Barney's house brand suits - any good?

What do you think of Barney's private label suits? Are they canvassed, half-canvassed of all fused?

Visited my local Barney's outlet and reviewed the suits available. Among others there were two types of suits, in numerous colors/patterns, under the Barney's label.

One is made in Canada with a Loro Piana tag on the sleeve.

The second is made in Italy with a Piattelli tag on the sleeve.

While I did not write the pricing down they were similar and under $700 - one or both were around $599.

What is the quality of these suits?

I asked the manager of the store about any canvassing. She said both were fused, but showed an obvious lack of conviction in her answer. So I thought to ask here.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Suits from the nice Barney's stores are made by Caruso. The suits I've seen at the Barney's outlet were some Canadian made ones... but this might be a different outlet.

Originally Posted by afuturestrader

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What do you think of Barney's private label suits? Are they canvassed, half-canvassed of all fused?

Visited my local Barney's outlet and reviewed the suits available. Among others there were two types of suits, in numerous colors/patterns, under the Barney's label.

One is made in Canada with a Loro Piana tag on the sleeve.

The second is made in Italy with a Piattelli tag on the sleeve.

While I did not write the pricing down they were similar and under $700 - one or both were around $599.

What is the quality of these suits?

I asked the manager of the store about any canvassing. She said both were fused, but showed an obvious lack of conviction in her answer. So I thought to ask here.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

take a picture of the inner tag then we can see if the Made in Italy ones are Caruso, and if they're, then they're great buy at that price.

barneys black label is by caruso.
white label is for the outlet, piatelli or whatever is used to be good fully cqnvassed but not anymore.

correct me if im wrong

Originally Posted by clee1982

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take a picture of the inner tag then we can see if the Made in Italy ones are Caruso, and if they're, then they're great buy at that price.

I second that thought.

But I guess that is not really important is it?

Originally Posted by Tony Romo

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Suits from the nice Barney's stores are made by Caruso. The suits I've seen at the Barney's outlet were some Canadian made ones... but this might be a different outlet.


Yes, of the suits I saw some were made in Canada and some, "Pattelli", are made in Italy. Sounds like your outlet store only had the former.

Thread hunting has conflicting information as to whether the "Pattelli" suits from Barneys are fully canvassed or not. Anyone know for sure?

Originally Posted by afuturestrader

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Thread hunting has conflicting information as to whether the "Pattelli" suits from Barneys are fully canvassed or not. Anyone know for sure?

Was in Barney's 2 weeks ago - I applied the pinch test and that indicated they were half canvassed. I would say I am 90% sure they were half canvassed. Not a deal breaker, but for the price there are better deals to be had.

I bought one of the Piattelli ones from the Barneys outlet last month (grey solid), made in Italy tagged Reda. Its a nice suit, probably half canvassed (I am not that experienced in the pinch test, though). Cost was either 499 or 599, forget which. I like it, fits me well, better than any suit I have bought new before. (then again, all of my previous suit purchases over the past few years were J crew or something).

I just searched for this thread after visiting a Barney's outlet recently.

I overheard the suit salesperson there talking about a new line of Barney's labeled suits that are fully canvassed - "zero fusing", to quote him. I went over to chat with him. The suits he was referring to are the ones that are labeled on the sleeve as using Loro Piana fabric and labeled inside as Barney's. They are selling for $599 for 130's or $499 for 120's, with a "retail" price of $999 on the 130's.

He said these are being made in Canada by Jack Victor. We chatted for a while, and he was very clear that these are full canvas. He said he'd put these up against any $1,500 suit on the market today.

I tried on just a jacket and found the fit to be a little American-style full (definitely not European cuts), similar to Hickey Freeman. They are beautiful suits and do appear to be well made. Although I do expect that these are "outlet only"product, they are a terrific deal if you find that the fit suits you.

I did not think to ask about the Piatelli suits when I was there.

Originally Posted by timpdx

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(I am not that experienced in the pinch test, though)

I can't properly execute the pinch test, either. They all feel canvassed to me. What's the trick?

Originally Posted by MadAboutPlaid

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I can't properly execute the pinch test, either. They all feel canvassed to me. What's the trick?

at the bottom of the jacket below the buttons pull apart the fabric and feel if there is another layer in between the inside/outside. If there is then it's canvassed. Do the same on the chest, if it's canvassed there but not on the bottom then it's half canvassed. That is my understanding anyway.

Originally Posted by Larson McCord

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at the bottom of the jacket below the buttons pull apart the fabric and feel if there is another layer in between the inside/outside. If there is then it's canvassed. Do the same on the chest, if it's canvassed there but not on the bottom then it's half canvassed. That is my understanding anyway.

There are fused suits that have three layers inside, it is not 100% indication of a fully canvassed one.

To indicate a fully canvassed construction ensure there is no substance fused to the fabric and that the canvas interlining is "floating".

Originally Posted by MadAboutPlaid

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I can't properly execute the pinch test, either. They all feel canvassed to me. What's the trick?

It is a two part test.

1) Can you easily (key word) separate the fabric from the canvassing? If yes, move on to 2). If not, its fused. If you feel glue, probably fused. If it stays wrinkled and glue-like after you let it go, it's fused.

2) Rubbing the fabric between your thumb and index finger, do you feel anything in between the cloth? An affirmative answer will feel like the sleeve. The sleeve is unlined and unfused, so grab a piece of that, rub it in between your fingers, and then rub the pinched area. Should feel friction as opposed to smooth and kind of squishy.

If the answer to question 2 is no, it's free floating canvas. If the answer to question 2 is yes, it's half canvassed.

Originally Posted by kmdsimpson

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He said these are being made in Canada by Jack Victor. We chatted for a while, and he was very clear that these are full canvas. He said he'd put these up against any $1,500 suit on the market today.

Seeing as Jack Victor suits are half canvassed and the $500 price tag... I am going to say they are half canvassed.

Originally Posted by phxlawstudent

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Seeing as Jack Victor suits are half canvassed and the $500 price tag... I am going to say they are half canvassed.
Well, he was very explicit in saying there was no fusing. I even said something like "you know, most house brands at the outlets are not fully canvassed". He claimed to know what I was talking about. He also made a point to say that they are ordering a large volume from JV. Maybe they're getting them made full canvassed especially for them? Although I agree the price seems awfully low. I was not ready to buy a suit, and the fit is not the best for me, so I didn't spend much time feeling for full canvas. I probably should have, but I took his word for it. Edit: Maybe they are true leftovers from the main stores? That might explain the price. I'd assumed they were made for the outlets.