On this second installment of his bespoke journey over the previous 37 years, the creator of Gentleman tells us how he gave up on Savile Row, however sampled tailors in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland, Spain and Italy.
By Bernhard Roetzel.
In Half 1 of this text I wrote about my first experiences with bespoke tailoring, and my early life on Savile Row. From 2003 on my enthusiasm for Savile Row and English tailoring dwindled, nonetheless, for a few causes.
One among them was that I acquired to know Italy higher. I began experimenting with a number of makers of high quality RTW and MTM and was very pleased with the fits I acquired there. My favourites had been Belvest and d’Avenza.
The opposite was that Tobias Tailors closed in 2003, and I hardly visited England after that as a result of I did no extra England-related books. John Coggin additionally stopped doing trunk exhibits in Frankfurt as a result of the shoe store he used closed down.
I didn’t order something from a tailor for a few years as a result of I didn’t want something, but in addition as a result of my nice old flame for bespoke died when Tobias Tailors closed. I nonetheless love bespoke tailoring, however by no means once more as a lot as I did within the first years with them.
In Europe, I felt torn between the completely different worlds of tailoring that I found. I used to be typically tempted to order one thing after I preferred the craftsman and the ambiance, however I at all times stopped myself on the final second as a result of I didn’t really feel like beginning yet again with a brand new tailor.
In 2005, for instance, I visited Kathrin Emmer (above) in Berlin whereas I used to be there for the Congress of the World Federation of Grasp Tailors. Kathrin confirmed me her workroom and I preferred her work. She had educated in Munich and labored for Volkmar Arnulf, probably the most famend German bespoke tailor of the previous era.
I moved to Berlin in 2007 and visited Kathrin a few instances for a chat over a cup of espresso. In 2011 I used to be lastly able to order a jacket, however the cloth that I had picked wasn’t accessible anymore (a worsted Alsport). A bit later I got here again as a result of I now needed a go well with. It was a double-breasted constructed from a gray flannel with somewhat houndstooth sample.
I had a really exact I thought of what I needed: a Nineteen Thirties-inspired reduce with pleated trousers, wider within the leg than I had worn earlier than, no vents and a bit extra V-shaped. I confirmed Kathrin a few images and on the first becoming I noticed how effectively she had understood me and the way effectively she had constructed the sample.
There have been no sleeves within the coat at that stage. On the subsequent becoming there was hardly something to appropriate. I believe the sleeves had been a bit too lengthy however she might alter that from the shoulder, because the buttonholes had been open already.
A bit later I had one other double-breasted go well with made based mostly on the primary one. I requested her to copy the primary one, simply with the coat somewhat nearer to the physique. I picked a light-grey wool with mohair in a medium weight for spring and summer season. The material was very good nevertheless it turned out to be too heavy – however that was my fault.
On the becoming of the second go well with I used to be pleasantly shocked that Kathrin actually had managed to copy the match of the primary go well with – a difficulty I had discovered previously. It fitted a bit nearer to the physique however the look was very a lot the identical. She defined that she at all times measures the completed go well with and writes the measures in her e-book.
After the primary two double-breasted fits Kathrin made two extra single-breasted ones for me. One was in darkish blue with a faint overcheck and one was a mid-grey glen verify. The latter was presupposed to be extra Italian and I gave her an Italian RTW go well with as a reference.
She did effectively however nonetheless I learnt the lesson that it’s no good to ask tailors to emulate a mode from one other nation. The issue is, even when the fits suits effectively (because the one from Kathrin does) it is going to lack id.
This is the reason I additionally advise readers to get a go well with from a tailor who lives or was educated within the nation you need (like James Whitfield who’s English and educated at Anderson & Sheppard, however lives and works in Berlin).
In 2016 I made the acquaintance of the Viennese tailor Michel Possanner (above). A number of buddies had really useful him every time I had requested for tailors aside from the same old suspects. He invited me to talk at an occasion in his store and I seized the chance to order a blazer.
We selected a blue cloth from Minnis. We agreed on a double-breasted with a basic button configuration. The primary becoming happened a few weeks afterwards and the match was already excellent.
Michel unpicked the shoulder sleeve and pinned it following the contour of my determine. On the second becoming I can not bear in mind any points and the blazer was completed afterwards with none want for one more becoming.
Michel makes a really gentle coat with pure shoulders. He educated at Knize and makes the same silhouette with a reasonably low notch. The size of the coat could be very basic, just like the English style and the chest pocket is decrease than most tailors these days (which fits my style).
Based on Michel his tailoring is softer than Knize’s nevertheless it does incorporate issues he has discovered there. As an example the cuffs of the sleeves are made with a little bit of linen inside to provide them extra form.
