Saks to discontinue Hilditch

[Teacher]

No, not the Heeldeetch!

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by Associate

I'm scratching my head here trying to remeber which other Italian brand they had - care to share?
Sergio Georgini

 

[Associate]

Sergio Georgini

Initially I was thinking Louis Raphael, but they really only do pants. shame...

 

[imageWIS]

H&K has the best RTW shirts I have ever bought.

Jon.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

H&K has the best RTW shirts I have ever bought.

Jon.


They must sell their second tier stuff to Saks then because the words best and H&K (to clarify : the Saks sale H&K) don't belong in the same sentence.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by edmorel

They must sell their second tier stuff to Saks then because the words best and H&K (to clarify : the Saks sale H&K) don't belong in the same sentence.

I never got them from Saks. I got them directly from H&K in London, and this was several years ago. Also, I never said they were the best in the world, I said they were the best RTW shirts I have ever bought.

They are better than the Zegna Couture shirts I own, and the Lorenzini shirts. I haven't bought Kiton or Attolini shirts, so I could not tell you regarding their long-term quality.

Jon.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

I never got them from Saks. I got them directly from H&K in London, and this was several years ago. Also, I never said they were the best in the world, I said they were the best RTW shirts I have ever bought.

They are better than the Zegna Couture shirts I own, and the Lorenzini shirts. I haven't bought Kiton or Attolini shirts, so I could not tell you regarding their long-term quality.

Jon.

I didn't say best in the world either. Another thing I was surprised at was Lorenzini. Yesterday was my first time looking at Lorenzini and while nice, I felt that they were "overhyped". I also do not own Attolini or Kiton so when I say I really like or hate something is all relative to the stuff I have seen or owned. At the end of the day, I'm no shirt expert so I am only going by what I like in terms of patterns, fit and workmanship.

 

[RJman]

Charvet RTW is, roundly, better than Hilditch in every way, although Hilditch;s cloths may be hardier.

But considering how nearly impossible it is to get much Charvet in the US for below $400 full price (inc tax) or less than $150 on sale, H&K is not much worse and a lot cheaper, with a lot more variety available.

I have not tried Udeshi shirts but have only heard good things about them.

Fray is very nice but I am finding the cloth very delicate and a button has already come loose.

I have also heard good things about Carlo Franco shirts. Such as, they are being shipped soon

 

[whnay.]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I was at Saks yesterday and I went through all of their OTR shirt offerings, particularly the sale items. I was very underwhelmed by Hilditch (not one shirt that I would wear even if a gift). Garrick Anderson had bold designs and colors, but at the price range the cut, collar and workmanship needed to be much better. My biggest disappointment came from Borrelli. I love Borrelli pants and I prefer them to Incotex, Barba, RLPL etc. I had lofty expectations for their shirts and I know many here love them. The Borrelli's that Saks had were very bland, workmanship was no better than some others and the collars were ugly. These were the sale items though and I did not look through the regular priced Borrelli's. I wanted to be blown away but I doubt that I will ever buy a Borrelli shirt now. At Saks sale price (about $210 I think after the "second cut" of 30%), there was better to be had. RLPL shirts were OK, nothing special. If you like Ike Behar ( I don't at any price), Saks has a treasure trove on sale. Truzzi's were nice, but the collars were not to my liking. The trip was not a waste though as I found a "new" brand that had wonderful shirts. Stitching was top notch, gorgeous collars, trim fit and quality cotton and buttons, I would say that they are at the very least on par with Truzzi and I'll go as far as to say that they are as nice as the Borrelli machine made stuff at Saks yesterday. I will be posting a pictorial and review over the weekend as I am very impressed with them. I will be picking up a few more today and looking through them carefully before I open my big mouth here and recommend them but given the patterns and cut, those that like the Italian style of shirts will be very pleased. Plus the sale price is only about $90. Given that Truzzi's and Borrelli's were over $200 on sale, I think I made out real nice.
I'm going to go on a limb and guess Dunhill (Made in Italy) or Canali.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Think Canali is more likely. The "Alfred Dunhill" RTW sold at Saks is cut pretty full and the workmanship is nothing special - definitely a step down from Hilditch.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by whnay.

