Bennett Winch Leather Goods Shop: Savile Row, Open Sunday

Bennett Winch sells its leather luggage from a 600 sq ft shop at 34 Savile Row, London W1S 3PX, and it opens every day of the week: Monday to Thursday 11am-6pm, Friday and Saturday 11am-5pm, and Sunday 12pm-5pm. For anyone searching for a leather goods shop in Mayfair, this is the one where the tailors' street and the travel bag meet.

Savile Row has been the address for British bespoke suits for generations, but it had never had a luggage shop until Bennett Winch arrived in autumn 2022. Gentleman's Journal called it the first luggage brand in history to open on the street, and Brummell magazine ran the headline Savile Row's first-ever luggage shop. The company itself was incorporated in March 2014, with Robin Bennett listed as a director from the start.

The logic of the location is obvious once you are inside. The brand is best known for bags that carry a suit without crushing it, and the street outside is full of people collecting one. Gentleman's Journal put it plainly: for those at fittings in nearby tailoring houses, a Bennett Winch piece is an ideal investment. The same article described the Row's regulars as people looking for British-made goods paired with the highest level of quality and service, which is a fair summary of who browses here.

The centre of the room is a bespoke workbench modelled on antique drapers' tables, with a 1920s tailor's mirror nearby and seating upholstered in the same grade one Italian leather the bags are made from. Vintage lamps hang low over the table, and the shop actively encourages buyers to carry a bag over, open every zip and pocket, and lay it flat under the light. It is the opposite of a glass-case boutique.

Two curved windows face the street and the furniture leans mid-century. The store carries more than 60 pieces, and some are only sold here, including desk mats and leather folios that you will not find on the website. If you are comparing two bags, ask to set both on the table side by side, since the leather and the British cotton linings are easier to judge together than on a screen.

The signature is the Leather S.C Holdall in brown at £1,550, a weekend bag with a built-in suit carrier, and it is the piece to try first if you travel with tailoring. The Leather Trifold, at £1,450, folds to carry up to three suits. For a straight weekend bag, the Leather Weekender is £1,750, made from full grain, naturally veg-tanned leather with solid brass hardware welded in London and a 100% British cotton lining.

For work, the Leather Brief in brown is £1,400. The smaller pieces make more sense as gifts: the Triple Watch Roll in black is £685, lined with Alcantara and moulded Kevlar and handmade in London, while the brown leather Flight Folio is £550 and comes in a handmade gift box as standard. A Clerkenwell Wallet is £175 and the Farringdon Card Holder £135, with the brand's logo embossed on it.

Our judgement: the full-leather weekender is gorgeous, but most visitors on a fitting day are better served by the S.C Holdall, because the suit compartment is the thing no ordinary bag does well. Skip the luggage tag at £135 unless you are buying the matching bag, since it adds little at that price. The suede Weekender, at £1,875, looks superb in Storm Grey but marks more easily than the brown leather.

Bennett Winch describes its hides as grade A Italian leather, full grained and veg tanned, and everything is handmade in England across two workshops. Veg-tanned leather darkens and develops a patina, and the care page says light scuffs should buff out by rubbing with your thumb. That is worth knowing before you panic about the first mark on a new holdall, which will happen on its first trip.

The Lifetime Promise covers repair work for as long as you own the bag, provided it was bought new from bennettwinch.com or an official retail partner. Damage from misuse is still repairable, at a quoted price, in the brand's UK factory. What the shop will not do is one-off customisation. The bespoke page says it cannot accept requests to customise single pieces, and bespoke orders carry a minimum quantity.

Start a few doors along at Henry Poole & Co, at 15 Savile Row, one of the best-known tailoring houses on the street, whose window is a fair introduction to what the Row does. From the bottom of Savile Row it is a short walk to Burlington Arcade, the covered passage at 51 Piccadilly, which is lined with small luxury shops and good for a dry route on a wet day.

The Royal Academy of Arts backs onto the same block, with its rear entrance on Burlington Gardens and the main courtyard on Piccadilly. If you want a second leather stop, Swaine's flagship is a short walk away on New Bond Street, and it builds hard-sided attaché cases by hand above the shop. Doing both in one afternoon gives you the modern and the 18th-century versions of the London leather trade.

Address: 34 Savile Row, London W1S 3PX. Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11am-6pm, Friday and Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm. Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Green Park stations are all within walking distance. The shop closes for several days over Christmas and New Year, and the dates are posted in a festive notice on the store page.

No appointment is needed. Returns are free and accepted within 30 days of receiving an order, with the dust bag and gift box. UK orders go out by tracked next-working-day UPS when placed before 12pm GMT, and international DHL Express delivery is included, with duty pre-paid in most major markets. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to line up a Savile Row fitting, a Bennett Winch stop and lunch near Piccadilly in one route.