Suit Yourself

A few designers are reshaping bespoke tailoring to suit a new audience of discriminating men who seek pieces with meaning.

Fashionable Englishmen are devotees of Spencer Hart's bespoke suits; however, fashion adventurers who venture just off Savile Row will find a relatively new and private salon on New Burlington Place, the location of Jsen Wintle's eponymous line, Wintle. The two-year-old brand references dramatic and esoteric moments in history and translates this into modern eveningwear for men. Wintle's current collection, dubbed "The Interpreter's Wager," takes inspiration from a shipwreck during the 18th-century Dutch occupation of Indonesia's Spice Islands. The islands produced such arresting hues that it motivated the use of luscious aubergines, rich burnt browns, and volcanic blacks in Wintle's made-to-measure suiting collection. Slight military references rendered in the most refined silk, cottons, and cashmere give the suits a kind of delicate toughness. And if the artful detailing of deer horns, glass, and oysters sculpted into buttons entices, then Wintle's suiting — pressed at every phase of construction and hand labored with over 10,000 stitches — draws the customer into an esteemed world of ultimate tailoring.

New York's latest whiff of Savile Row tailoring comes from the Meatpacking District-based Thom Browne. Inspired by privileged Americana, Browne's line speaks to today's man by paying homage to the '50s and '60s masculinity embodied in the sophistication of John F. Kennedy and Steve McQueen's unbridled machismo in The Thomas Crown Affair. Browne's suits come in neutral-colored fabrics and include his trademark cropping of jackets and high-waisted pants. According to Browne, button-down shirts should be washed and not pressed, and left unbuttoned, giving his whole offering a refreshing un-prim dash of a young preppie from Phillips Exeter.

Rogan's bespoke selection also boasts an appreciation for Americana, but their modernist aesthetic reflects more blue-collar values. This autumn, the casual cool factor of this New York-based company should transition nicely into dressy sophistication with the debut of A Litl Betr, a line of hand-tailored suits for men (and women). The snug-fitting silk and linen suits come in dark colors, lined with silk brocade, and with buttons crafted from black mother of pearl or ebony wood. An ensemble in the latter fabric is textured and surface-treated in such a manner that it's not only season-appropriate, but is a manifestation of the artisanal craftsmanship prided by the label.

With these formidable propositions calling for a new kind of sartorial decorum, a certain audience of men are once again are being associated with a discerning elegance.
-Robert Cordero

Photos: 1 Wintle salon
2 Wintle s/s '05
3 Rogan
4 Thom Browne