I'm going to go on a limb and guess Dunhill (Made in Italy) or Canali.


Ok, I did not want to make it seem like I was "holding out" and since I have yet to wear and wash the shirts and also to take a microscope to them, I was reluctant to say but the shirts are................. David Chu (Nautica founder, no longer with) Made in Italy. I saw the Canali and Corneliani and they were no better than the David Chu's (neither were the Lorenzini or Truzzi or Borrelli), but were more expensive. I did not take every shirt in hand and closley exam all the details but I did not find any of those other shirts (ex Charvet which I did not see) to be much better, if at all, to the Chu's. Thick MOP buttons, great stitching especially inside the collar, perfect trim cut for my shape, beautiful collars and just very solid workmanship all around. Again, I am not a shirt/fabric expert so take everything I say with a grain of salt. Shirts retailed for $185 came down to $90 after the sales. I'll post close up pics over the weekend. His ties are also very nice. 4-fold, great silks, beautiful construction and about $70 post sales ($150 retail). Way better than the RLPL, Hollliday and Brown and other stuff I saw. I did not hurt that the very leggy and beautiful Kristinia Fabian was my salesperson ("that shirt is absolutely perfect for you"). Thanks to the Sartorialist for bring his new venture to light on this forum as I would have just walked right by if I though it was simply dressy Nautica stuff. It seems that Mr. Chu will provide some good competition to RLPL with a more understated (and cheaper) Italian classic looh. Here is a blurb from an article on his new venture.


Taking a New Tack
Nautica founder David Chu embarks on a more upscale fashion voyage
By Tim Smart

10/3/05

David Chu is hoisting his sail again. The founder of Nautica, a fashion brand that rivaled Ralph Lauren's Polo and Tommy Hilfiger for pre-eminence in the 1980s and 1990s, has a new company and line of menswear. The eponymous collection has just gone on sale at Saks's flagship Manhattan store, occupying privileged sixth-floor retail space nestled alongside the likes of Giorgio Armani and Ermenegildo Zegna.

This time around, though, Chu says he is offering the clothes he himself would like to wear and that reflect his own successful, global lifestyle. "I just turned 50, I travel a lot, I work out, my mind is active," he says. "It's a young mind and attitude, an aspirational lifestyle."

Translated, that means the elegant look of a pinstripe suit made of an Italian fabric that is pulled a little closer to the body than a traditional suit. It might be paired with a French-cuff cotton shirt, a lavender silk tie, all topped off with a pocket handkerchief. Or a cashmere blazer or leather sailing jacket atop a cotton corduroy shirt. Whatever the ensemble, it won't appeal to a mass-market wallet. Suits will fetch $1,000 to $2,000, shirts $185, and sweaters $400. "We're expecting our average sale to be about $3,500," says Steven Toia, vice president of sales.

"He's taken a very different approach to this from Nautica and at a much higher price point," says Robert Bryan, men's fashion director for the New York Times magazine, who viewed the spring collection at a faux photo shoot in Chu's Chelsea headquarters. "He's doing it in a fairly classic, elegant way."

Accidental designer. Chu backed into the fashion business. A student of architecture, he took a design class at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where his drawing skills caught the eye of a professor who suggested he try his hand at clothing. Starting out as a women's wear clothing designer, as he was trained, was hardly a popular choice for a prototypical Asian immigrant who might have been expected to become an engineer or a doctor. His family had emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the 1960s and opened a restaurant. Though the entrepreneurial fire obviously burned bright in the younger Chu, he says, "I didn't want to work in a small Chinese restaurant."

Chu grew up in New York and Connecticut before deciding to return home to Taipei, where he started an export business with some friends. "A year and a half later, we had blown all the capital we had," Chu recalls. "I said, 'You know what, maybe I should go back to the United States.'"

His timing was propitious. After a stint working for a division of a large conglomerate, Chu began peddling some designs of jackets inspired by coats worn by sailors. They were a hit with Barneys and Bloomingdale's, and Nautica was born. The first year, the company's sales were $700,000, but a year later, those had more than tripled to $2.5 million. From there, the rise was meteoric. The rugged, casual designs proved popular, but the business needed capital, so Chu partnered with State-O-Maine, which made pajamas and other sleepwear. Nautica eventually became a $1 billion worldwide brand and was bought in 2003 by vf Corp., a huge apparel maker whose brands include Lee, Wrangler, and North Face. Chu, who reaped more than $100 million from the sale, remained as Nautica's CEO and creative head until severing his ties last summer.

