LA Custom Suits

[bespokewheels]

Hi all,

I am new here, but I have been lurking for a while. Do any of you know excellent custom tailors who can make shirts, jackets etc. in the Los Angeles area? Thanks!

 

[jmix1]

I pulled this from sleevehead.blogspot.com.

After a couple of years scouting this city for its tailoring gems, I'm ready to provide a more complete list of LA custom or bespoke tailors. There seem to be three categories of bench tailors in the city of angels:

Armenians (Novex, Gary Gagossian and Anto Shirtmakers). Harold is the tailor behind Novex. Gary is the eponymous tailor behind Gary Gagossian. Jack and Ken Sepetjian are the two sons of Anto Sepetjian who now cut and make the shirts at Anto Shirtmakers. Interestingly enough, the common thread among them is that they are all of the Armenian community, which has set up a little tailoring enclave in Beverly Hills.

Italians (Giacomo Trabalza, Enzo Caruso, Frank Caruso). I've written up on Trabalza before and despite my recent fear that he had retired he is still in business according to one of his colleagues in the trade. I've visited Enzo Caruso and a write-up is forthcoming. Frank Caruso is apparently Enzo's uncle. I'll need to check out his shop one of these days.

Others/clothiers (Jack Taylor). Jack Taylor was the one of the first tailors I visited in Los Angeles. Perhaps I should also add Duncan Quinn and Waraire Boswell to the map, as they appear to be trying to follow Taylor's steps as designers/clothiers to the (new) Hollywood set.


Note this mashup of LA tailors doesn't include a couple of affordable ones outside of Los Angeles County - Johnathan Behr and Ariel Tello - described in an earlier post.

 

[Manton]

Shirts: Anto. Jackets: Trabalza.

 

[A Y]

+1 on Anto. I'm very happy with what they've made for me.

Definitely read more of the Sleevehead blog --- there's a lot of good info on SoCal tailored clothing in there.

--Andre

 

[petitnoblesse]

What are the prices like for a shirt at Anto?

 

[Michael Ay329]

Shirts: Freddy in Sherman Oaks, price range $165-200...bespoke...one man show
No minimum order. First shirt is the experiment...after 2 fittings and multiple washings on my part, shirt was ready
With my follow up order I've opted to make a stiffer neck collar...bespoke means evolution

Suits:
Bespoke: Enzo Caruso, Santa Monica, $2400 CMT for 2 piece suit, one man show,

Bespoke: Nick the Greek, Huntington Park, $1200 CMT for 2 piece suit, one man show (his price is competitive yet from what I've seen, his tailoring is good, but a notch below the level of Enzo's...keep in mind he's half the price
Enzo is also in a wealthier area than Nick and thus the make up of the local community allows him to command a higher price

Both Nick and Enzo do a considerable amount of alterations in addition to bespoke...yet Enzo has more bespoke suits in the works

Anything in Beverly Hills comes with BH prices.

Freddy and Nick are bespoke bargains...both of whom make my clothes

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by petitnoblesse

What are the prices like for a shirt at Anto?
I would call them to ask, but $325 for very nice fabrics (eg. Alumo 200s) is what I paid, and I know the price has gone up since. There is a minimum initial order of 6, but they initially make one shirt that they leave unfinished, and adjust that in 1 or 2 (or more) fittings as necessary. They finish the seams, and you take that home, and wash and wear it for a few weeks, come back, and they look at it, and cut the rest of your order if you're happy with the shirt. They can be very fast (less than 1 week for emergencies), but are very busy, so if you need something quickly, discuss it with them first. It normally takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete an order. They will shank the buttons for no charge if you request it, and are quite flexible about styling. Everything is done in-house. Service is very good, and all that you'd expect from this level of bespoke. For example, a washing machine once ripped out a sleeve seam from a shirt for which they had to order new fabric (Alumo Soyella Zephyr, not cheap), and they replaced it gratis, no questions asked, even though I offered to pay for it. From what I've seen, I don't think you can go wrong with either Anto or Freddy Vandecasteele for your shirts. --Andre

 

[JLibourel]

A couple of other custom tailors I'm aware of:

Richard Lim on Wilshire Blvd., somewhere near Vermont, as I recall, is supposed to be quite good and very reasonable, especially for CMT.

Umberto's on Bellflower Blvd. in Long Beach, near CSULB, is supposed to have a substantial celebrity clientele. The wares in his retail store left me decidedly underwhelmed. I talked to the manager of his custom side of things, and he seemed like a pleasant, fairly knowledgeable chap. As their prices are about twice as high as those of my friends in Kowloon, I decided to take a pass.

I might also note the existence of Hemrajani Brothers' (MyTailor.com) U.S. headquarters in Costa Mesa right by South Coast Plaza.

Another tailor in that area who enjoys some renown is Michael Rienzi (I think that's the name, anway.)

 

[Manton]

I would not go to Renzi.

 

[Michael Ay329]

Manton...you've been following FNB for too long

What further can you convey to us about Renzi

As to mytailor...this is custom...read MTM in Honk Kong...this is not bespoke
Will mentioned he had Turnbull and Asser make his bespoke shirts (they have a shop in Beverly Hills). Once the cut and fit were to his liking...he went to Mytailor and had them replicate it quite well at perhaps a third the price

 

[A Y]

I visited Enzo Caruso yesterday, and started a sportcoat with him: cashmere from Harrisons or Lessers (I forget --- the book was blue and the fabric number had 6 digits and started with a 9) in a tweedy olive green with red windowpane. Three patch pockets, 2 buttons, notch lapel, Enzo's interpretation of soft shoulders. I'm aiming for a sleeker silhouette with a rough-looking fabric so it wouldn't look out of place with jeans. Very nice guy, and seems to be a neighborhood kind of store with people dropping in with their kids and chatting for a bit. It's a pretty modest store, and you couldn't tell it was a custom place if it weren't for the stacks of fabric books sitting around --- it looks more like a dry cleaner.

While I was there, another (young) customer came in for the 1st fitting of his suit. It had fairly built up shoulders, but the fit was very good --- very flattering in a modern, slim way. The pants were pretty impressive.

It was also weird to see a suit hanging there that a customer had brought in for pressing because he'd just received it from England, and the suit was made by my English tailor.

After that, dropped by Anto to drop off a shirt my defective iron had destroyed (never buy a Rowenta), and order a pique-front formal shirt, and a plain white shirt.

--Andre

 

[Manton]

Originally Posted by Michael Ay329

Manton...you've been following FNB for too long

Excuse me?

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by A Y

(never buy a Rowenta)

--Andre

Really? I thought they were supposed to be the best. I was planning on buying one after Christmas.

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by KObalto

Really? I thought they were supposed to be the best. I was planning on buying one after Christmas.

I guess I should amend my statement by saying that if you baby your iron (ie. not dropping it on the floor), then Rowentas are probably OK. I got a cheap Black and Decker to replace it, and I think it actually works better (specifically the sole plate glides better than the Rowenta ever did). My Rowenta's temperature control went crazy, and let the temperature go too high, so it was burning everything. Sometimes simpler is better.

--Andre

 

[Manton]

I love my cheap B&D. It gets really hot, jets a lot of steam, and weighs a ton. What more could you ask?