for men, and read more about personal fashion style.
Personal Help From The VOU
Our styling services for men are paid consultations; the shop page lists what each one includes.
You can read about The VOU’s image consultants and stylists before you book.
To ask a question first, contact us.
Mandy Meyer’s focus at The VOU is men’s body-shape styling, garment fit and outfit proportions. Her coverage addresses the practical questions behind a wardrobe choice: how a jacket sits across the shoulders, how trousers fall and how different cuts change the silhouette a wearer wants to create.
Her subject areas include the triangle, inverted triangle, rectangle, oval, trapezoid, hourglass and diamond labels used in body-shape styling. These provide starting references for comparing visible proportions; they do not capture every body or prescribe one correct way to dress. The focus connects those observations with garment shape, construction, length and the relationship between the upper and lower parts of an outfit.
Mandy’s editorial coverage combines visual comparisons with fit checks for comfort and movement. Readers can consider whether a cut gives them the room they need, where clothing pulls or gathers and which changes might support their preferred look. The aim is to make menswear choices more understandable while keeping personal preferences and the wearer’s own styling goals central.