Later I ordered a pair of cavalry twills and once more Michel did a superb job. Michel sticks to his personal model – he won’t ship something that he feels shouldn’t be elegant or flattering. He does have an excellent style and sense of favor, one thing that many tailors lack.
Two years later I met Zdenek Hartl from Prague (above). He had educated at certainly one of Prague’s most famed homes within the Sixties, which had been established within the golden pre-war age of tailoring. After 1989 he opened his personal enterprise. Because the late Nineteen Nineties he has been coming to Vienna for trunkshows on the material service provider Jungmann & Neffe.
Mr Hartl has an enormous variety of clients in Vienna due to the worth he affords. He expenses a lot lower than the native homes, which could clarify why a lot of them look down their noses at him. I believe that he’s glorious not least due to the massive expertise he has gained over many years of constructing for slightly demanding clients.
Many purchasers present him previous Knize fits they’d made previously, or present in second hand shops, and ask him to copy them. Others use him along with different tailors. I met one Brit who lives in London and Vienna; he mentioned he’s an Anderson & Sheppard buyer however has double-breasted fits made of their model by Mr Hartl whereas he’s in Vienna.
I used to be hesitant to attempt Mr Hartl due to the gap to Vienna however he invited me to come back to Prague for a becoming. Prague is 5 hours by practice for Berlin so I agreed (versus 9 hours to Vienna).
I had a really exact thought of the go well with I needed and I sketched it on a chunk of paper after I used to be measured within the becoming room at Jungmann & Neffe. I picked a heavy British houndstooth tweed from their cabinets.
I travelled to Prague and met Mr Hartl in his store in Verdunska road. Most Viennese clients have by no means been there and I had heard a few unusual tales a couple of dingy workroom someplace in Prague.
What I discovered was a typical tailor’s store in a quiet residential space. Very tidy and good, identical to another tailor’s store in Europe. The workroom is at the back of the constructing in a small construction within the yard: additionally very mild and tidy with about six totally employed tailors working there.
My becoming was ready for me on a costume dummy and it seemed promising. I wasn’t disenchanted after I first tried on the trousers after which the jacket. Each had been spot on.
Mr Hartl steered that he proceed straightaway to the completed go well with. Regardless of being slightly euphoric after the becoming I attempted to utter my doubts in probably the most well mannered means doable.
Mr Hartl has such an air of pleasant authority that I felt like a schoolboy asking an previous instructor if he was positive about what he mentioned.
As a solution he led to the wall and pointed to {a photograph} that confirmed Arnold Schwarzenegger with Mr Hartl on the becoming of a sports activities jacket. In his damaged English Mr Hartl mentioned that he did one becoming for this buyer too as a result of Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t keep lengthy sufficient in Prague for one more. This satisfied me, so I agreed.
We met a few weeks later in Dresden, midway between Berlin and Prague. We did the becoming within the foyer of a lodge. I used to be handed the go well with in a bag and I put it on within the toilet. Even earlier than seeing myself within the mirror above the wash basin, I felt that the go well with was good.
Within the foyer I discovered an even bigger mirror and it confirmed my impression. The go well with fitted very effectively after just one becoming and it seemed precisely as I had envisioned it earlier than. The heavy tweed most likely helped, however I’ve seen different fits on me constructed from heavy material which clearly confirmed points.
After that first profitable go well with I ordered 4 extra outfits and all had been excellent. On the subsequent conferences I observed that Mr Hartl begins at zero each time. He doesn’t appear to make use of the earlier patterns or measurements. I’ve seen a video of him putting the sample on the material immediately with out utilizing a paper sample as a stencil.
So for each new piece for the reason that first one now we have completed two fittings, even for the trousers. The standard of the making has at all times been glorious. The 2 fittings had been at all times mandatory as a result of I had modified my weight between ordering and becoming.
Usually Mr Hartl appears to choose a barely shorter coat and narrower lapels, if the shopper doesn’t ask for one thing else.
The primary English bespoke go well with I ordered since 2003 was made by James Whitfield in Berlin (above). He got here to Berlin in 2012. He was employed by a German store referred to as Purwin & Radczun. They couldn’t discover a cutter that met their expectations in Germany so that they employed James.
I noticed the fits he made there and I at all times preferred the thought of a real Savile Row tailor working in Berlin. I by no means acquired to attempt James till he began his personal enterprise after leaving Purwin & Radczun.
James makes a go well with with a protracted coat, pronounced shoulders and a excessive waist. As he can not depend on outworkers like his colleagues in London, he has educated a tailor who works for him fulltime.
I had discovered a chunk of jacketing within the Scabal warehouse and requested James to make a sportcoat for me. The size was a bit quick as a result of I had shared it with a good friend however James managed to chop the jacket from it.
