Tailor made: Alexander McQueen comes to Savile Row

Alexander McQueen may be the newest name above a Savile Row shop front, but it marks a welcome return to the label's roots, says Rebecca Gonsalves

The esteemed occupants of Savile Row are welcoming a new neighbour to one of the most famous fashion destinations in the world, as Alexander McQueen's first menswear flagship launches today.

It has been a year of exciting developments in the life of the brand, which will culminate in its first London menswear show in January. "This new store is like a homecoming," said Sarah Burton, creative director. "Lee himself was an apprentice on Savile Row and tailoring has always been the backbone of the label."

For the Savile Row store, the brand has decided to focus on a bespoke offering for the mainline menswear. A capsule bespoke collaboration with now next-door-but-one neighbours Huntsman, which includes a monochrome Prince of Wales check trouser suit and a black cashmere overcoat, is available until September, by which time the house expects its own bespoke service to be up and running in the basement workshop space.

In the current collection, the McQueen trademark "pagoda shoulder" is present on jackets of cashmere and wool, while silk, shearling and velvet create a sense of luxury. Typically, Victorian influences range from dandy to gamekeeper, lord of the manor and major-general. More accessibly priced scarves, T-shirts and small accessories are available too, ensuring fashion devotees who make the pilgrimage don't have to leave empty-handed if a suit is out of reach.

The store itself references the brand's own iconography: nature, faded British grandeur, and military parades. Wall panels with carved skulls, mushrooms and wings were hung by concept designer David Collins Studio to maintain the space's gallery feel.

9 Savile Row, London W1