Timeline
- 1732 - Number One Savile constructed as town house of the Fairfax family.
- 1760 - Thomas Hawkes comes to London, and is employed as a journeyman (a runner) for Mr Moy, a velvet cap-maker on Swallow Street. Heavy drinking Moy leaves the socially aware Hawkes to cultivate his royal clientele.
- 1771 - With Moy dead, Hawkes sets up a hatter and tailor shop in Brewer Street. His top client was King George III, who later ordered several thousand scarlet uniforms for the British army, and his son the Prince Regent (the future George IV).
- 1793 - Hawkes has established his expanded shop at No.17 (later number No.14) Piccadilly, described as "Helmet, Hat and Cap-maker to the King."
- 1809 - Thomas Hawkes receives his first Royal Warrant, based on his work for King George III
- 1818 - Burlington Arcade, a glassed-over esplanade of shops adjacent to Burlington House is constructed under the patronage of Lord George Cavendish who resides at No 1 Savile Row, where Beau Brummell was a guest before his fall and exile in 1814
- 1822 - James Watson Gieve is born in Chumleigh, Devon
- 1850 - Having handed his business over to his nephews, by 1850 Hawkes & Co is being run by H. T. White. As the personal tailor of Sir Garnet Wolseley, he develops a special form of the pith helmet known as the Wolseley pattern, which has an extended brim at the rear for better sun protection for the neck. It is still worn today by the Royal Marines as formal dress.
- 1835 - James Watson Gieve is employed by 'Old Mel' Meredith, a Portsmouth-based tailor by appointment to the Royal Navy. Meredith tailors the uniform Admiral Lord Nelson is wearing when killed in action aboard HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar
- 1852 - James Gieve acquires a partnership with Joseph Galt (established in 1823 and incorporating Meredith); christening the firm Galt & Gieves.
- 1871 - Ownership of №1 passed to the Royal Geographical Society, which added the magnificent Map Room and galleried Library which remain the focal point of the fine interiors today. Henry Morton Stanley, sent to find him by the New York Herald newspaper in 1869, finds David Livingstone in the town of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika on 27 October 1871, clad in Hawkes & Co. dress from head to toe.
- 1873 - the body of explorer David Livingstone lies in state at No.1 Savile Row, before burial at Westminster Abbey.
- 1887 - James Gieve becomes sole owner of Galt & Gieves, renaming it Gieves & Co.
- 1888 - James Gieve dies
- 1912 - On December 23, №1 Savile Row is purchased from the Royal Geographical Society by Hawkes & Co. for £38,000, in part because the firm has dressed so many explorers. This was at a time when the international reputation of Savile Row, the famous street and centre for fine craft tailoring was growing. Another £10,000 is spent on converting the premises to suit the business. Hawkes & Co. is appointed to dress the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, the British Monarch's nearest bodyguard
- 1920s - becomes the first Savile Row tailor to make and (secretly) sell ready-to-wear suits
- 1935 - a period uniform is made for actor Charles Laughton for his role as Captain Bligh in the film Mutiny on the Bounty. Moy had made uniforms for the original Captain Bligh
- 1955 - Gieves is depicted in the film The Man Who Never Was when a German/Irish agent tries to verify the existence of the title character.
- 1974 - Gieves Ltd acquires Hawkes, and the precious freehold of No 1 Savile Row. The company is renamed Gieves & Hawkes
- 1980s - licenses Rochester, New York based manufacturer Hickey Freeman to produce a licensed version of its clothes for distribution in North America
- 2002 - Following a very poor 2001/2 trading period where it lost £1 million, Gieves & Hawkes plc accepts an offer from Hong Kong's USI Holdings Limited, valuing the company at £11.5million.
- 2007 - Robert Gieve, the fifth and last generation of the family to serve Gieves & Hawkes, dies
- 2011 - Major refurbrishment for Savile Row flagship store, with new concessions such as bespoke shoemaking and barbershop.
- 2012 - Sold to Trinity Ltd and continue to expand in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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