This is another translation from the Italian monthly newspaper supplement, Style. It usually has something right up this forum's alley. Apologies if it is a little clunky in places and for any clumsy typos.
The first section is about the emergence of the tailoring clubs, the second is about shoes, mainly the SW1 showroom which opened last month in Milan (and existing in a thread of its own a couple of weeks ago.)
Enjoy.
Cover:
They are entrepreneurs, managers, professionals with a specific idea: to open a tailoring club, which has become a second job. The reason? They didn't have anything more than beauty to appreciate . Here's how it's done, to make a suit (or a pair of shoes), by Moratti, Ceschi, Hintermann or d'Urso.
At the start of 900 , an English lawyer called Jones skillful in defence, offers his tailor a more worthy office, in Temple, the legal district of excellence. And shortly, the "˜workshop' becomes a kind of club where the elegant Jones, by now a partner of the tailor, invites colleagues and friends. Between whiskies, games of cricket, damning gossip about other partners present, there was time to choose material and to give measurements. This anecdote recollected at Pitti during the opportunity to review Saville Row and Made in England materials (the name of Jones was not recalled) is significant because it could represent a historical trend , that of "˜tailor by chance', which today has found its disciples.
They change eras, details, formality, but like one in the case of the man of English law, also certain contemporary histories could be considered entirely of this new way of doing high tailoring.
It's really that, more than by chance, one could say tailor for passion, for play, for boredom, for money, for ambition, for snobbery or, if only for all these things together, but the nature of chance remains, however, the first characteristic. Because no one between the professionals, the entrepreneurs, and the managers of today more legitimizes imitators of that London lawyer, and he has never vaguely planned to take up (also without touching the scissors) tailoring.
The thread which unites these men is above all in the taste they have for a place where someone can indulge themselves in their wardrobes among like-minded friends. At least so they say. If what follows gives satisfaction from a financial point of view, so much the better. But without worrying oneself too much: we are also always among gentlemen.
Fererico Ceschi a Santa Croce: marketing manager and proprietor of N.H. Sartoria, Milan.
Exemplary, in this sense, the history of the Italian Laboratory born four years ago and initiated by Giustiniano Tomacelli Filomarino (long experience in the advertising communication sector), Piero Castellini, architect; Francesco Barberis Canonico, in textiles for generations and the result of a large winning bet to start it by the Inter supporters: Marco Tronchetti Provera and Massimo Moratti. The Milan office, where, as head tailor Dashi Pauli shows himself, it really seems to be a club as they don't miss the opportunity for a chat, a little champagne, and a glimpse of the latest tweed arrived from a strange British isle. "It was all born", recalls Tomacelli, "from the nostalgia for these beautiful spaces in the city centres, of which many have been lost, where there was the satisfaction of really having everything made to measure". But not is it only a nostalgic view: the club thought to export the Lab. to China, Russia and India. These "˜tailors by chance' draw on more orthodox artisans for thousands of hand stitches, but also not neglecting a free spirit and a little irreverence, rules which in the Italian Lab come interpreted by Piero Castellini, talented designer of many Milanese salons. "Tailoring is a magic place", concludes the architect "and in fact we seek also to involve our friends who deserve a tailor. But beyond sartorial taste it's fundamental to wear something that makes you feel confident". An example of discomfort to Castellini? "Old trousers of faded corduroy or of purple velvet, yellow and red striped socks, jackets of cooked Irish wool, cotton cravats instead of ties, coloured casentini jackets: al fine, but for bike riding .
Thinking maybe of the Trento palace which takes his name, Frederico Ceschi of Santa Croce has instead used N.H., which stands for Nobil ****, as if they were ever in any doubt about the overall tone; another example of tailoring that plays on the recall of the artisans and extreme personalisation. Ceschi , political science graduate, and recently a marketing manager, confesses that the followers of N.H. are mainly found through word of mouth by a sense of shared aesthetic, like a classic ad campaign. "I begin without presumption" he explains, "that my tastes can be shared with a certain bunch of men and in these first 5 years I have had agreeable confirmation of this. We have forced ourselves to make little smoke and lots of fire". Every season in the oval room of our office in via Chiosetto, the ex-manager selects (like the chef with the dishes of the day) the materials to highlight. But the menu is always open to any solution, however, in accordance with the rules of the Pugilese School - a soft cut and unstructured - here following the instructions of master cutter Domenico Bombino.
Giustiniano Tomacelli Filomarino, Laboratorio Italiano
The thread that joins these gentlteman is in their taste of having a place where one can be occupied by their wardrobe and by that of their friends.
