Ongoing Bespoke Projects

[jonathanS]

Davide Taub can also accommodate other body shapes, as he has proven before

Thanks fully, my body shape is not shaped like that! Hahahah. It’s the “I’m already too big in the shoulders problem.”

Reza is very dedicated and focused. And he is doing something huge indeed.

For those who don't know, Reza came from the Netherlands in order to become an apprentice and then a tailor at Chittleborough & Morgan, at a time when Michael Browne still was a cutter and Francis Paley an apprentice-cutter there. Reza has since become independent with his tailoring company Akeila.

Apart from that he wants to make a difference in the world of tailoring in both a global and positive sense. Some of you may have seen his interviews with other tailors on YouTube already e.g. with Steven Hitchcock.

In between, Reza has also had two batches of sterling silver thimbles produced for tailors all over the world just out of frustration about the poor quality of the ubiquitous cheap thimbles that break and oxidize with an itching finger as a result.

But the huge thing he has worked on during the last years is ISOT, the international school of tailoring that he founded. With the help of a sponsor he has put two series of tailoring classes online. His approach is very systematic.

Why did he found ISOT? When Reza started as an eager apprentice in London just ten and a half years ago, he noticed that the knowledge of tailoring was not being passed on effectively... because you have to be lucky with your master. Also, the whole structure to advance as a tailor seemed very 19th century-ish. All of that is not so surprising if you think that the tailoring industry had been shrinking for decades. Reza thinks it's time for an update. The internet makes it possible to connect to tailors and apprentices all over the world.

Reza has now started a third series of videos. This shall become a compendium of alterations for tailors globally, free of charge. Reza has just started funding this project as the sponsorship ended with the 2nd series. For those of you interested in why he's doing all that he explains it on one of his latest posts on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/hotneedleandburningthread/reel/DE0N9cfsyES/?hl=en

Reza in a way is the epitome of what has happened on the London tailoring scene in recent years. A new generation of tailors is taking over after a 30-year's drought. It is all young and fragile, though, which is why it deserves support. Just my 2 cents

Are you somehow connected with with Reza or that realm of tailoring in London? Just seems like it from the way you wrote this.

 

[potter AB]

Thanks fully, my body shape is not shaped like that! Hahahah. It’s the “I’m already too big in the shoulders problem.”


Are you somehow connected with with Reza or that realm of tailoring in London? Just seems like it from the way you wrote this.

Hi, as just a regular customer of C&M and G&H I'm following the path of some alumni with astonishment. Not a customer of Reza, though. Reza was a very quiet and hard working tailor ten years ago. He absorbed a lot of knowledge. He made a synthesis of it and when he found out that his suggestions to improve things fell on deaf ears he set up his own business. With the help of internet he wants to make structural improvements to the tailoring industry all over the world. That sounds crazy, doesn't it. You certainly have tailors in London who laugh at it. Reza does not let negativity lead him. He has a mission and takes risks.

 

[schteekay]

Love his ISOT work. Just sceptical that maybe he has too much on his plate. Afaik the jacket course is not yet finished (far from it) but he still plans on doing the alterations course. Wish him the best, 100k£ seems like an ambitious target to hit.

 

[L.deJong]

Hi, as just a regular customer of C&M and G&H I'm following the path of some alumni with astonishment. Not a customer of Reza, though. Reza was a very quiet and hard working tailor ten years ago. He absorbed a lot of knowledge. He made a synthesis of it and when he found out that his suggestions to improve things fell on deaf ears he set up his own business. With the help of internet he wants to make structural improvements to the tailoring industry all over the world. That sounds crazy, doesn't it. You certainly have tailors in London who laugh at it. Reza does not let negativity lead him. He has a mission and takes risks.

That's what more tailors should do, after ten years of learning (absorbing the craft) make suggestions how you think it can be made even better, not from a hubris point of view (like you do if you are 2-3 years into your apprenticeship) and when you don't get the freedom, only then start your own shop and do it the way you like.

A lot of young tailors nowadays open their own shop after a couple of years of apprenticeship. Much too soon, and they make a subpar product because of it. While the make can be good, the styling is most of the time utter shite.

To be fair I do understand where they are coming from, we all need food in our belly and clothes on our shoulders. The problem with a craft based job is that it's much harder to do, just listen to leonard Logsdail the hardship he had to endure and he had to learn quickly and that was in a time where the internet was nonexistend. So if we can speed up the proces that would be a very good thing. But I wonder if it's not a double edged sword. Time will tell.

Btw this is one reason why the Japanese are so succesful they understand that it takes a lot of time and effort to learn the craft. Of course their society has problems of their own, but I wish the rest of the world would look more at the way they do things. A man can dream.

 

[othertravel]

You and I have same idea, I’m seeing Nina when she comes over thinking doing 4x1 DB offshore bespoke in navy chalk flannel stripe

And in another news MB is here, guess it doesn’t have to be 4 visit (he just shipped after 3rd guess I’m on the east side), tried bunch button and unbuttoned shot

View attachment 2319323




View attachment 2319325


View attachment 2319327

View attachment 2319329

This is great - and good call on the wider trouser.

Why does MB have a long turnaround time? Does he do all the cutting/sewing himself? i.e. is he literally a one-person operation?

I feel like whenever somebody posts a piece from MB, C&M, or Cifonelli, it's a mini styleforum seismic event - on account of how rarely these tailors are used by members here.

 

[clee1982]

don’t know if it’s one man shop, but he only visit NYC twice a year, and he is precise about what his vision I suppose.

I mean I can see other maker ship out after my 2nd fitting with MB but he wants one more (and apparently 2 more usually?)