Speciale is an exquisite little store within the west of London, making fantastic bespoke tailoring and distinctive shirts and knits. I ought to have lined Bert and George earlier and I have never, and it is totally my fault.
My solely excuse is location. Speciale is on the prime finish of the Portobello Street, identified for its market (made extra well-known lately by Paddington) however in any other case not on the menswear radar. It is probably not near the rest, even in west London.
Nonetheless, my job is to hunt this stuff and I ought to have executed so prior to now. Hopefully right now’s article will assist make up for it.
First issues first. ‘Speciale’ isn’t just a reputation picked by two guys that need to say they’re particular in Italian. It was the identify of the Florentine tailor, Lettorio Speciale, whose work impressed George to grow to be a tailor.
George (beneath) had been at artwork faculty in Florence when he was launched to the tailor Lorenzo Albrighi in Santo Spirito. (The sq. the place all the scholars hang around – if you wish to really feel previous whereas in Florence, go there.)
Albrighi was the final tailor to be skilled by Speciale, and was sporting a jacket he’d made. George was so taken with it that he dropped out and moved to stay in Albrighi’s workshop in Milan.
In 2014, George returned to London having completed his apprenticeship. That’s the place he met Bert, and the 2 arrange a tailoring enterprise out of Battersea. George returned to Tuscany three years later, to work beneath the coatmaker Mauro Fanfani after which with Liverano in Florence.
Bert additionally moved to Italy and labored for a small tailor, Rosario Sagliano. However by 2019, each had been again in London, having discovered it laborious to earn a residing in Italy. As soon as again they determined to arrange on their very own, with Bert (beneath, proper) specializing in the store and model somewhat than tailoring.
“I liked tailoring however I felt I’d hit some extent the place I had the grasp of it sufficient – paradoxically – to understand I wasn’t truly that good, definitely in comparison with George or the folks I seemed as much as,” he says.
The strategy to the store was partly impressed by the Anderson & Sheppard Haberdashery, with its dedication to not promote tailor-made jackets or coats however the whole lot you’d put on with them – on the identical excessive normal.
“There was additionally this uniform you wore as a tailor at your board, of a shirt and sweater day by day,” says Bert. “We wished to copy that, although usually with our explicit take.”
The store has been sluggish to refill, however you’ll be able to see their perspective in each the shirts and the knitwear. The V-neck knits and vests, for instance, have a very deep neckline that’s accentuated by the quick physique (designed to put on with high-waisted trousers).
The knitwear is usually cotton, with a small(ish) armhole to make them simpler to put on with tailoring, however a beneficiant physique, and an uncommon mixture of ribbing – 2×2 on the collar however 1×1 on the cuffs and hem.
Bert and George have tweaked issues over time – these knits are actually 3cm longer than they was once – however I might say they’re nonetheless finest with high-waisted trousers. I purchased a Massive within the navy crewneck above, for instance, and whereas the cotton, the color and the neckline and ideal, the sleeves are somewhat lengthy. With the pale-blue vest, I used to be finest in an Further Massive (pictured) however that meant a good bit of additional room within the physique.
The knits had been additionally designed to be unisex, with a full vary of sizes that women and men can choose by relying on how they just like the match. Emilie Hawtin wears each the vests and the shirts fantastically – as talked about in her piece for us right here.
This implies there aren’t many on the prime finish of the dimensions vary for males. Lucas, for instance, [Nicholson, Permanent Style] was too massive for the vary and usually wears a 44-chest jacket.
The shirts are additionally in a means of transition, being made now in unique cloths for the primary time – high-count cottons which have a silky really feel, with uncommon uneven stripes.
Sadly once we visited solely two of the colors had arrived, the others being caught in customs. However they confirmed the aesthetic properly I feel, each being uncommon however refined stripes – cream on blue and the reverse, blue on cream. I attempted a dimension 15.5 and it was a pleasant match, with some extent collar and a beneficiant physique with out being overly large.
Across the store there are additionally different bits and items, usually with a Florentine theme. The jewelry of Ranfagni, as an example, and show footwear from Saskia Wittmer. “Florence meant a lot to us,” says Bert, “it made sense to have this within the store”.
“Identical goes for the ties from Sevenfold. I do know the embroidered designs are a bit quirky, however we couldn’t consider there was no different stockist within the UK.”
In fact, the principle curiosity of many PS readers would be the tailoring – so what’s that like?
George’s tailoring is kind of immediately descended from Speciale, a small home that produced Florentine tailoring pretty just like others we’ve lined reminiscent of Liverano and Vestrucci – no entrance dart, straight entrance edge, smooth make and a lot of hand work.
“Typically in Florentine tailoring the block is sort of primary,” says Bert. “You’ve solely obtained one dart that can assist you, so its actually left to the making to provide a jacket its expression and produce it to life. And there’s a distinctive depth of largely unseen hand and iron work that goes into prepping and making every ingredient of the jacket.
“It’s this that offers it extra form, longevity and cleanliness: how little extra and bulk there may be left in a nook of a lapel, how little lip there may be on the prime of the welt pocket, how clear the roll of the lapel or sleeve-head is, how flush the lapel sits on the chest and so forth.”
The making actually is spectacular, and one thing I feel I will find yourself returning to on PS for extra element.
There’s additionally a performance to Florentine handwork that I at all times admire – however Bert describes higher than me: “The factor is the jacket ought to put on and look higher due to the additional work, that’s the important thing: the philosophy is about practicality, not simply prettification. It may possibly even be fairly brutal to that finish in locations.”
For example of this brutality, Bert factors out the the hand seam that’s sewn one centimetre in from the sting of the lapel, however which is so tight it appears like machine work. We’re wanting on the previous Speciale jacket they’ve (above) and I’d by no means have noticed that for the work of hand and needle.
“That locks the lapel ceaselessly,” he says. “It truly is constructed across the assumption you’re going to stay in it.”
If anybody needs any extra particulars on the tailoring now, the Speciale story highlights on Instagram have rather a lot, as do the Bespoke pictures within the Specialeworld part of the web site.
Speciale is at 324 Portobello Street, Notting Hill.
Costs (together with VAT):
- Bespoke fits from £4884
- Bespoke jackets from £3806
- Bespoke coats from £4994
Timelines are usually round six months for a primary buyer, with three fittings. There isn’t a travelling at the moment, however trunk reveals to Los Angeles are deliberate for subsequent yr.
