Bespoke · Italian formal wear · Mumbai
The suit you own is nearly right.
Nearly is the same as wrong. This is the story of the one made for you alone.
Chapter one
You know the feeling.
The shoulder pulls when you reach for a glass. The sleeve was shortened twice and is still a touch long. The trousers were taken in at the waist and now the pockets gape. It was expensive, it has a good label, and every time you put it on you adjust something.
That is what a suit made for a thousand men feels like on one of them. It is not your fault and it is not the shop's. A ready pattern can only be nearly right, and nearly right is what you have been wearing to the days that matter.
Chapter two
The day it matters is not a rehearsal
A wedding morning. The pitch you prepared for a month. The evening your daughter gets married. There is a photograph of each of these, and the photograph keeps the suit longer than you will.
Chapter three
One pattern. One man.
A bespoke suit is cut by one person and made by craftsmen who do nothing else. Your measurements become a paper pattern that belongs to you alone. Nothing starts from a rack.
You choose the cloth from the swatch books. You decide the lapel, the buttons, the pockets and the lining. The jacket is made up by hand, with a canvas chest that keeps its shape for years, rather than a fused one that can bubble in humidity.
Then you put it on, before it is finished. We look at the shoulder, the collar, the balance and the trouser break, and we adjust until it is right. That fitting is the whole point of bespoke, and it is the step every cheaper version skips.
The bespoke suitChapter four
Our own pictures, on the client
Not a mannequin, not a catalogue. A slate-blue windowpane check with a mustard waistcoat, made for a client who wanted colour without a loud cloth.
Chapter five
Four meetings, one garment
Consultation
The occasion, the date, how you like to dress. We bring the swatch books. Nothing is decided yet.
Measure and cloth
Measurements taken by hand, cloth and details chosen, a pattern drawn for you. The price is fixed here and does not move.
Fitting
You try the garment before it is finished. We adjust it on you. A second fitting if the cut needs it.
Delivery
Finished, pressed, tried once more. Your pattern stays with us for the next one.
Chapter six
Choose the cloth
Three cloths do most of the work in Mumbai. Tap one. We will tell you the truth about it, including the part the shop does not.
Linen
The cloth that breathes in Mumbai. It creases, and the crease is the point: a linen suit is meant to look lived in by lunch.
- Best for daytime weddings, Goa and Alibaug, a summer office that is not too formal.
- The truth it wrinkles within the hour. If that would bother you, choose a linen and wool blend, which holds its line.
- Colours sand, stone, pale blue, tobacco. Navy linen for the man who wants linen and a suit.
Cotton
Crisp, matte and quieter than linen. A cotton suit is the one you wear from a meeting to dinner without anyone noticing a change.
- Best for the office in the hot months, travel, a cocktail evening that is not black tie.
- The truth it holds a crease better than linen but it is less forgiving of a tight fit, so the pattern must be right.
- Colours stone, olive, navy, a chalk stripe for the brave.
Wool
The cloth a suit was invented for. A fine, light worsted drapes, recovers from a crease overnight and photographs better than anything else.
- Best for evening weddings, the boardroom, a receptions season, any suit you want to still wear in ten years.
- The truth weight matters more than price. For Mumbai we start light; for the north in December, flannel.
- Colours navy, charcoal, mid-grey, and a check when you want to be remembered.
Chapter seven
The three things you are privately thinking
It takes too long
Bespoke takes the time a fitting takes, and no more. Tell us the date in your first message and we build the schedule back from it. If the date cannot be met properly, we say so, rather than deliver something unfinished.
It will cost more than I think
The price is fixed at the second meeting, once you have chosen the cloth, and it does not move after that. There is no fitting fee and no surprise at delivery. The consultation costs nothing.
I do not know cloth
You are not supposed to. You know the occasion and how you want to feel in the room. The cloth is our half of the conversation, and we will tell you what creases, what wears and what photographs.
The last chapter is yours
Two minutes now, a suit that is yours for years
Tell us the occasion and the date. Ronnie reads every enquiry himself and comes back with a time to meet. Nothing is decided until you have seen the cloth.
Questions
What people ask us
What does bespoke mean at Artigiano Alessandro?
A pattern is drawn for you from your own measurements, not adjusted from a ready block. You choose the cloth, the cut and every detail, the garment is made by hand, and it is fitted on you before it is finished.
What is the difference between bespoke and made-to-measure?
Made-to-measure alters a standard pattern to your size. Bespoke starts from a blank pattern cut for one person, with fittings along the way. The fit, the shoulder and the balance of the jacket are the difference you feel.
Where is Artigiano Alessandro?
We are in Mumbai, India, and work by appointment. WhatsApp or call +91 99200 67988 to fix a time.
What do you make?
Bespoke suits (two-piece and three-piece), Nehru jackets and bandhgalas, dinner jackets and the trousers, waistcoats and shirts that go with them, all in the Italian manner.
How long does a bespoke suit take?
It depends on the cloth and the number of fittings. We give you a delivery date at the first consultation. If there is a wedding or an event, tell us the date first.
How many fittings are there?
At least one fitting on you before the garment is finished, and more if the cut needs it. We do not deliver a bespoke garment that has not been tried on.
How do I book?
Send a WhatsApp message or call +91 99200 67988. Tell us the occasion and the date and we will suggest a time to meet.