Francesco Smalto, pictured above, passed away last month.I once had the opportunity to examine one of the coats made in his Paris atelier, and posted a video showing some of the work being done. Those who fetishize hand work should absolutely love his stuff, though the styling may not be for everybody. Kirby recently reached out to me to offer another, more recent example of their work, Kirby of the Hanger Project, whose website sellsRead More
Month: May 2015
Carpu65 posted a page from an issue of the Tailor and Cutter magazine from 1954. It is an article by J. King Wilson on his recollection of the drafts of Frederick Scholte, the “inventor” of the Drape cut. He admits that his memory may be a bit fuzzy, but this draft is interesting nonetheless, for several reasons. He gives the size as a 40″ chest. The half waist is approximately 21″, one can’t say forRead More
The shears I ordered in the fall finally came! Handmade in a limited number, these things are beautiful! Now to decide what I’m going to cut first with them… Thanks to Isaac for organizing this!
Zegna has closed its Padova factory, the one that was producing the Zegna Couture and Tom Ford products, both of which I thought were superbly made. 230 people were to be put out of work, with an offer of a transfer to other locations (production is being transferred to a plant in Novarra). On the bright side, that means there will be highly-skilled technicians available to be scooped up by manufacturers around the world whoRead More
The long-awaited revision of what is perhaps the definitive English-language textbook on traditional tailoring techniques (at least of those currently being published) has been released. Classic Tailoring Techniques for Menswear is a textbook published by Bloomsbury Publishing, and has been revised by Denis Antoine, a teacher of menswear at the Savannah College of Art and Design. While other publications may be more thorough treatments of the subject, books like those written by the late StanleyRead More