- Massimo Moratti and Marco Tronchetti Provera
Behind the brand name of Revers which has entered the field, in Turin, is a group of managers and professionals headed by Roberto Zuccato, ex-commercial and marketing director of large multi-nationals, and Enzo Barbieri, vice president of the historic Pietmontese broadcaster Telestudio. They stand at the side of Alessandro Martorana, a young and emerging tailor of the Anglo-Sicilian school, with an excess of popularity from when Lapo Elkann was entrusted one week of suits, typically worn by lawyers, that he had adapted ad hoc. In the office on Corso Marconi, in front of the old ex-FIAT villa, pictures and a library of books are displayed, to suitably cultivate the immaginations of a widened tailoring circle. "Our "˜adventure' ", explains Barbieri " is now about a year old and I will define it as fascinating , almost fictional. We believe in the creativity of Martorana and he seeks to satisfy whichever whim takes him. And every customer has his own: for me, I like to embroider a small tricolor near to the cuff button hole". It's too easy to ask him to choose tv (his first obligation) or tailoring. He has an answer-refrain: "whether in tailoring or tv, I see it in all its colours".
Francesco d'Urso and Enrico Hintermann, in SW1, Milan
Who else is in the esteemed catagory "˜tailors by chance'? Membership is upto Daniele di Montezemelo, brother of the president of Confindustria and Ferrari, law graduate, appropriated for diverse experience, and inventor of Twin, his line (from ties to jackets) inspired by the reversible. While Gaddo of the Gherardesca nobility, nobleman-manager of communication and Maremma native, they would at least assign an ad honorem to have given a hand to his friend Franco Malenotti in the launch of the Capalbio hunting jackets. Regarding Malenotti, he can enter the catagory of "˜tailor by chance'; a motorbike designer who acquired the English Belstaff because it was the cult brand of motorcyclists the world over. Access denied, because after the big business of designer labels, Malenotti has changed priority, transforming himself into a "˜motorcyclist by chance'. Agreement recognised, instead, by the handsome and mysterious actor John Malcovich for the oriental jackets which he has signed orientally under the label Uncle Kimono; to the guitarist/man of the world Eric Clapton, who entered on a whim into Cordings, the most English of clothing businesses, and then to Bono for the fairtrade trade mark Edun.
It would be, ultimately, the many footballers "˜tailors by chance' who, from Roberto Baggio to Paolo di Canio, from Bobo Vieri to Paolo Maldini, have signed lines and inspired them. But that would really start another game.
________________________________________________________________
The shoe; here's another great passion to upset a man's life. Of this, actor Daniel Day Lewis knows something, who, in 2000, entered the workshop of Stefano Bemer, great Fiorentine shoemaker, and remained as apprentice for ten months. From then it seemed he would make footwear for all the family. Not only with string and a cobblers knife, but with no little passion, and also with two Milanese professionals: Francesco d'Urso, 41, lawyer, and Enrico Hintermann, 38, business manager, who also couldn't resist the call of soles and excellent uppers. Friends of life and formidable collectors of elite shoes, d'Urso and Hintermann have chosen the best pieces of their respective family collections, reproducing certain forms and models. Result: in their workshop-salon, just opened in Milan (SW1, via Morone,4) one can find ready to wear shoes to bespoke, which seem to have left the hands of the great Italian shoemakers of a time past (the prices go from €290 to €540 a pair). "It seemed to us that an illustrious Italian tradition was disappearing" they say, "and we thought to revive and copy the forms and the lightness of work, avoiding slipping into "˜fashion' ". Dominating the shop is a series of magnificent footwear, visibly used: they are the shoes of their grandfathers, as well as models of reference which make the young Milanese go crazy. There's the calfskin moccasin in tobacco and French burgundy, signed "˜D'Agata', favourites of grandfather Hintermann; here is a series of monkstraps collected by d'Urso's grandfather of which the artisans of SW1 reproduce upon request. Obsessive care is shown for the product: careful sourcing of the hides from which they can choose type and colour (including the prestigous cordovan), and pay meticulous care to the original detail. For example, the buckle of the monkstrap. It's useless to ask for a rectangular one: here it's only and exclusively oval. Like grandad commanded. For more amusement: there's the embroidered velvet slipper, from €220.
