French Tailoring Thread (e.g. Camps de Luca, Cifonelli, Smalto and etc.)

[RJman]

Does anyone know the latest pricing for a 2pc and 3pc bespoke suit from Cifonelli? I last placed an order 5 years ago, so not sure how that has changed

At a guess, probably 7000-8000 euro, but you may want to contact them directly as there doesn't appear to be any recent pricing info for them online.

BTW, Camps de Luca is going to be visiting NYC on October 13 - 15. The house says to contact it directly for appointments.

 

[Texasmade]

For anyone going to be in NYC the weekend of Oct 13-15, lots of tailors are rolling through that weekend for trunk shows.

 

[acconrad]

Are Charvet shirts really that good? Noticeably better than top tiers like Brioni, Borrelli, Turnbull?

 

[RJman]

Are Charvet shirts really that good? Noticeably better than top tiers like Brioni, Borrelli, Turnbull?

The thing is that any tier is a grey area. It also depends based on what you mean. If you mean what shirt is the best of an off-the-rack selection at a Neiman Marcus in Frontenac, MO, then Charvet will be the best machine-made shirt - better than T&A. Borrelli used to pride itself on lots of visible handwork; about a decade ago it had some business trouble and I don't know if it's been the same since, nor does hand-stitching mean a shirt is better, and certainly does not mean more durably made. Brioni shirts? I have no idea.

But if you are able to go to Paris and order a fully custom shirt from Charvet, then in addition to their very precise and durable make you have an experience unlike any shirtmaker anywhere in the world, because they have 3,000 bolts of cloth in almost any color, weave and pattern imaginable in a single room for you to choose from, and 3,000 more samples in books, and you can wander the room and see things you would never have thought of but suddenly need to have. No one, anywhere, does that, and there is no comparison with the usual experience of flipping through individual swatches from different cloth sellers. The custom make depends on the patternmaker - mine retired long ago, but a friend is using them currently and is happy.

 

[RJman]

The other day I mentioned to the wife I was thinking of going to NYC to begin fitting for a De Luca suit with a follow up in Paris. She was fine until I mentioned the price; I think I heard her teeth grinding. This morning she said she was okay with it. I won't do it yet but I will be stopping with her into the atelier next month to get her used to the idea that it could happen.

Back when we iGents (I guess the current term is menswear guys, thanks @dieworkwear ) used to meet up for shoe circles, I used to refer to our heterosexual partners as "style widows"...

 

[Texasmade]

Cifonelli is going to be in NYC the weekend of November 10-12.

I had a Teams job interview last night with a CFO and the invite said business professional. I put on the Cifonelli suit, and felt like million $. It's been awhile since I've worn it. Now that the weather is cooling down I can pull it out and start sporting it.

If my job situation was clearer, I'd love to do at least one more Cifonelli suit.

 

[othertravel]

Cifonelli is going to be in NYC the weekend of November 10-12.

I had a Teams job interview last night with a CFO and the invite said business professional. I put on the Cifonelli suit, and felt like million $. It's been awhile since I've worn it. Now that the weather is cooling down I can pull it out and start sporting it.

If my job situation was clearer, I'd love to do at least one more Cifonelli suit.

Congrats! Let us know if you get the job.

 

[lordsuperb]

Cifonelli is going to be in NYC the weekend of November 10-12.

I had a Teams job interview last night with a CFO and the invite said business professional. I put on the Cifonelli suit, and felt like million $. It's been awhile since I've worn it. Now that the weather is cooling down I can pull it out and start sporting it.

If my job situation was clearer, I'd love to do at least one more Cifonelli suit.

You need a new cifonelli jacket to go with your suede alligators!

 

[Texasmade]

You need a new cifonelli jacket to go with your suede alligators!

Full suit or nothing for the gators!

 

[RJman]

Full suit or nothing for the gators!

I read that as a full green alligator suede suit and was like OH YEAH

 

[poorsod]

Are Charvet shirts really that good? Noticeably better than top tiers like Brioni, Borrelli, Turnbull?

I did the Demi measure years ago.
1) the experience of looking at the bolts of cloth is cool.
2) The collars are a bit small for my liking.
3) whatever they do to stitch the buttons are incredible. I’ve hand many buttons from other makers fall off but theirs are tight
4) They are fussy about what they are willing to recollar and repair. They wouldn’t repair or recollar mine. So I put the $$$ to AdL instead (coincidentally not too far away).

 

[RJman]

I did the Demi measure years ago.
1) the experience of looking at the bolts of cloth is cool.
2) The collars are a bit small for my liking.
3) whatever they do to stitch the buttons are incredible. I’ve hand many buttons from other makers fall off but theirs are tight
4) They are fussy about what they are willing to recollar and repair. They wouldn’t repair or recollar mine. So I put the $$$ to AdL instead (coincidentally not too far away).

Interesting about repairs. I've had them recollar and cuff my shirts but I am a horribly insecure person so went full bespoke.

 

[poorsod]

Interesting about repairs. I've had them recollar and cuff my shirts but I am a horribly insecure person so went full bespoke.

They said my shirts were in too poor a condition to recollar. To be fair, they were beat up. But that’s why I wanted them to be repaired.

 

[Voidoid]

Browsing through ebay I stumbled upon some suit that was referred as Loro Piana suit but except Loro Piana fabric tag and Isaia tag on the trousers there was no other tag.
But the lapel form lead me to assume it's rather something french, maybe Smalto, but I never seen Smalto RTW made by Isaia. I have seen Cifonelli RTW made by Isaia, but I have never see them use this lapel. Am I right that the suit was made for one of the French houses?

 

[RJman]

Browsing through ebay I stumbled upon some suit that was referred as Loro Piana suit but except Loro Piana fabric tag and Isaia tag on the trousers there was no other tag.
But the lapel form lead me to assume it's rather something french, maybe Smalto, but I never seen Smalto RTW made by Isaia. I have seen Cifonelli RTW made by Isaia, but I have never see them use this lapel. Am I right that the suit was made for one of the French houses?
View attachment 2099111 View attachment 2099113

Well, the entry on the content tag 100% Laine is French, which suggests the garment was made in Italy for a French brand, and the lapel shape is definitely a particular French style. Cifonelli doesn’t do that style generally, the Groupe des Cinq that promoted that lapel shape were in fact rebelling against the supposed conservatism of tailors like Cifonelli. The lapel shape looks like Smalto; Smalto used to use Nervesa for RTW but I believe Nervesa's long out of business. in any case after Arnys went out of business a lot of French brands have tried to lay claim to carrying on the Arnys look, perhaps this was made for one of them.