Then, as he tells it, "I played golf for eight, nine days," before deciding it felt too much like work. Next stop: Italy, where he hooked up with old contacts in the apparel game and began working on the new collection.

Chu's success has not gone unnoticed outside the clubby world of New York fashion. He was honored in May by the Asia Society for his success as an Asian-American entrepreneur.

Hands-on boss. Chu has gathered a small handful of trusted associates at his dc Designs International offices and is financing the venture himself. He is keenly involved in all aspects of the operation. "I remember the early days of Nautica, when I started in 1983." But as the company grew, Chu found himself distanced from the hands-on operation. "I missed the early part. Some of the drawings you really can't delegate to somebody else."

But he credits working within a large corporation for making him a more disciplined businessman, and he thinks this time around he can expand the business even more quickly. "I didn't learn business, I didn't study business, but after a couple of years of experience I learned the business. Design is not just drawing beautiful pictures."

He is scouring the globe for suppliers, drawing on the relationships he built up while at Nautica. "This is a start-up, but it doesn't feel like a start-up. After 20 years, I think I can do it a little faster," he says. "I am coming in with a little more of a rifle approach."

Ironically, Chu says, Nautica was not really about sailing per se. "When I was in college, I used to go down to the islands a lot. I loved the blue sea, being on a boat and the ocean; it's about freedom."

He brushes off questions about how big his new venture will become, although he is already working on the spring 2007 collection and traveling to set up distribution networks and arrangements with textile and fabric suppliers. For now, Chu is focusing solely on menswear, but he was trained as a ladies' clothing designer and he acknowledges, "I think eventually I will go there."

It's the connections he made while running Nautica that have served him well this time, earning him coveted floor space inside Saks that is normally reserved for a proven draw. But the chain's executives don't think they've made a rash decision to give Chu 1,300 square feet of the most expensive retail space in America. "David's a great designer," gushes Saks Chairman Fred Wilson, who had stopped by to check on how preparations are going. "We're very pleased."

Oh, and about that architecture training? Well, he's putting it to good use. He's working with his brother, who is an architect, to refurbish a six-story, 19,000-square-foot Manhattan brownstone, a few blocks from his current office. The building will be a showcase for his fashions as well as home to a custom tailoring shop. He bought the townhouse and is restoring it to its original condition. "I think what's driving me is the stimulation. It's not about the destination; it's about the journey."

The same might be said of sailing

 

[Associate]

Think Canali is more likely. The "Alfred Dunhill" RTW sold at Saks is cut pretty full and the workmanship is nothing special - definitely a step down from Hilditch.

I have one Canali shirt and it's so-so. The fabric is nice but not very resilient, the sleeves are 34 not matter the size, and the collar points are way tooo long. For me, Hilditch has one of the nicest RTW collars for wearing without a tie, it really stands out nicely under a jacket. And the fabrics are basic poplin but plusher than most anything in this price range.

Ok, I did not want to make it seem like I was "holding out" and since I have yet to wear and wash the shirts and also to take a microscope to them, I was reluctant to say but the shirts are................. David Chu

I will have to go back and check these shirts. You certainly have a broader mind than me, since if I had seen a Chu shirt not knowing the background I wouldv'e probably sneered and moved on.

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by odoreater

No matter how well I dress attention is always drawn away from my clothing by my dashing good looks.

I get a bit nervous when men complement me on my good looks. I readily accept compliments on clothing, autos, watches, boats, women, children, homes, jump-shots, etc..... But there's something off-putting about a guy telling me that I'm handsome.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Tomasso

I get a bit nervous when men complement me on my good looks. I readily accept compliments on clothing, autos, watches, boats, women, children, homes, jump-shots, etc..... But there's something off-putting about a guy telling me that I'm handsome.

Oh, I wasn't talking about men

Nothing beats getting a compliment on my jump shot though.