The Life Of Style:
Alessandro Martorana
corso Marconi, 13, Turin, 011 655622
Laboratorio Italiano
via Borgonuovo ,12 , Milan, 02 290 60953
N.H. Sartoria
via Chiossetto 2, Milan, 02 780531
The first section is about the emergence of the tailoring clubs, the second is about shoes, mainly the SW1 showroom which opened last month in Milan (and existing in a thread of its own a couple of weeks ago.)
Enjoy.
Cover:
A Needle and I
They are entrepreneurs, managers, professionals with a specific idea: to open a tailoring club, which has become a second job. The reason? They didn't have anything more than beauty to appreciate . Here's how it's done, to make a suit (or a pair of shoes), by Moratti, Ceschi, Hintermann or d'Urso.
At the start of 900 , an English lawyer called Jones skillful in defence, offers his tailor a more worthy office, in Temple, the legal district of excellence. And shortly, the "˜workshop' becomes a kind of club where the elegant Jones, by now a partner of the tailor, invites colleagues and friends. Between whiskies, games of cricket, damning gossip about other partners present, there was time to choose material and to give measurements. This anecdote recollected at Pitti during the opportunity to review Saville Row and Made in England materials (the name of Jones was not recalled) is significant because it could represent a historical trend , that of "˜tailor by chance', which today has found its disciples.
They change eras, details, formality, but like one in the case of the man of English law, also certain contemporary histories could be considered entirely of this new way of doing high tailoring.
It's really that, more than by chance, one could say tailor for passion, for play, for boredom, for money, for ambition, for snobbery or, if only for all these things together, but the nature of chance remains, however, the first characteristic. Because no one between the professionals, the entrepreneurs, and the managers of today more legitimizes imitators of that London lawyer, and he has never vaguely planned to take up (also without touching the scissors) tailoring.
The thread which unites these men is above all in the taste they have for a place where someone can indulge themselves in their wardrobes among like-minded friends. At least so they say. If what follows gives satisfaction from a financial point of view, so much the better. But without worrying oneself too much: we are also always among gentlemen.
Fererico Ceschi a Santa Croce: marketing manager and proprietor of N.H. Sartoria, Milan.
Exemplary, in this sense, the history of the Italian Laboratory born four years ago and initiated by Giustiniano Tomacelli Filomarino (long experience in the advertising communication sector), Piero Castellini, architect; Francesco Barberis Canonico, in textiles for generations and the result of a large winning bet to start it by the Inter supporters: Marco Tronchetti Provera and Massimo Moratti. The Milan office, where, as head tailor Dashi Pauli shows himself, it really seems to be a club as they don't miss the opportunity for a chat, a little champagne, and a glimpse of the latest tweed arrived from a strange British isle. "It was all born", recalls Tomacelli, "from the nostalgia for these beautiful spaces in the city centres, of which many have been lost, where there was the satisfaction of really having everything made to measure". But not is it only a nostalgic view: the club thought to export the Lab. to China, Russia and India. These "˜tailors by chance' draw on more orthodox artisans for thousands of hand stitches, but also not neglecting a free spirit and a little irreverence, rules which in the Italian Lab come interpreted by Piero Castellini, talented designer of many Milanese salons. "Tailoring is a magic place", concludes the architect "and in fact we seek also to involve our friends who deserve a tailor. But beyond sartorial taste it's fundamental to wear something that makes you feel confident". An example of discomfort to Castellini? "Old trousers of faded corduroy or of purple velvet, yellow and red striped socks, jackets of cooked Irish wool, cotton cravats instead of ties, coloured casentini jackets: al fine, but for bike riding .
Thinking maybe of the Trento palace which takes his name, Frederico Ceschi of Santa Croce has instead used N.H., which stands for Nobil ****, as if they were ever in any doubt about the overall tone; another example of tailoring that plays on the recall of the artisans and extreme personalisation. Ceschi , political science graduate, and recently a marketing manager, confesses that the followers of N.H. are mainly found through word of mouth by a sense of shared aesthetic, like a classic ad campaign. "I begin without presumption" he explains, "that my tastes can be shared with a certain bunch of men and in these first 5 years I have had agreeable confirmation of this. We have forced ourselves to make little smoke and lots of fire". Every season in the oval room of our office in via Chiosetto, the ex-manager selects (like the chef with the dishes of the day) the materials to highlight. But the menu is always open to any solution, however, in accordance with the rules of the Pugilese School - a soft cut and unstructured - here following the instructions of master cutter Domenico Bombino.
Giustiniano Tomacelli Filomarino, Laboratorio Italiano
The thread that joins these gentlteman is in their taste of having a place where one can be occupied by their wardrobe and by that of their friends.
