Educate me on Alumo

[TheFoo]

Alumo's website sucks. I am not happy with the 120s stuff they make. Too hard.

What are the other ranges? Soyella 170's? Soyella Duecento 200's? Salvatore Triplo 3-ply 160's? I've heard these mentioned by name but can't find much meaningful detail.

In feel, how do they compare to the Italian old-loomed stuff from Riva and Bonfanti?

 

[Grammaton Cleric]

Grandi & Rubinelli is the pro pick.

Fwiw, I like Alumo 120s.

 

[TheFoo]

I thought I would like Alumo 120s as well. The voile is great. The regular poplin is very crinkly and prone to sharp wrinkles. Terrible drape. Not my sort of shirting.

 

[Holdfast]

I've never liked particularly soft/silky cottons so have always been very happy with their Supraluxe, which IIRC is the 120/2 you mention. That slightly hard finish lends it a sense of airiness/freshness to me. Even their Superior 100/2 is OK albeit noticeably not as nice as Supraluxe.

From what I remember, Soyella really did feel near-silky (not in appearance; it's not shiny. I mean purely in terms of feel). I tend to steer well clear of all cottons like that so am therefore a very poor judge of them, so I leave it to others to provide more information. Sorry not to be more helpful.

 

[johanm]

Try Soyella 170 or Thomas Mason Goldline 140. Great drape and a tendency to rumple rather than sharply wrinkle. I don't like crinkly 120/2 cloth either.

 

[poorsod]

You should ask dopey. I think he got to the American Sember sale before I did and it sounds like he got quite a few lengths. I just made up a triplo. I have 2 lengths of Alumo 120s left. The Soyella was mostly gone by the time I got there.

 

[TheFoo]



You should ask dopey. I think he got to the American Sember sale before I did and it sounds like he got quite a few lengths. I just made up a triplo. I have 2 lengths of Alumo 120s left. The Soyella was mostly gone by the time I got there.

How does Soyella compare to Riva?

 

[Shirtmaven]

first i am not a fan of goldline. often feels mushy.

the only riva fabrics i get are usually left overs from Zegna and they are always summer weight linen/cotton air weaves.

soyella is a great quality.

Alumo fabric has a solid feel. they don't have that fake finish that many of the mills are using these days.

It is not easy for me to buy as no one has replaced american sember as a US distributor.

I can buy direct, but shipping will raise the price.
I know that Riddle McIntyre uses a lot of their fabric.

 

[archetypal_yuppie]



I can buy direct, but shipping will raise the price.

I presume this means for a bulk length, rather than for a single shirt for a customer?

 

[Shirtmaven]

bulk is fine since it goes air freight. adds $2-3 per yard.

shirt lengths are sent courier. that gets expensive

 

[archetypal_yuppie]

Thx

 

[dopey]



You should ask dopey. I think he got to the American Sember sale before I did and it sounds like he got quite a few lengths. I just made up a triplo. I have 2 lengths of Alumo 120s left. The Soyella was mostly gone by the time I got there.

I did buy lots of Alumo, but I focussed on the older single loom stuff in neato patterns and textures. Not Foo stuff. I also did get some triplo and that is awesome. And I would think right up foo's alley.

 

[SartodiNapoli]

Alumo has the best 120/2 and the Riva like is only the 65gr. per meter Soyella 170 that is voile and only available in solid Summer colours.

The other Soyella is a run on the mill 170. Their 200/2 is average. Monti does better 170 and 200 by far and better price as Grandi or others do.

Mason gold. hyped stuff for non connoiseurs. Real pros do DJ Anderson instead if like the Albini stuff.

I thought Mr. Foo was but seems not for what i am reading...

Alumo Royal 240/200 cost 100euros and for me is average but bad price ratio.Very bad.

Didn't know Zegna used Riva. Their shirts handled by me made out of Europe were simply poor, very poor and more expensive than ours on the other hand. Terrible. Perhaps 40/2 fabrics, plastic buttons, machine made and bad fit

A neapolitan based alta sartoria student and shirt obsessed who works daily with the best.

I can recon by the finishing on a blind test who is the maker. my obsession is too high.

i have visited and got straight account with all the best alpine and prealpine mills incluiding Alumo who i sell a lot of 120s for all year round but Albini who i buy from a local reseller.

 

[TheFoo]

I have a white poplin shirt in DJ Anderson. It's very nice, but I am unfamiliar with their range.

 

[marcodalondra]

Foo, I have seen a lot of Alumo shirting and personally do not like the feel and finishing of the fabric, plus the 170/2 are considerably more transparent then the Riva 180/2 and the feel is nowhere near Riva and Bonfanti, although is clearly good stuff. Suggestion for a Riva ex customer? I would recommend Grandi & Rubinelli shirting, it is really good but can be expensive. Also, I have a lot of stuff in Atelier Romentino ( the lux brand of Testa, like SIC Tess is for Monti) which I also like a lot. I have one shirt is DJ Anderson, which is really good. The problem of the Thomas Mason classifications is that if you look at their Bespoke books (cut length) and their entry level lines, they have a lot of stuff made to be sold to major manufacturer at entry level standards e.g 70/2, which to them is sold as simply Albini. However in the top range there is some stuff that is produced at almost DJ Anderson level