Recent Posts
Bespoke knit ties (giveaway details below)
Let’s talk bespoke knit ties (or knitted ties). To clarify, these are different from woven neckties made from silk, cotton or other woven yarns. Although bespoke woven ties are a bit of a specialty item, they can be found at any number of English, Italian and even Polish tiemakers and brands. But bespoke or made-to-measure
Digital connoisseurs and the challenge for menswear brands
“Italians work a lot on product and in France, you work a lot on the marketing of product. If you integrate the two, I think you can have a great story and that’s what I was doing [at menswear brand Berluti] and what I’m doing [at Zegna].” – Alessandro Sartori, Artistic Director, Zegna (WWD, April
Best cities for bespoke tailoring: do sartorial rankings matter?
Confession: I am not actually a believer in “best of” lists and rankings whether they are applied to universities, wines or films. Nor do I put much stock in them mainly because they inhibit any hint of nuance and promote confirmation bias. Yet these very drawbacks also explain I why have decided to concoct my
Sicilian tailoring house Sartoria Italiano
This past April I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon with Claudio Italiano, his father Luigi, their new apprentice Gloria and friend Christina who helped translate our conversation. Becoming a tailor is difficult enough. But I would argue that becoming a Sicilian tailor (let alone a Sicilian tailoring house) is unusually demanding. After a few hours
Sicilian tailor Vittorio Palmisciano
I had the pleasure of interviewing Signore Palmisciano in April 2018. Despite numerous informal chats over the years, this was actually the first time I sat down and recorded a video interview with a Sicilian tailor. In SGST, I make it pretty clear that all the Sicilian tailors in my book deserve serious consideration but
Sicily as a cultural destination
It is heartening to see Sicily being covered as an emerging cultural or travel destination for tourists, designers, photographers and cultural connoisseurs. Earlier this year Vogue Italia offered up a photo essay of the burgeoning arts scene in Palermo. In April 2018, Travel + Leisure wrote about Palermo and Trapani. In May 2018, The New