A boutique Milanese shoemaker and leather goods atelier that was established by Pietro Almini in 1921. The marque is renowned as a maker of high-quality, handmade footwear, bespoke to a customer’s exact specifications. Almini uses a wide range of hides and tans with a full suite of colourways. Their casual shoes are particularly sought after. The brand’s craftsmanship extends to various leather goods and accessories including bags, belts and travelling accoutrements.
Tag Archives: BESPOKE
SMYTHSON
Frank Smythson opened his eponymous stationers in London in 1887 and soon garnered a reputation as a purveyor of the highest quality provisions for London’s smartest families. The house’s bespoke stationery was comprised of the finest materials allowing their customers to convey their extremely high tastes, not to mention their capacity to spare no expense. Smythson’s became a firm favourite of the Royal family and other great households across Europe. The firm expanded their range to include diaries, notebooks, travel accessories and leather goods, particularly bag & handbags, made to the same exacting standards and luxurious brief as their traditional stationery.
A.A. BROWN & SONS: BESPOKE GUNSMITHS TO THE MOST REFINED SPORTSMEN
A luxury high-end gunmaker, A.A. Brown & Sons has been producing bespoke arms to order for the most discerning of sportsmen since 1930. A true gunsmiths, the firm produces their own side by side (the Supreme de Luxe model) and an over and under model (the ABAS Series 8), as well as refurbished pieces from various other marques.
WALLY
Founded in 1994 in Monaco by Italian boatbuilder, Luca Bassani, Wally began as a maker of elegant and capable sailing yachts for discerning customers. The brand became renowned for its clean lines, modern designs, embrace of carbon fibre and lightweight materials to create supremely capable and ultra luxurious performance vessels for the superyacht class. The yard expanded their range to include motoryachts and smaller vessels and launches, maintaining their ultramodern, design-oriented ethos. The brand is now under the stewardship of the Ferretti Group and continues to be regarded as the pinnacle of modern yachtcraft.
FREDERICK SCHOLTE
Frederick Scholte is often heralded as the originator of the Drape suit and the London Cut / English-style tailoring, the style that has come to define Savile Row. A Dutchman, Scholte emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1880 at the age of 15 or 16. He apprenticed as a tailor, working with the Household Cavalry where he cut military uniforms to the exacting standards of the officers of The Life Guards, The Royal Horse Guards and The Royal Dragoons which then comprised the Household Cavalry and today are better known as The Blues and Royals and The Life Guards. These regiments were historically associated with the nobility, with many of their officers being commissioned from the upper echelons of society. These officers would have deep pockets and high expectations. Scholte would have needed to produce pieces to meet these specifications, with many of the officers using their bespoke uniforms as a means of demonstrating wealth and status and informally competing with one another to be the best presented. Scholte quickly earned a reputation as an outstanding tailor, whose craft was sought out by various members of high society outside of the military. He established his own workshop in the late 1890s and took on a number of apprentices, including Per Anderson who would go on to found his own atelier, Anderson & Sheppard. Scholte’s eye for an exquisite suit, borrowing from the military silhouette but giving a more relaxed, elegant look earned him an envious client list, including the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII, becoming the Duke of Windsor on his abdication), an icon of men’s style. The studio ceased trading on Scholte’s death in the 1940s but the occasional vintage piece still attracts great interest and many are featured in museums and galleries.
FRAZER HAART
Renowned, Savile Row trained bespoke tailor Frazer Haart opened his proprietary workshop in Bristol over a decade ago. Having perfected his craft at a many of London’s finest sartorial studios, Haart made the decision to go it alone and establish his atelier closer to his home in the West Country. Today, clients can avail of his masterful fully bespoke or made-to-measure tailoring service.
A. J. HEWITT
A very well regarded Savile Row tailoring house, Anthony J. Hewitt was established in 1976 by Anthony Hewitt who had previously plied his trade at Gieves & Hawkes and Anderson & Sheppard. He founded his eponymous studio having earned a reputation as an excellent cutter with a keen eye for the perfect silhouette. Many of his early customers migrated with him to his new home and were joined by a growing class of international businessmen, with many, notably, deployed to the Middle East or hailing from the region. In 1979, Hewitt hired a young cutter who hailed from a family with a great tailoring lineage tracing back to colonial India and, subsequently, to Zambia. That young man, Ravi Tailor, would later take the helm at the renowned institution upon the retirement of his mentor. The firm continues to produce bespoke pieces for their international clientele and has acquired the legendary safari and tropical tailoring house, Airey & Wheeler.
DUNHILL
An iconic British gentleman’s brand, Dunhill, like so many of its peers, started out as a saddlery business that offered various equestrian accessories for well-heeled customers. When Alfred Dunhill took over the family business he began to manufacture various accessories for the motoring enthusiast and for wealthy travellers. A successful foray into smoking accessories for the travel market opened an entirely new business for the brand which opened its first tobacco shop in 1907 and continues to trade in cigars and smoking instruments today, now under the watchful eye of its parent company, Richemont. Dunhill is a quintessential English gentleman’s outfitter, continuing its tradition of supplying “everything but the motor”, with various accessories, leather goods, apparel and even bespoke tailoring.
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Van Cleef & Arpels is one of the world’s pre-eminent jewellery houses, famed the world over for their beautiful iconic pieces. The brand was founded in 1906 in Paris and, today, has boutiques in key markets across the world. Fashioning pieces to order, VCA is a high jewellery brand with a significant ready-to-wear selection, earning them a loyal and even royal customer base. Van Cleef & Arpels pieces are highly collectible. The marque is part of the Richemont conglomerate.
MOYNAT
Moynat is one of the great Parisian malletiers alongside Goyard and Louis Vuitton, famous for it’s high-end luxury trunks and luggage and synonymous with the golden age of travel. Similar to their rivals, Moynat is easily identified by their distinctive patterns and colourways and the high-quality finish. The brand became a darling of European society, with many celebrated and royal patrons. The brand fell out of favour as air travel replaced ocean liners but the brand was revived by LVMH with Luvanis and reinstated as one of the world’s pre-eminent luxury brands, specialising in leather goods, bags & handbags, luggage and fragrances.
FITZGABRIELS 