I know of only two great Continental tailoring houses outside of Italy, those being Knize of Vienna and Cifonelli of Paris. Lorenzo Cifonelli, the fourth generation of his family to work in the firm, took me for a tour of his family's workshop the other day. Cifonelli has forty people making tailored clothing in Paris with not a sewing machine in sight (I did not ask about the trousermakers who work off site).
Jacket collars and the interior padding are hand made and hand sewn.
When everything is made by hand a jacket sits on the body like a mixture of a glove and a sweater, light and flexible. The light-weight jacket in the photo has what Cifonelli calls a half lining, though it's less than the half linings I'm used to. There is some gossamer stuff in the sleeves, and much of the rest is little more than tape over the seams.
When everything is made by hand a jacket sits on the body like a mixture of a glove and a sweater, light and flexible. The light-weight jacket in the photo has what Cifonelli calls a half lining, though it's less than the half linings I'm used to. There is some gossamer stuff in the sleeves, and much of the rest is little more than tape over the seams.
All this hand work costs roughly the same as a Kiton RTW suit in the United States. I was very, very impressed. Lorenzo visits New York five times a year (I'm lobbying hard for the West Coast), and should be on your list if you're looking for a tailor.
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4 comments:
I am intrigued about your post concerning Mr. Cifonelli. How can I obtain the specifics of his New York itinerary. Regards!
Thanks for the synopsis of Corthay, Will. I wonder do they produce EG and G&G style oxfords?
myTailor.com shirts came in. They're very nice, so thank you again for the recommendation. I had chosen a style collar too small for my face, so collars will have be changed out, but that's my fault. They're very accomodating and I'm very pleased.
Great snippets from abroad, sir...
JW
Will-
Do you happen to have other photos of Cifonelli clothing? Thanks for the updates.
Cifonelli is now closed for vacation until September, however they can be contacted after they re-open at cifonelli2@wanadoo.fr or +33 (1) 42 25 38 84.
I will have Lorenzo Cifonelli's travel schedule posted on the Visiting Artisan calendar as well.
Yes, Corthay makes conventional looking oxfords and yes, I have more photos of Cifonelli's work that I'll be posting in a future essay.
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