A sartorial tour of Milan

I was fortunate enough to spend the last week in Milan. While there, I crossed a lot of items off my sartorial wishlist: stores I wanted to visit, people I wanted to meet, things I wanted to do (and pizzas I wanted to eat). As opposed to last time I was in the city, everything was open and everyone was in town.

Below is a list of the people and places I visited in no particular order. Also please note this is by no means a “best of Milan” list. I have not experienced enough – not even close – to make such claims.

Al Bazar

This menswear store is well known because of its owner Lino Ieluzzi. His social media presence is legendary since being profiled by the Sartorialist. But before all the fuss, he was quietly running his store, in his own unique style, for decades. Walking into Al Bazar is like walking into Lino’s own closet: the clothes he wears on Instagram are also on the store shelves. But it is not row after row of patterns and colours: I was happy to find that mostly the shop is stocked with classic menswear in traditional colours and patterns. You can most certainly “go Lino” with wild abandon, but there are plenty of blue overcoats and simple brown oxfords for sale.

Lino is warm and welcoming and always on the verge of a smile or a laugh. Until he saw my socks, that is. I noticed that his dress sock supply was mostly navy blue. When I showed him my pair of green Mazarin socks he looked, quite frankly, disgusted. The man best known for his love of colour actually has a clear and defined approach and when it comes to socks with tailored clothes, they must be navy blue. Still, we ended up having a good laugh about it all.

Rubinacci

Located in the tony Montenapoleone area of Milan, home to luxury brands from Italy and around the world, is Rubinacci. This location is overseen by Luca Rubinacci while his father Mariano looks after the main Naples shop and his sister Chiara the London store. Family was a theme that kept emerging on my trip to Milan and Luca’s stretches back a few generations to the creation of Italian tailoring as we know it. Luca and I discussed how his shop, and his personal style, are about combining the colours and vibrancy of southern Italy with the more classically British approach of the north.

The shop itself is opulent without being overblown. You are greeted first by Rubinacci’s accessories, then the ready-to-wear line until you lastly, seemingly, move to the custom tailoring area. But that is not all. Deeper still and out of sight is the bespoke fitting room – a private lounge with the air of a classic gentleman’s club – and finally the vintage cloth cellar. Here, bolts of decades old cloth await selection by those who appreciate not only weight but a depth of colour and texture in their suiting not seen much these days.

Musella-Dembech

Hidden behind an unmarked door, through a courtyard and in an old apartment block is the family home of Gianfrancesco Musella-Dembech where he tailors with his father and mother (and new assistant). This is truly a family operation, with their history also stretching back a few generations. But what struck me most about Musella-Dembech was not just their story and their space, but Gianfrancesco’s passion for his work. He is young, one of the youngest craftspeople I met, but his appreciation for the sartorial accomplishments of the past suggests a maturity beyond his years. And while there is certainly a “retro” vibe to his approach, Gianfrancesco is not stuck in the past.

On numerous occasions he told me about how he and his father are updating old patterns, some from his grandfather’s time in the 1930s – not to make them “fashionable” but to actually make them more moderate and classic. One example was the pair of pants Gianfrancesco was wearing: despite their deep pleats, they did not look huge and old-fashioned at all. At the same time, they were not overly slim. Instead, they created an exquisite line running from the waist straight down to the cuffs. Musella-Dembech’s style appeals strongly to my classic but contemporary sensibilities.

F. Caraceni

Nicoletta Caraceni was easily the most expressively passionate person I met on my tour of Milan. Her intensity is infectious. She has wonderfully strong views on tailoring, fashion, fabrics, even shoulder construction. She is also a wealth of experience and knowledge. Spending an hour with her I learned more about the industry than I had in months. In fact, I’m working on an entire post about the importance of ageing fabric thanks in part to her insights.

Nicoletta is the daughter of Ferdinando Caraceni, who was one of Milan’s great tailors (to be more precise, a master cutter). While not a cutter or sewer herself, a life in the sartoria has given Nicoletta the eye of a master. She is dedicated to keeping the craft alive in her shop as it was in her father’s time, with enormous amounts of hand-work, meticulous quality control and no short cuts. But the image I was most left with was the joyous fire in her eyes when she talks about tailoring.

Antonio Pio Mele

There is only one custom shoe maker in Milan that I could find and Antonio tells me that the vast majority of his customers are not even from Italy. Perhaps because everyone expects the country’s shoe makers to be in Florence, they don’t even bother setting up shop in Milan. But Antonio did and his shop is like stepping into another era. Muted colours and aged furniture give the air of a place that has been here for generations, even though it’s relatively new.

