Custom tailored suits: "fashion's antiglobalization movement"
Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) on the "fashion's antiglobalization movement".
"People no longer want to go to a department store, spend thousands of dollars on a luxury suit and then see thousands of suits just like it," says Massimiliano Attolini at Sartoria Attolini, one of Italy's most traditional and renowned suitmaking families.
The master tailors at the Attolini workroom have dressed royalty like the Duke of Windsor, executives like Oracle Corp. President Larry Ellison and actors such as Clark Gable or, more recently, Al Pacino. They have supplied politicians, diplomats and generations of Italian families. And like other custom tailors in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, including at London's venerable Savile Row, they are attracting a new young clientele -- mainly men now, though women may not be far behind -- that is renouncing big brands such as Brioni or Armani and making old-worldly tailor shops part of today's fashion world.
The bespoke business is so brisk that large labels want to benefit as well. Menswear makers such as Gucci and Paul Smith have begun to offer made-to-measure suits. Earlier this month, designer Alexander McQueen opened his new New York boutique wearing one of his own customized coats. Even Nike and Levi's offer personalized versions of their sneakers and jeans. All over the fashion world, companies are striving to give customers the individualized style they crave.