Fair price for Loro Piana Super 160 cashmere / wool suiting?

[coolal]

Now that my quest for the right custom tailor has ended (for now) with Richard Lim, the hunt for shirting, suiting and linings has begun.

My friend ordered a sport coat with the aforementioned Loro Piana fabric. I supplied my own fabrics during my first experience with Richard Lim so I had no basis to judge his in house pricing.

What would you guys say is a fair price in USD $ for each yard of the plain dark charcoal super 160 cashmere / wool blend fabric?

If the price is fair, I'll just buy everything in house, if not, the hunt is on.

(I'm not going to mention the price my friend paid for his suiting for a bit, just so I can get some unbiased perspective

)

Thanks,
Alex

 

[edmorel]

the consesus is that Lp is very richly priced for what it is. the English (Minnis, Hardy, Lesser etc) make a very good fabric. Most good tailors in Italy use English fabric, think about that for a minute. LP is a great bragging fabric and is one of those things that is used by tailors to needlessly mark stuff up. Anyway, I would say that $500 a yard or so is a reasonable price but I would stick with something English and something no more than super 110-120.

 

[tlmusic]

Originally Posted by edmorel

the consesus is that Lp is very richly priced for what it is. the English (Minnis, Hardy, Lesser etc) make a very good fabric. Most good tailors in Italy use English fabric, think about that for a minute. LP is a great bragging fabric and is one of those things that is used by tailors to needlessly mark stuff up. Anyway, I would say that $500 a yard or so is a reasonable price but I would stick with something English and something no more than super 110-120.

This is good solid advice. Also it's good to consider that 160 wool/cashmere is not likely to be a hard wearing fabric, so it's not so practical unless you plan to wear it infrequently.

I noticed the OP mentioned he is also on the lookout for shirtings. If you don't already know about the company, you could consider Acorn Fabrics www.acornfabrics.co.uk. They offer a large selection and sell directly to the public. If your shirtmaker is willing to do CMT, you can order shirtings directly from Acorn, and likely save yourself some $$$. Dealing with Acorn has worked out well for me.

 

[coolal]

Originally Posted by tlmusic

This is good solid advice. Also it's good to consider that 160 wool/cashmere is not likely to be a hard wearing fabric, so it's not so practical unless you plan to wear it infrequently.

I noticed the OP mentioned he is also on the lookout for shirtings. If you don't already know about the company, you could consider Acorn Fabrics www.acornfabrics.co.uk. They offer a large selection and sell directly to the public. If your shirtmaker is willing to do CMT, you can order shirtings directly from Acorn, and likely save yourself some $$$. Dealing with Acorn has worked out well for me.

I certainly warned my friend about the fragility of super 160 fabric, especially a cashmere and wool blend. I was already nervous enough when I had my sport coat made from super 130.

He was, however, not concerned with that. The comfort while it lasted was what he cared about.

I am personally on the hunt for other shirting and suiting material suppliers if I discover that the "discount" rate I get isn't really a discount after all.

I can say however, that we did pay under 200 a yard.

-Alex

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by coolal

I can say however, that we did pay under 200 a yard.

-Alex

i think what your friend needed to ask himself is, would he have paid $700 for the fabric if it did not say Loro Piana?

 

[coolal]

Originally Posted by edmorel

i think what your friend needed to ask himself is, would he have paid $700 for the fabric if it did not say Loro Piana?

Most certainly. He was sold on the fact that he couldn't feel the individual strands when rubbing it between his fingers. At that level of softness I don't think it would have mattered who made it.

He only purchased two yards, for the sport coat by itself. The retail rate for a suit with that fabric was $2500. The price you think he paid for fabric alone is more along the lines of the total price we were able to arrange for the sport coat.

I'd think Loro Piana would be much pricier when compared to competing brands, but this difference should be prevalent anywhere. My main concern is with the value we got vs buying suiting elsewhere and getting a CMT rate around $500. If the Loro Piana "rip off" is consistent or less than other suiting suppliers then I know we are getting a better rate

According to your assumptions though it looks like we might have got a great deal

-Alex