Sartoria Ernesto Capua (Modena) Su Misura Suits, Shirts, Shoes

I found this shop in Modena by chance and figured the SF community would not mind another option in the MTM, bespoke arsenal.

Note, I only spoke with Ricardo in the shop and did not purchase anything as I was leaving later that day, actually.
Here is the website which I looked up later.

http://www.sartoriaernestocapua.it/

I saw the name Ernesto Capua Napoli on the front glass but I only see addresses for the cities of Modena and Reggio on the website.

A rundown of what I gathered between Ricardo's moderate English and my awful Italian.

First, I could never really get if they offer MTM and bespoke or if that all falls under one umbrella, however it seemed to me that a pattern is cut for you.
They also offer RTW suits/jackets and the 'house' style actually had multiple cuts from what I saw on a mannequin and on a hanger.
The former was good if not the most striking I have seen(as much as that can be without being on the live body) and the latter I did not really care for, actually.
Prices seemed to start about 2400€(pointing at I believe a super 130s Loro Piana)and they do not CMT.
LP, Guabello, maybe another or two and possibly their own line(I am blanking) of fabrics which are all made in Biella.

I asked about handwork, repeatedly, and he answered the same every time that, basically, all the seams(big and small), buttonholes and stitching was done by hand. I will say that I really liked the inside of the jacket I saw. The lining was fab too which helped.
There is another reason that this 'all' by hand seemed not to be a miscommunication which I will point out later.

The overall styling was not uber Napoletana in terms of jacket length and chest closeness though the RTW jacket I tried on was just small and short. There is a difference.

They also make shirts. Starting 150€, I think(maybe a bit less) and that is with some machine work which he specified. More for all by hand. The suits, again, only hand stitched from his mouth. Thomas Mason, another mill and for shirts, definitely their own line of fabrics.

They also do custom shoes and use one maker but I forget his name. I think it was very similar to the company name by chance, like Capo. And he only does shoes for them.

I did not really look at the prices fro RTW but I think I spotted the window price of 990€ before the salde(discount) for a suit.Possible that was afterward. For the details I saw, that seemed very low.

I think I have prattled on long enough with this mish mash of info but I hope that at the least there is another tailor for people to take a look at. If it was not made clear, I have less than zero affiliation with them and did not actually purchase any items.
I will include a few pictures though I do not like taking them, did not want to go hog wild because I was taking up a lot of time(not that I should care about this) and also because I thought I had one or two pics that I do not see.

Any other questions, I will attempt to answer though I think I put most of what I know in the post.
Sorry for the rubbish pics. More on their site.

My $0.02:

This place could be great, as it's not uncommon in Italy to find awesome out-of-the-way boutiques in medium-sized towns. A couple of red flags raised however:

1) With a few notable big-name exceptions, I'm not sure I trust places that offer RTW, MTM and bespoke at the same time. I've found that they often turn out to be, in essence, just an MTM place that works off a factory who produces both their RTW and MTM, and then claims to also do bespoke because they have tailors on hand who know how to produce it, but it's just an excuse to sell more or less the same craftsmanship at a premium by adding extra handmade steps. If you don't see a tailor and a cutting room on location, it's a telltale sign that their DNA is not bespoke.

2) Places that really do bespoke generally only do that, and will almost always accomodate CMT. If they don't, you have to wonder why? There's no excuse not to, except if they want to make extra margin on the cloth sale. Or, more likely, if their factory cannot handle outside cloth references -- suggesting again that MTM may be there true DNA. I've come to understand from first hand experience that the MTM factory-based process can't handle outside cloth because it's not cost effective for them to do so.

3) Shirtmakers and tailors are a different breed of craftsmen. Anyone who says they do both is generally not being straightforward about the fact that they do one in-house and the other is outsourced. If they say they do shoes also, you can bet that is ourtsourced as well.

4) A place that uses the word Napoli in their name but has no presence there is suspicious. Imagine if a brand had NYC or London or Paris in its name and had no store there...

None of these comments takes away from the fact that these may very well be fine handcrafted garments after all, as Italy abounds with great artisans and fine clothing. Italy also abounds with stores that sell essentially the same stuff at different prices coming from the same factory, under different lines, and it's not always clear where the price difference stems from.



dirnelli said:

2) Places that really do bespoke generally only do that, and will almost always accomodate CMT. If they don't, you have to wonder why?

.

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CMT has all sorts of possible issues for the shop.

What happens if the buyer brings in too little cloth? Lousy quality? What happens if an accident happens and you ruin the customers cloth?

When you place your label on something either you care about everything including the cloth or you don't really care about anything.

So I'd wonder why would a shop that feels it's reputation has some value do CMT?

In my post I state that bespoke tailoring houses will accomodate CMT, i.e. I'm talking of real bespoke houses like on Savile Row, or Camps de Luca, Cifonelli, Rubinacci, etc. Places that will look a customer square in the eye and tell him that his fabric is worthless or that the length is insufficient, or that will start over with their own fabric at their own cost if they screw it up, which is unlikely at that level of craftsmanship. I'm familiar with the argument against CMT put forward by second tier tailors, but I've never heard of top tier refusing CMT. Hence my reverse reasoning about using willingness to accomodate CMT as a litmus test to gauge the level of seriousness of a tailor. The test only works one way unfortunately, as many crap tailors also agree to do CMT just to keep the customer, and then you still end up with a bad suit. So, yes, unwillingness to do CMT raises a warning signal, but willingness to do CMT is certainly no guarantee of quality these days. Better a tailor who explains clearly why he won't do CMT, and more often than not you find out that he's not a true bespoke operation but rather a front for an MTM industrial facility, which rarely works with outside fabric by nature.

Just my $0.02, maybe others have had a different experience.

Chan is the only one of the big names I know of that doesn't do CMT.



dirnelli said:

4) A place that uses the word Napoli in their name but has no presence there is suspicious. Imagine if a brand had NYC or London or Paris in its name and had no store there...

Click to expand...

Luckily Rubinacci opened a shop in London a while ago



P-K-L said:

Luckily Rubinacci opened a shop in London a while ago

Click to expand...

Good point!

Hey, I am just reporting a new find. That's all. I never stated it was great or good or anything. I did like the finishing inside of the one jacket. That did not look like crap work.
Also, regarding doing MTM and bespoke, it could be BS or it could be the language barrier. This shop is not catering to tourists ala Rubi, Atto, anyone. Inglese non e molto importante.
Certainly not hiring someone just to have a Japanese speaker around, etc.
Yes, the name 'Napoli' on the window disturbs me as well. Could there be a legitimate reason? Sure.Could it be marketing association? Sure. But I think they do a fair amount of business judging by the amount of fabrics on hand.
I kept stating that I was going to be in Napoli shortly so I wanted to check out the goods there(leaving next day) since I saw them and then could go further if I chose to in Napoli. I never got questioned about this but if there is no shop in Napoli, I think only the language would be reason not to correct me. Why would he want me to go there to purchase something if it does not exist? So, I think there is a fair amount of miscommunication though certain specifics were quite clear. He was probably wondering wtf I was talking about re: Napoli if they have no business there.
Nobody is as suspicious as I am. And Italians are primo scam marketers. Nobody does it better.Don't be insulted if you are Italian. It is true. There are also Italians that produce the top level that they are supposed to.
The shoes are outsourced as I said but he said they have one guy(or small shoe factory) making them.
CMT, seemed no but again could be language.
Also, I did not think this was the main shop so I did not go quite as in depth as I might have. Let's say maybe to ask 'Is your workshop here?' or along those lines.