Mencyclopaedia: Spencer Hart - Telegraph Cool clobber for 21st century cats. Most Savile Row tailors think steadfastly only of England, but Nick Hart goes ape for mid-20th-century, American male style-setters. What these have in common - whether it's jazzmen like John Coltrane and Chet Baker, the Beat Generation's Jack Kerouac, or the inescapable Rat Pack - is that in their pomp, they were all photographed in black and white. Duke Ellington favoured pink, but you can't tell from the pictures. READ: Mencyclopaedia: Edwin Jagger Hence, when Hart started on Savile Row 10 years ago, "it was all about the perfect black suit and the perfect white shirt: pared-down, modern and sharp without any compromise on quality and fit." Spencer Hart (christened, like his son, in honour of a good friend named Spencer who lived fast but died young) quickly found favour as a rock'n'roll tailor, its £5,000 bespoke suits snapped up by clients that include David Bowie, Kanye West and Robbie Williams. It is also popular among costume directors: the trickiest mystery in the BBC's Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock is how Moriarty and Holmes both manage to wear so much Spencer Hart without ever having bumped into each other on Savile Row. READ: Mencyclopaedia: A Suit That Fits Now, in good news for any man not blessed with the bank balance of an arch-criminal, Spencer Hart has moved beyond Savile Row. Financial backing from a group of investors led by Robbie Williams - he really likes the clothes - has allowed Hart to develop a fine new collection of off-the-rail men's clothes named Palm Springs that shares all the pizzazz of the bespoke. Fun touches, such as a side-pocket newspaper-holder Hart pinched from a Sixties Texan billionaire's bespoke design, and great materials like the interestingly textured, British mohair huckerback used in many of the jackets, make it an entertaining browse. What's clever is that Hart uses lots of his favourite details - narrow trouser-shapes and shawl collars - in ways that look arrestingly unconventional without veering into pointy-shoed, Apprentice-contestant spiv territory. His chinos, with their deep V-back pocket flaps and gently tapered legs, are a particularly elegant version of the form. Just like his tailoring, this more casual selection of clothing is, says Hart, "a very tightly edited version of a world that never really existed." He cites as current inspirations Hugh Hefner, Jack Nicholson and Steve McQueen. With an online store, a rather incredible shop in Mayfair (its tailoring room is in a barred, former bank-vault), plus ambitions to open in Hollywood and expand slowly into Asia, Spencer Hart looks like it could have the makings of a successful international men's brand that's based in Savile Row - but not of it. Find it at: 62-64 Brook Street, London W1K 5DX (020 7494 0000); Liberty (020 7734 1234); Selfridges (0800 123 400); spencerhart.com (to purchase casual-wear). Also notable: Spencer Hart currently has a pop-up shop offering discounted suits and other items at cost price, with proceeds going to the Dallaglio Foundation, at One New Change, London EC4M 1AF. Open 6pm-9pm only, until Friday May 17.