Solito Thread

If anyone is interested in following along, I am on IG @openquarters where I will be posting all of my solito-related content!

Considering trying Solito out at the upcoming trunk show, but mindful of comments in the past about reliability/quality… not sure if these are due to what appeared to be a one-off family crisis some time back or more chronic/recent. Any updated views/thoughts?

Oligarch said:

Considering trying Solito out at the upcoming trunk show, but mindful of comments in the past about reliability/quality… not sure if these are due to what appeared to be a one-off family crisis some time back or more chronic/recent. Any updated views/thoughts?

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I'd gather it is a one-off. I think most of us would agree that meeting Luigi in person will inspire quite a bit of confidence in his service. Granted, I was introduced by a friend at a couple of trunk shows, he is a really great guy and I think he does his best for his customers. Sure, emails may go unanswered or whatever, but he always gets back to you eventually. As a good friend and renowned tailor put it, "with made to measure, you pay for customer service; with sartorias, you pay for the product."

I'll give you my experience so far. I had an appointment with him in NYC in June, which I had to cancel because of a work obligation. I ended up booking an impromptu trip and was in Napoli a week later. He met w/ me on the Monday to do the measurements, but there was an issue with the timing of getting the fabric into his shop for my second fitting. Complicating things further was the fact that he left for London the next day for a couple of days; nevertheless, the Solitos cut my jacket, and had Gennaro stay late on the Friday night to do the fitting so I could leave for Rome on Saturday. He also was willing to meet with me on the Saturday if it didn't work out. For him to make this happen for me in five days, given that I flew with my wife and six-month-old son from North America, is pretty solid service.

I've since sent him a couple emails that initially have gone unanswered, but I wasn't really sweating it. I was so blown away with the progress on my jacket thus far at the first fitting, such that I am certainly willing to be patient with him because I know the end result will be epic (and it has only been ~8 weeks). I am sure he has a responsibility to fill many orders before mine, and I'm lucky he made my project work within the five-day timeframe, anyhow.

The takeaway is this: don't give him a project that needs to be done immediately. This is why I did a brown suit, as opposed to the navy I did through orazio luciano/gentlemen's footwear in San Diego, as the latter had a firm date and is direly needed by yours truly. I'd have loved to have both done by the Solitos, but I need the navy suit done in short order for my professional wardrobe.

Alternatively, Luigi could do what Corcos did (somewhat admirably) and tell everyone he's not taking clients. I'd rather give him some leeway on returning emails, to be honest, than to be on the waiting list. He is a busy guy for a reason.

I can attest to this being one-off or at least something more prevalent 5-6 years ago. It is no longer much of an issue at least from my experience or the several other commissions I've seen from Luigi. Luigi is also quite response on WhatsApp.

I’d supplement my last post with th this: my jacket is finished, having been started 85 days ago, and the only thing preventing me from retrieving it in NYC next week is my own schedule, lol.

Had a second fitting today with Luigi. Very happy so far with how it is coming along. We made several adjustments last time in the first fitting that I am happy with, including the jacket length. Today there were some adjustments to balance primarily to clean up the back and to compensate for a slightly lower shoulder. The shirt sleeves are being shortened slightly which should make the jacket sleeves appear a little shorter as well. Luigi also recommended extending the shoulders just a touch, similarly to his personal jackets, I obliged and went with his suggestion.

Side note: For those on the west coast, Luigi Solito and Luca are traveling to SF and LA after NY. It seems that bespoke traveling tailors in NY are back in full swing. Now hopefully we see Sartorial Ciardi come back as well.

Got my jacket -- coudn't be more pleased with it! Genarro and Luigi are really great fellas. I'll post some pics here eventually!

Luca seems to be enjoying himself also.

brax said:

Luca seems to be enjoying himself also.

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Always nice to see Luca too! Should have done some more shirts with him, but I gotta think it over on what I need more than I what I want XD.