"Huntsman - Savile Row", latest designer label. - Page 2

Haven't tried them, but seen their work. I have nothing bad to say about Poole but prefer Huntsman for a variety of reasons.

I'd wait and see what happens to the men's bespoke operation. If they do not kill it, I believe this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
If I was a businessman in charge of saving an old and respectable operation like Huntsman, I'd probably have done the same thing - get a high-street cashcow to feed the speciality segment. Keeping it around helps give social credit to the high-street ops, and suddenly paying the rent on Savile Row is no longer a problem.

Of course there is no guarantee that it will remain intact, but let's hope for the best. Anyone here a returning Huntsman customer? Going to see what's up and talking to the tailors might be interesting.

I think people should be careful commenting on the economics since we haven't seen Huntsman's books (at least I haven't) and it is not at all clear the business was suffering. Their US business appears to have been booming from what I can tell. I know they have added unscheduled visits for fittings-only to deal with the volume (not that they wouldn't take an order, but the visit wasn't advertised and they only contacted you if you had something in progress ready to be fit). That doesn't say anything about the volume of their non-US business, or the profitability of any of it but there is no reason to assume that the bespoke business needs the "support" of RTW or women's lines. All we know is that L'Roubi's rich hedge friend boyfriend bought him Huntsman as a platform, which may or may not turn out well for Huntsman over the long-term. I can see how L'Roubi and Huntsman may turn out to be a great combination, though the risks are certainly obvious enough. What we don't know is why Huntsman's owners chose to sell, though selling businesses they have turned around is one of the things PE guys do.

One thing worth noting is that Huntsman's owners retained Budd.

My experience is that Huntsman shoots for two fittings, which is still too few for a first suit, especially if the customer is overseas.
However, they do make a fine suit and the construction, finishing and sewing is excellent.

It's an interesting business move. I'm getting a little confused by the Huntsman brand. They have this new designer as "creative director" known for "soft tailoring" and who will also be charging the business into women's ware, and then they have the partnership with Alexander McQueen, and then they are members of SRBA where they affirm their brand with traditional bespoke. I guess it can all work together but the branding is confusing. It was a lot simpler when I commissioned my suit - "we don't pay attention to fashion; we make you a Huntsman bespoke suit the same way we did for Fairbanks, Peck and Churchill."
Edited by Dempsy444 - 1/11/13 at 8:48pm

Letting the bespoke department carry on a usual would be most important thing - the changes could work and even if it flops (re: Gieves) at least the bespoke operation is in tact. I hope they do not turn into another Gieves brand, confused and all-over-the-place because they are trying too many things.

From a business point-of-view, I am suprised that they want to combine the brands, it would have made sense to keep them separate (brand and location). Could you imagine going to an Omega boutique and walking out with a 'Swatch' brand watch.

Huntsman is a private company so no one can see their books. My guess is they make a profit but not a huge one on a % basis. I would think bespoke is such a labor intensive business that lacks sufficient economies of scale and has high input costs. I would have to think when an investor buys an operation like Huntsman, a day doesn't go by where they don't ask how they can leverage the brand to generate increased scale and sales for a higher return on equity. The owners of Huntsman are clearly looking at a lot of different avenues. An optimist would say this could be good because if they can make more money through these other ventures it will take pressure off the bespoke operation to turn a higher profit (leading to fewer fittings and rushed suits). On the other hand it presents a very confusing image to the customer and customers are image conscious. If they weren't, they wouldn't be buying bespoke to begin with. The trick I think is to have a bespoke operation with a clear identity that feeds a retail operation that provides you production scale and profit. This is where I get a little lost with the multitude of different ventures, all with unique and competing identities.

A&S seems to be doing it a bit more wisely.

In any event, economics is a powerful force and no doubt it will continue to exert itself on the Row. There are no benevolent owners.

Dopey, why you think so? I haven't seen this being mentioned anywhere.

A side-note: for some reason, Huntsman stopped bespoke shirts offering (handled by O'Flynn, not Budd).

Andrey

Huntsman in in NYC today (Barclay Intercontinental), so people can ask them their own questions. At the moment, it appears that there are no changes in the men's bespoke (and women's as well)

Andreyb: They are still traveling with Budd, so perhaps the arrangements are the same. I have never seen the Budd folks in NY - they are in a different suite, but they use the same placard in the lobby, as they usually do - so I don't know what those arrangements are.

Did you make any orders, Dopey?

Sort of. I was having a second fitting on an existing order, and I added a waistcoat to it.

I met with Huntsman today. My sense is that this could be a change for the better. The talent remains and is excited about those changes that will take place, as well as the things that will remain the same. Hard to be completely sure, but I was confident enough to make new orders.
A

What did you order? Were you fit for something? I saw some great tweed sportcoats in process.

I had a final fitting for a blue wool/mohair jacket. I also ordered a suit made up of the london lounge agnelli tweed in the house style, but with modifications to match the picture below (wider lapel, straight double jetted pockets with no flap, a slightly narrower leg and a slightly larger leg opening. It will definitely feel a little bit 70s, but it is nice to have a something a little different and I don't think it will be too bold. I also ordered a double-breasted suit in a 14 ounce flannel glencheck (with no overcheck). It will be my first double breasted from huntsman.


hammick.JPG 24k .JPG file

Sounds great.

Despite their focus on the single button closure, their DBs are excellent. Was your wool/mohair one of the house fabrics? I got a DB from the original Hammick mohair in midnight blue and my fitting yesterday was for a SB suit in the newer navy Hammick mohair - the color mix in that cloth is great. They told me they are working on a gray version as well, but they said gray is a difficult color to get right in mohair.

Have a look at their house tweeds, too. Some are fantastic. I got this one:
http://thelondonlounge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=158&start=60#p58410

Yes, the Hammick mohair. I missed out on the midnight blue, which I think is an amazing cloth. I ended up with the navy as a substitute and I really like it, but the midnight was really special. Have you posted pictures anywhere? I would really like to see how it turned out. That house tweed is great. I'm hoping to be able to get over to Savile Row in the near future as Peter said that there are some remaining lengths of past house tweeds still around.
A