This year’s world convention of the International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives will be in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on the 4th and 5th of May. The theme of this convention is fast fashion, and we will be visiting the design center of one of the world’s leaders in fast fashion, Zara/Inditex. Also on the program are presentations by- Jesus Echevarria- Zara, Inditex corporate presentationLodovico Zandegu- Boglioli,Speed in luxuryDr. Karl Hendrik Magnus- McKinsey &Read More
For Mike, who says he still doesn’t get it. I hope this helps. (Sorry that the illustrations are rotated from the photos, but maybe this will actually help) 1.Cut through the cloth, overcast, and lay a length of gimp. Do not wax the silk twist. Unlike regular buttonholes which start from the top, the twist must be anchored on the bottom of the hole (on the wrong side). Feed the needle through the slit, thenRead More
There were a number of questions about the vent finishing on the Ralph Lauren Purple Label garment, so here is a look at it again, with a comparison to an engineered method. The traditional method of finishing the vents has the lining seam follow the shape of the side body, with a hockey-stick-shaped step at the top of the vent. In this case, it has been (exquisitely) finished by hand, however it is possible toRead More
Every once in a while a nice surprise comes along. I was contacted by Lance at Virtual Clothes Horse to see if I would be interested in a garment he had. A Ralph Lauren Purple Label sportcoat made by Raffaele Caruso, which, by itself, was intriguing. What was most interesting was that this one was recent, new, and had all its tags. Usually I have no idea of the age of a garment, and moreRead More
So I had another little moment of insight. Or maybe my thickheadedness deserted me briefly. I was contemplating my lapel buttonholes last week, the by now infamous asola lucida ones, that is, and finding them just too chunky, especially when compared to some nicer ones like the Tom Ford. The thread I am using is just too heavy. To wit Mine And theirs Silk buttonhole twist is only available in two sizes these days, theRead More
My copy came in the mail this week. O’MAST from Kid Dandy on Vimeo. One of the few pleasures that I have derived from working in tailored clothing factories, as opposed to working in a tailor shop, is that there are invariably a sizable group of old guys from the old world who like nothing better than to sit around, shooting the breeze and talking about what life was like back in the day. BackRead More
Wow. It’s been a while. Let me start by wishing everyone a happy new year!In the past six weeks I had been home all of five days, and non-consecutive ones at that so I’m way behind in all of my projects. The Ariston coat is long-finished but I need to photograph it and now I have a small pile of cloth to cut. J&J Minnis was having a sale- the Crown Classics bunch was beingRead More
There have been a lot of questions lately which I promise to get to at some point, but I’m on the road these days so it’s a bit nuts. So in the meantime, some buttonholes.
Remember this? I made this jacket last year, just before leaving Canada. Ellen DeGeneres saw it and liked it so Drew had one made for her (not by me- my contacts within that camp don’t know where to find me these days) and will be presenting it to her on Monday’s show. I saw a post on Facebook which is how I found out about this coat- Here is the origin story of the DrewRead More
