Recent Posts
Downgrade Apple? Why Wall Street is missing the boat on AAPL
Right after Apple decided to no longer report unit sales going forward last Friday, investors and analysts have pummeled AAPL by downgrading and selling off the stock. So is this reporting change innocuous or is it sign of troubling times ahead? In the words of one analyst, this reporting change at least creates the appearance that
Consumer discovery in the age of Instagram
Discovery is an elusive experience even for consumers armed with today’s tools like Instagram. More precisely, it is a highly quixotic and frustrating process for anyone searching for the new or novel such as entrepreneurs, explorers, inventors, artists, musicians, and craftspeople. Often it means being contrarian in the face of accumulating mistakes and failures. Surviving
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