What I appreciate most about Antonio’s shoes – that I saw on display – is their classic nature. Not pointy nor chunky, his shoes have a lovely balance and shape. And Antonio is another character I see eye to eye with. We both share a love of cigars, fine leather goods and heavy tweeds. In fact, Antonio took me along for a remarkable trip on one of my days in Milan. An old master tailor recently passed away leaving behind a huge stock of vintage fabrics, which his family is selling by the bolt. This was a sartorial dream come true. Feverishly, I poured through roll after roll of gorgeous cashmeres and worsteds until reality kicked in: many of the bolts didn’t include enough fabric for someone as tall as I am. However, I did find one grey herringbone tweed this is so bone dry – and over 40 years old – I think it will make a fantastic sport jacket.

Siniscalchi

Most custom shirt makers have a similar process: they take your measurements, maybe do a first fitting, and then deliver the final shirt. Alessandro Siniscalchi is not like most shirt makers. Keeping the process and quality of his father’s time alive, his shirt making is meticulous and truly bespoke: after taking measurements, a paper pattern is drafted and a try-on shirt is constructed of simple white cloth. At this point, almost anything can be adjusted, from the sleeve length to the collar style. Once those are agreed on, adjustments are made to the pattern and a shirt cut from the actual cloth you’ve selected. You then have another fitting with a basted shirt. Here, small tweaks are made and returned to the paper pattern, to insure it is correct and the shirt taken apart, adjusted, and sewn back together. But here is what is remarkable: the shirt isn’t finished yet, even though it looks like it is.

After wearing and washing the shirt a few times, you return it again. Alessandro told me that at this point the shirt starts to change based on your body and how you wear it. This is when he can see your true shape and posture, in the fabric. The shirt is once again taken apart, changes made to the fabric and pattern and your shirt is at long last put back together for good. What I enjoyed most about my visit to Siniscalchi was simply speaking with Alessandro: he is soft-spoken with a remarkable air of casual elegance.

Fabio Attanasio

Fabio is better known in the online menswear world as the guy behind The Bespoke Dudes blog. Started a few years ago as a way to delve deeper into his passion for all things sartorial, it has helped create a massive social media following for Fabio. He’s even evolved the blog into a company that produces hand-crafted eyewear.

Being a long time follower of his blog, it was a pleasure to sit with Fabio and hear his thoughts on “Made in Italy” as well as his great stories about his first forays into tailored clothing. There is just something about sitting and talking with someone that no blog or website can compare with. In fact, I would encourage you to do as Fabio (and I) did years ago: if you are interested and passionate about men’s style, get out there and meet people. Talk to your local tailor or cobbler or the owner of an excellent menswear store. We all need to do more talking and less reading (once you’re done with this article, of course.)

Vitale Barberis Canonico

I remember, years ago, looking at the label of a gorgeous jacket in a very up-scale men’s shop in Toronto. Next to the brand was a label for the fabric used in the coat: “Vitale Barberis Canonico.” That name became imprinted on my mind. I could never have imagined that a short time later I would be touring the mill where that very fabric was made with the thirteen generation director Francesco Barberis Canonico, who was, like so many others on my trip, warm and remarkably gracious.

The Barberis mills is located amidst the rolling hills of the Biella district. There is an air of life lived at a different pace than in the city. Once inside the mill, however, you are surrounded by technology of the highest level. I was stunned by the sheer size of the operation, which tunnels many floors underground, housing row after row of impossibly detailed machines that run 24 hours a day. It was like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory without, thankfully, the Umpa Lumpas. Something that also struck me inside the mill was the smell, a strong barnyard scent rising above the machines. I was reminded, of course, that wool is a living thing.

The other highlight of the tour came in the newly established Archive. Containing cloth samples stretching back about 150 years, from numerous mills, not just Barberis, this place is a national treasure. You can see and touch, in person, cloth woven in the times of our great grandparents. My greatest revelation: men wore far more vibrant and daring patterns and colours in the 1930s than they do now.

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Post script: Following up on my story a few weeks ago on the trendiness of capes, I only saw one in Milan: in a store. It was a traditional Italian tabarro – usually worn in the countryside – and when I put it on, I loved it. But I couldn’t quite work up the courage to buy it. Maybe next time, Milan, maybe next time.