RIFLESSI in NYC

[dapperj]

Does anyone have any experience with Riflessi? I stumbled upon the store the other week and thought I hit the jackpot and found something like STF with a store front. I went back when I had some time to give everything a look and possibly buy something. I found a Luigi Borrelli shirt I liked ($200), however, before purchasing I decided to unpack and inspect it.

There were definitely thick MOP buttons, hand sewn button holes, sleeves, etc. The fabric also felt the same as the fabric used to make the LB shirt I was wearing at the time (STF product). However, when I looked at the Borrelli label on the inside of the shirt and the Borrelli crest on the inside of the placket at the bottom, I noticed that these tags were not fully sewn on, there was only one stitch on each of the corners. In other words, I could stick my finger underneath the label. Also, none of the shirts had an extra button at the bottom of the placket, or anywhere. Finally, the gusset did not have the Borrelli crest, it had some other symbol I have never seen with wavy lines. I did not buy the shirt and left the store.

Has anyone seen a Borrelli shirt like this? Intuitively, I wouldn't think that someone would counterfeit Borrelli shirts because I think there is a relatively small niche market. I suppose because it is such a small market, if someone wanted to make shirts similar to Borrelli/Isia/etc. it would be difficult to start up and sell these shirts with a new brand, so it might be easier to counterfeit? Does anyone have any thoughts?

Also, I asked the person working if they had Kiton shirts and he pulled a shirt with a different brand name (I wish I could remember it) and he said it was made in the same place Kiton shirts are made. I looked over the shirt and it had the classic Kiton buttons. I was not familiar with the brand so I didn't unpack the shirt to give it a full inspection. Thoughts?

I also gave their ties an look. I happened to be wearing a Brioni tie from Bergdorf and you could not compare any of the ties at this store to the tie I was wearing. I picked up one of their Brioni ties and it was much thinner and the silk didn't seam as rich. However, Brioni was labeled on the tie at this store the same way it is labeled on all of my Brioni ties. Does that mean Brioni produces lower end ties, too?

Thoughts?

 

[btromano]

I have made many purchases from Riflessi and was always happy with them.
The owner then (it has been around 10 years siince I have made a purchase there)Avi, was always straight and honest.
Not sure if he still owns the store

 

[ter1413]

57th Street??

 

[btromano]

I believe they were on 57th

 

[dapperj]

When I asked him about the shirts he told me he has been selling the same shirts for over 10 years. Not really any kind of answer. I'm not saying the owner is dishonest, I am just not sure about the product.

 

[limache]

I just went to riflessi today and bought a "Loro Piano" suit along with a joseph bach shirt and cuffs. I'm starting to be a little worried. The suit felt great and it was selling for $595 because it was closing for good because their lease was running out and they are going out of business apparently. This is on 57th street.

After I came home, I did a search on the Alfa Perry cuffs, which I got for 50 and was told that it retailed for $150. When I googled it and looked on Amazon, I saw that it was selling for $12.99!!

http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Striped...1_64?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1373334599&sr=1-64


I also cannot find this brand Joseph Bach online at all!

I'm really not sure if I got scammed or not. I definitely feel scammed on the cuffs and the shirt.

When I was inspecting the suit, I inspected it and saw that it did not have a label saying "made in XYZ" country. I thought it was strange and asked the owner and he said its common for these italian suits not to have these labels? Is that true?? Or does the absence of a label mean that it is fake? I just need to know if I got scammed or not :/.

 

[Alvinbmx]

Seriously, SCREW this shop. I never bought anything but here is my story.

I went into the shop a few weeks ago. I was attracted to the "We lost our lease" sign at the store front so i thought i could find some bargains.

One of the Italian guys attended to me. He claimed to be the brother of another who is supposedly the owner. So this guys started to tell me about suits and etc so i thought he was really friendly. He explained canvassed jacket to me as if i am buying my first suit. I am fine with that if i was not wearing a bespoke jacket on that day. After trying a second jacket, his aggressive selling tactics started to show. He kept giving me jackets to try even though i don't like them at all, saying that i should try them to know the beauty of it. Before i tried on each jacket, i asked him for the price and his response is always "I need to check, just try this jacket first". I got really tired and told him i wouldn't try anymore jackets until i know the prices. He said ok and kept those that i like aside. So he kept 3 and it include a Brioni, a Boglioli and 1 other brand which i have not heard of.

This guy came back after some discussion with the "owner" and the prices he told me simply shocked me. The Brioni is $2000, Boglioli is $1200 and the other one is $800. Past seasons stuff shouldn't cost this much and mind you the Boglioli is just pure cotton jacket. So i asked him why are his prices so expensive, he pulled out an old Bergdoff Goodman magazine spread and pointed to a spot showing <Jacket: Boglioli $1995>. It is not even the same Boglioli jacket and it could be a fully lined and canvassed suit. I almost wanted to tell him that i could just walk to Bergdoff Goodman or Barneys which are only a few blocks away to buy the latest collection at 40% off. But i just kept quiet and pretended to look at other stuff. He realized that i am not buying so he offered me some discount. $200 off each for the Boglioli and the unknown brand. I walked straight out at this point.

