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Continuing from Part 1...
David Isle: So your role is something beyond what a tailor could do by himself?
Luca Rubinacci: The problem, and this is why my grandfather opened a bespoke tailoring house, is that from the beginnings, tailors know what they do, and they are the best in what they do. They don't accept changes to their style. Because they've made the jacket in that way for forty, sixty years. So if you come and you say you want something else, they tell you to go somewhere else. My grandfather opened the business to put together the best tailors, but with his rules. And this no one can give. One of the best compliments I've had was from a politician in Kazakstan. Everyone was at a round table with some important Russian politicians. Of the seven men there, five were dressed by Rubinacci. The politician said, "You five, you are all dressed very well, who are your tailors?" Upon finding that they all used Rubinacci, he was amazed that each could look so good but so different. This means that we are dressing people to look different.
Whatever people want, from Rubinacci they can have it. We have to be good enough to make it look beautiful.
DI: Is all of the bespoke made in Naples?
LR: It's all made in Naples under 40 tailors. And this year we count 15 young tailors, between 18 and 22, that are incredible. They are giving me the pleasure of dressing differently. Whenever there is something that the old tailors don't want to do, they are the first ones to say, "Luca, don't worry - I will try it." This is the future. The new generation is more open - sometimes too open.
DI: Is the future of the company to expand more internationally?
LR: Of course, but we are already international. My grandfather made a Neapolitan tailoring house; my father established it; I am spreading it around the world. Today we are one of the few tailors that make 1,000 bespoke suits a year. I mean true bespoke. Today the marketing around that word is strange, which is why I made a short movie that will out in October for the opening of our new store in Milan. This new store will be like a club for gentleman.
The movie shows the 54 hours that it takes to make a Rubinacci suit. We filmed every single passage, which I hope will give people a lot to talk about. My father was worried that we would give away our secrets, but I am not scared, because nobody wants to make suits like this anymore. It's too expensive. But for us, we don't care how much it costs. We don't use branding on the inside of our jackets, but we want every jacket that leaves our store to look be a Rubinacci jacket, even if we have to remake it seven times.
What about the accessories and tie business?
LR: This is a little world that is growing a lot. We are now in many many stores. It's our signature. Accessories also don't have a season, so we can keep them.
DI: And a way for those who can't afford a suit to buy something from the brand?
LR: This is a point that I'm focusing on. I'm going to focus on the ready-to-wear collection with my new store. I want to give a more affordable product. We want to arrive to the mass. But maybe step-by-step. Rubinacci is like Hermes for bags, and we want to keep it like that. But we do some collaborations with friends. For instance, we have just launched a capsule collection of espadrilles with Manebi'.
Through collaboration is how we can arrive to the masses. I will never sell a jacket for 100 euro. But maybe I will make a collection for H&M, signed by Rubinacci. This is the right way to do it; you cannot cannibalize your own brand.
Photo credit: Neil Watson at A&H Magazine.
David Isle: So your role is something beyond what a tailor could do by himself?
Luca Rubinacci: The problem, and this is why my grandfather opened a bespoke tailoring house, is that from the beginnings, tailors know what they do, and they are the best in what they do. They don't accept changes to their style. Because they've made the jacket in that way for forty, sixty years. So if you come and you say you want something else, they tell you to go somewhere else. My grandfather opened the business to put together the best tailors, but with his rules. And this no one can give. One of the best compliments I've had was from a politician in Kazakstan. Everyone was at a round table with some important Russian politicians. Of the seven men there, five were dressed by Rubinacci. The politician said, "You five, you are all dressed very well, who are your tailors?" Upon finding that they all used Rubinacci, he was amazed that each could look so good but so different. This means that we are dressing people to look different.
Whatever people want, from Rubinacci they can have it. We have to be good enough to make it look beautiful.
DI: Is all of the bespoke made in Naples?
LR: It's all made in Naples under 40 tailors. And this year we count 15 young tailors, between 18 and 22, that are incredible. They are giving me the pleasure of dressing differently. Whenever there is something that the old tailors don't want to do, they are the first ones to say, "Luca, don't worry - I will try it." This is the future. The new generation is more open - sometimes too open.
DI: Is the future of the company to expand more internationally?
LR: Of course, but we are already international. My grandfather made a Neapolitan tailoring house; my father established it; I am spreading it around the world. Today we are one of the few tailors that make 1,000 bespoke suits a year. I mean true bespoke. Today the marketing around that word is strange, which is why I made a short movie that will out in October for the opening of our new store in Milan. This new store will be like a club for gentleman.
The movie shows the 54 hours that it takes to make a Rubinacci suit. We filmed every single passage, which I hope will give people a lot to talk about. My father was worried that we would give away our secrets, but I am not scared, because nobody wants to make suits like this anymore. It's too expensive. But for us, we don't care how much it costs. We don't use branding on the inside of our jackets, but we want every jacket that leaves our store to look be a Rubinacci jacket, even if we have to remake it seven times.
What about the accessories and tie business?
LR: This is a little world that is growing a lot. We are now in many many stores. It's our signature. Accessories also don't have a season, so we can keep them.
DI: And a way for those who can't afford a suit to buy something from the brand?
LR: This is a point that I'm focusing on. I'm going to focus on the ready-to-wear collection with my new store. I want to give a more affordable product. We want to arrive to the mass. But maybe step-by-step. Rubinacci is like Hermes for bags, and we want to keep it like that. But we do some collaborations with friends. For instance, we have just launched a capsule collection of espadrilles with Manebi'.
Through collaboration is how we can arrive to the masses. I will never sell a jacket for 100 euro. But maybe I will make a collection for H&M, signed by Rubinacci. This is the right way to do it; you cannot cannibalize your own brand.
Photo credit: Neil Watson at A&H Magazine.
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