Despite my tenuous relationship with the firm, hashed over in detail here in the past, A&S has nonetheless shipped to me, gratis, a copy of A Style is Born, their massive vanity book. It's a gorgeous production.
The second half of the book is full of photos of prominent clients over the years, many in full color, running from the 1920s to the present day. Not long ago I had lunch with Bruce Boyer who used to go there and ended up tranferring his business to Mr. Cheo in New York,who cuts in a similar style. Bruce said, in something like these words, "There was always or often something wrong, something they forget or misheard or just cut incorrectly, or the fit was off--something. But their clothes just had so much style, much more than anyone else's on the Row."
As a devotee of the style who has also been frustrated with the firm, I know what he means. There is no other English cut I would wear, whether it be from the mothership or from one of the expats, though in my case one of the latter makes clothes that fit me better. But these photos also bear out Bruce's dictum very well. Not all of them show flawless clothes, to say the least (though many do). Sator would enjoy taking a red pen to this book a great deal. But they really do have such great style.
The front half is photos of the shop, the staff, cloth, garments, construction, etc. Many of these are on the firm's website but many are new. There is also a long history of the firm by David Kamp, which I have not yet read but will soon. And there are some original paintings by Paul Cox.
I have no idea what the sticker price of this book is but I would have bought it.
The second half of the book is full of photos of prominent clients over the years, many in full color, running from the 1920s to the present day. Not long ago I had lunch with Bruce Boyer who used to go there and ended up tranferring his business to Mr. Cheo in New York,who cuts in a similar style. Bruce said, in something like these words, "There was always or often something wrong, something they forget or misheard or just cut incorrectly, or the fit was off--something. But their clothes just had so much style, much more than anyone else's on the Row."
As a devotee of the style who has also been frustrated with the firm, I know what he means. There is no other English cut I would wear, whether it be from the mothership or from one of the expats, though in my case one of the latter makes clothes that fit me better. But these photos also bear out Bruce's dictum very well. Not all of them show flawless clothes, to say the least (though many do). Sator would enjoy taking a red pen to this book a great deal. But they really do have such great style.
The front half is photos of the shop, the staff, cloth, garments, construction, etc. Many of these are on the firm's website but many are new. There is also a long history of the firm by David Kamp, which I have not yet read but will soon. And there are some original paintings by Paul Cox.
I have no idea what the sticker price of this book is but I would have bought it.
, then it's fifty loonies in Canada. Probably cheaper elsewhere.