What i really hate about this shop?
There is no price tag on any of the items in the shop. Prices are the determined by the person serving you and it depends on how much they want to rip off you.
Sales staff are way too pushy.
Lack of professional advice. (I understand most sales staff don't know their **** but this guy is just full of ****)

 

[Alvinbmx]

I just went to riflessi today and bought a "Loro Piano" suit along with a joseph bach shirt and cuffs. I'm starting to be a little worried. The suit felt great and it was selling for $595 because it was closing for good because their lease was running out and they are going out of business apparently. This is on 57th street.

After I came home, I did a search on the Alfa Perry cuffs, which I got for 50 and was told that it retailed for $150. When I googled it and looked on Amazon, I saw that it was selling for $12.99!!

http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Striped...1_64?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1373334599&sr=1-64


I also cannot find this brand Joseph Bach online at all!

I'm really not sure if I got scammed or not. I definitely feel scammed on the cuffs and the shirt.

When I was inspecting the suit, I inspected it and saw that it did not have a label saying "made in XYZ" country. I thought it was strange and asked the owner and he said its common for these italian suits not to have these labels? Is that true?? Or does the absence of a label mean that it is fake? I just need to know if I got scammed or not :/.

I am not sure if you got scammed but you definitely got ripped off!

 

[limache]

Ah I knew it was too good to be true. ****.

So the suit is still with them to be tailored and I took home the cuffs and shirt.

Do you have any recommendations on how (if at all) I can recover my money? I want to go back there and return everything now! He did mention sales were final though...argh.

Are they selling counterfeit goods? Can't they get in trouble with the police if someone reported them?

I tried calling my credit card company to see if I can void the charges but they said it has to post to my account first.

 

[SuitedDx]



Ah I knew it was too good to be true. ****. 

So the suit is still with them to be tailored and I took home the cuffs and shirt. 

Do you have any recommendations on how (if at all) I can recover my money? I want to go back there and return everything now! He did mention sales were final though...argh. 

Are they selling counterfeit goods? Can't they get in trouble with the police if someone reported them? 

I tried calling my credit card company to see if I can void the charges but they said it has to post to my account first. 

Not sure if you have many options except take this as a lesson learned. They told you all sales are final so it is disclosed. Also, if you agreed to buy at a certain price (even higher), that's up to you as the buyer to purchase or not.

Regarding counterfeit, that's something you would have to look into because LP is a fabric maker and is used by varying makers, from really bad, to really good. You probably bought a suit that used LP fabric but was not constructed by LP.

Sorry... but does the tag say "Piano" or "Piana?"

 

[limache]

Ah I see - I believe it was Loro Piano with an O.

Hm I was hoping to see if I could alert the authorities somehow because he does pass everything off as luxury italian brands. Don't they raid stores with counterfeit merchandise?

 

[limache]

Is it normal for italian suits not to have labels that say where they are made from (i.e. Made in Italy)? I asked him about it and he said that it's normal but now I am obviously really skeptical. I wanted to check to see if it was made in China but it didn't say anything - however everything was in Italian that's why I believed it was made in Italy.

He also twisted the suit jacket to show me that it would not wrinkle - when he unraveled it, it didn't while mine did. Is that really an indication of quality or is it something else? I believe it was either made of cotton or wool.

 

[Alvinbmx]

Ah I see - I believe it was Loro Piano with an O.

Hm I was hoping to see if I could alert the authorities somehow because he does pass everything off as luxury italian brands. Don't they raid stores with counterfeit merchandise?

To be honest, US is quite tolerant with counterfeits. Look at Soho, further down Broadway, there are many shops selling counterfeits. Police walk by everyday and nothing happened to the shops. I am not even sure if there is such an authority in US.

 

[limache]

Phew so good news! After I found out I got ripped off, I printed out pages from Amazon of the cufflinks and shirt from ebay and brought it back to the store. I told the owner I was pissed and that there's no way those cufflinks cost 50 bucks. Surprisingly, he immediately gave me a refund. I think it was because I could have potentially made a scene with other potential customers around so he wanted to get me out right away? Anyway I got my money back ! Lesson learned - if it's too good to be true, it probably is. And don't go to Riflessi!!

 

[ter1413]

Glad you got your $$ back but it was on you from the beginning to do some research before spending $50 on $10 cufflinks(just because the owner said that they were worth $150.)

And FYI......they would not "raid" the store......Selling past season items is not illegal. Either is marking it up 1000%.