A personal journey into modern luxury menswear
For me, producing quality output did not begin in fashion but in the brutal, demanding world of the legal profession. Before Saviero De Silva was born I spent my working life as a City lawyer advising corporate clients and financial institutions, negotiating deals and drafting legal agreements on their behalf. It was a world of discipline, commitment, unrelenting pressure, precision, attention to detail and very, very long hours. But at its most basic, it called for the delivery on a daily basis of excellence, no excuses. When a client is paying hundreds of pounds an hour for your services, they expect nothing but the absolute best, no mistakes, just accurate, practical, concise and relevant legal advice so they can get on with running their businesses and their lives.
This was all a brilliant training ground for launching my own menswear range. I understood perfectly, instinctively, how to deliver a flawless service for demanding clients. And so too, in my life away from work, I would expect a similar ethic to be displayed when I consumed services or acquired goods. If I were to fork out on luxuries paid for by my own blood, sweat and tears and long hours behind a desk, then I expected my purchases to be of a similar standard of quality to that which I gave my clients.
And so, armed with my experiences both of delivering and receiving top quality products, I believe I am pretty well placed to know what a consumer of menswear expects from a luxury brand. And Saviero De Silva delivers on those expectations.
Designs are refined and finessed until they reach the summit of excellence, fabrics are painstakingly selected with full consideration given to their feel, weight, how they fall, how they look, how enduring they will be, their practicality for purpose and their sustainability. Ateliers are personally selected, after visiting their factories across Europe, to ensure that they deliver unrivalled craftsmanship. Photographers, website developers, models, marketing consultants, indeed anyone associated with the brand, are all selected with two prime criteria in mind: can they deliver a first-rate service and are they people I will enjoy partnering for many years. One promise I made to myself when I started Saviero De Silva was that, no matter how professionally brilliant someone might be, if they were a tosser, they wouldn’t get the work.
So why the seismic change of profession? Well that was all down to a life-altering moment when out of nowhere a doctor announced that the reason for the slight rigidity I was feeling in my left arm and hand was that I was suffering from early onset Parkinson’s disease. Excuse me? What? How?
Even now, as I drop the ‘P-bomb’ (the euphemistic description for telling someone that you have Parkinson’s disease) I am immediately transported to that doctor’s surgery and that moment. Not in a morbid, depressing sort of way but looking back and seeing how far I’ve come since then. Parkinson’s disease is truly awful, there’s no debate about that, it’s a progressive, degenerative brain disease in which the brain cells producing dopamine, a chemical messenger responsible for movement, cognition and mood, slowly die off leaving sufferers with an array of motor and non-motor (mental) symptoms. More than 25 symptoms have been identified and it’s pot luck which ones you develop and when. Like a rather grim tombola. There is of course no cure.
A diagnosis like that changes everything. More than anything, it changes your relationship with time and how you spend it. The future becomes more immediate. Assumptions fall away and you see, with crystal clarity, precisely what matters and what does not. Workwise, damned if I was going to spend the rest of my working life as a lawyer. No thank you. It was time to follow a dream and do something I really wanted to do. And so Saviero De Silva, the brand, was born.
Perhaps what surprised me most about being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease was that after the initial shock, the fear of a future unknown and potentially bleak, surrendered to far more positive feelings. I’d been fortunate to have been delivered a stark wake up call in my forties, one that comes with a daily reminder of how precious our time here on Earth is and whom we spend it with. Fear gave way to focus. Depression overtaken by drive. Awareness of purpose and meaning sharpened. Saviero De Silva came about as a direct response to that awakening.
Parkinson’s also deepened my sensitivity to the body, how it moves, how it changes, how it deserves respect. It is, let’s face it, an absolute miracle of evolution that by and large our bodies, the soul’s mortal jacket, work so well for so many. Clothing should support the wearer, not impose itself on the human form. Structure must exist alongside comfort, elegance should accompany ease and, above all, our form should be celebrated by donning clothing that frames it at its best.
Masculinity has often been portrayed through excess — status, dominance, noise. My experiences have taught me that at its finest modern masculinity embodies the exact opposite. The strongest men I have known are never the loudest but rather measured, observant and calm. Their confidence comes from inner self-knowledge, not from the validation of others. Saviero De Silva designs for this man. Trends are ignored, instead we focus exclusively on quality of design, of fabric, finish and fit — the elements which communicate authority without announcement. Luxury menswear should enhance presence, not demand attention.
Saviero De Silva is built around pieces that transcend seasons and fads. Trends are fleeting, purposely so, and are designed to distract rather than enrich. Timeless elegance, by contrast, is grounding, offering continuity in a world that moves at breakneck speed. We design garments that can be worn repeatedly, confidently and increasingly on most occasions; we want to see casual wear become the norm, to be worn day and night, without compromising on aesthetics. Timeless style is not about looking backward but standing firmly, unapologetically, in the present and looking damn good doing so.
Sustainability is often discussed in abstract terms. For me, it’s personal. Living with a progressive condition teaches you not to waste — time, energy or resources. Creating fewer, better garments is not a strategy, it’s a responsibility, to yourself, your children and your fellow man and woman. A piece that lasts decades is inherently sustainable and investing in luxury menswear should encourage care, repair and respect.
So Saviero De Silva exists as a direct response to a moment of adversity, a brand which seeks to create something inspiring, produce clothing and accessories which make men feel good about themselves, a brand that can be relied upon for quality, luxury, style, elegance, comfort and practicality. It’s more than merely a brand for luxury menswear, it’s a philosophy shaped by real life events.