- Massimo Moratti and Marco Tronchetti Provera
Behind the brand name of Revers which has entered the field, in Turin, is a group of managers and professionals headed by Roberto Zuccato, ex-commercial and marketing director of large multi-nationals, and Enzo Barbieri, vice president of the historic Pietmontese broadcaster Telestudio. They stand at the side of Alessandro Martorana, a young and emerging tailor of the Anglo-Sicilian school, with an excess of popularity from when Lapo Elkann was entrusted one week of suits, typically worn by lawyers, that he had adapted ad hoc. In the office on Corso Marconi, in front of the old ex-FIAT villa, pictures and a library of books are displayed, to suitably cultivate the immaginations of a widened tailoring circle. "Our "˜adventure' ", explains Barbieri " is now about a year old and I will define it as fascinating , almost fictional. We believe in the creativity of Martorana and he seeks to satisfy whichever whim takes him. And every customer has his own: for me, I like to embroider a small tricolor near to the cuff button hole". It's too easy to ask him to choose tv (his first obligation) or tailoring. He has an answer-refrain: "whether in tailoring or tv, I see it in all its colours".
Francesco d'Urso and Enrico Hintermann, in SW1, Milan
Who else is in the esteemed catagory "˜tailors by chance'? Membership is upto Daniele di Montezemelo, brother of the president of Confindustria and Ferrari, law graduate, appropriated for diverse experience, and inventor of Twin, his line (from ties to jackets) inspired by the reversible. While Gaddo of the Gherardesca nobility, nobleman-manager of communication and Maremma native, they would at least assign an ad honorem to have given a hand to his friend Franco Malenotti in the launch of the Capalbio hunting jackets. Regarding Malenotti, he can enter the catagory of "˜tailor by chance'; a motorbike designer who acquired the English Belstaff because it was the cult brand of motorcyclists the world over. Access denied, because after the big business of designer labels, Malenotti has changed priority, transforming himself into a "˜motorcyclist by chance'. Agreement recognised, instead, by the handsome and mysterious actor John Malcovich for the oriental jackets which he has signed orientally under the label Uncle Kimono; to the guitarist/man of the world Eric Clapton, who entered on a whim into Cordings, the most English of clothing businesses, and then to Bono for the fairtrade trade mark Edun.
It would be, ultimately, the many footballers "˜tailors by chance' who, from Roberto Baggio to Paolo di Canio, from Bobo Vieri to Paolo Maldini, have signed lines and inspired them. But that would really start another game.
________________________________________________________________
Shoes by Chance (and by passion)
The shoe; here's another great passion to upset a man's life. Of this, actor Daniel Day Lewis knows something, who, in 2000, entered the workshop of Stefano Bemer, great Fiorentine shoemaker, and remained as apprentice for ten months. From then it seemed he would make footwear for all the family. Not only with string and a cobblers knife, but with no little passion, and also with two Milanese professionals: Francesco d'Urso, 41, lawyer, and Enrico Hintermann, 38, business manager, who also couldn't resist the call of soles and excellent uppers. Friends of life and formidable collectors of elite shoes, d'Urso and Hintermann have chosen the best pieces of their respective family collections, reproducing certain forms and models. Result: in their workshop-salon, just opened in Milan (SW1, via Morone,4) one can find ready to wear shoes to bespoke, which seem to have left the hands of the great Italian shoemakers of a time past (the prices go from €290 to €540 a pair). "It seemed to us that an illustrious Italian tradition was disappearing" they say, "and we thought to revive and copy the forms and the lightness of work, avoiding slipping into "˜fashion' ". Dominating the shop is a series of magnificent footwear, visibly used: they are the shoes of their grandfathers, as well as models of reference which make the young Milanese go crazy. There's the calfskin moccasin in tobacco and French burgundy, signed "˜D'Agata', favourites of grandfather Hintermann; here is a series of monkstraps collected by d'Urso's grandfather of which the artisans of SW1 reproduce upon request. Obsessive care is shown for the product: careful sourcing of the hides from which they can choose type and colour (including the prestigous cordovan), and pay meticulous care to the original detail. For example, the buckle of the monkstrap. It's useless to ask for a rectangular one: here it's only and exclusively oval. Like grandad commanded. For more amusement: there's the embroidered velvet slipper, from €220.
The Life Of Style:
Alessandro Martorana
corso Marconi, 13, Turin, 011 655622
Laboratorio Italiano
via Borgonuovo ,12 , Milan, 02 290 60953
N.H. Sartoria
via Chiossetto 2, Milan, 02 780531