James did two fittings and the ensuing jacket was excellent. When the jacket was made I used to be very skinny; after I put the load on once more later James needed to let the jacket out on the aspect seams to the max. The inlay was smaller than ordinary as a result of the unique size of material was a bit quick.
I discovered from that have that I’d slightly order cloth from a tailor. It’s a threat to purchase reduce lengths until you already know precisely how a lot is required. Tailors normally need extra of a patterned material, for instance, so do take care to purchase sufficient.
I’ve stopped ordering at trunk exhibits of visiting tailors. It’s normally too sophisticated and time-consuming to fulfill for the fittings. Pitti Uomo is a well-liked assembly place for fittings however I discover it’s disturbing for either side. Normally the fittings happen in a rush, typically the tailors can not focus totally or they lose the notes they take.
Within the final seven years I’ve tried a few promising younger tailors from Center Europe, together with Tim Fain from Kiev (above) and Dawid Kukliński from Gdansk. Tim used to come back to Berlin recurrently earlier than the struggle in Ukraine began and he made two excellent fits for me.
Dawid visits Berlin and Leipzig recurrently. He has made a sports activities jacket for me from linen by Maison Hellard and a go well with product of gray covert cloth by Holland & Sherry. Exterior Kathrin Emmer I’ve additionally tried different German tailors, for instance Detlev Diehm and Markus Schnurr (under, first and second respectively).
I met each Detlev and Markus a very long time in the past after I had had fits made by Tobias Tailors. Detlev was then the inventive director and designer of the Bavarian maker of handmade fits Regent, typically referred to as the ‘German Brioni’. He educated as a tailor initially earlier than he studied design. He went again to his roots a few years in the past.
Markus educated as a dressing up tailor, which isn’t unusual in Germany. He labored for Dietl in Munich, probably the most famend post-war tailor in Germany, after which began his personal enterprise in provincial southern Germany, the place he affords excellent handwork and reducing.
Among the many southern European tailors, I’ve tried Joaquín Fernández Prats (above). I met him at Pitti Uomo. He was nonetheless working for the shirtmaker Mariano Langa in Madrid and his boss invited me to Madrid. I used to be enchanted by the ambiance of the old school store and I acquired measured by Joaquín. I got here again to Madrid for fittings twice.
Joaquín cuts a really distinctive Spanish model, with a collar and lapel form which is extra French than Italian. I’ve at all times admired the model of stylish Spanish gentleman and the fits made by tailors from their nation, so I used to be to do this.
On the first becoming the go well with nonetheless confirmed traces of my model however on the second becoming extra of Langa’s and Joaquín’s home model emerged. The completed go well with was 100% Spanish, except the trousers. They had been reduce very large within the leg with ahead pleats, however even then they’d a Spanish accent as a result of I adopted Joaquín’s recommendations of a large waistband and belt that fastens on the aspect.
The one longer-lasting relationship I’ve had with a tailor sprung from an opportunity encounter. I met Massimo Pasinato in Milan at an occasion within the VBC showroom in 2018. Francesco Barberis Canonico made the introduction and the following morning Massimo took my measurements for a three-piece go well with. I had chosen a medium weight dark-grey high-twist cloth from VBC.
We met for 2 fittings in Germany. The primary was effectively reduce and I didn’t detect something to enhance at first sight. Massimo then took off the collar and unpicked the shoulder seam. He lifted the left entrance half just a bit bit as a way to smoothen out the entrance.
The second happened a few weeks later. I don’t bear in mind the way it went, most likely as a result of all the pieces was advantageous. The usual of workmanship was glorious. I wore that go well with at Pitti on the cocktail hosted by VBC at Liverano’s store. Once I bumped into Anda Rowland she complimented me on the go well with. Even when I detected a level of well mannered flattery the response felt trustworthy.
I needed to order extra from Massimo and despatched him one other go well with size however Covid stopped all progress. We met a few instances after the pandemic however he by no means discovered the time to take new measurements.
Lastly, it occurred in September 2025 in Vienna after we met at a trunkshow. We did the primary becoming in Milano a month later.
The material is a light-grey Prince of Wales with a pink overcheck from Draper’s. Massimo someway managed to provide the go well with an English air. We had agreed on slanted pockets with flaps and a ticket pocket, trousers with ahead pleats and side-adjusters and buttons for braces.
Scripting this piece and its predecessor has introduced again many recollections of bespoke and precipitated me to consider the errors I’ve made. The world was very completely different after I ordered my first fits as a result of there have been no sensible telephones, no social media, no Instagram.
The web has taken away loads of the magic of bespoke, nevertheless it offers the novice loads of data. Sadly, data can not change information or expertise. So everyone simply has to order his first go well with from a tailor, make proper or improper choices after which be taught from the outcomes.
Ideally, the tailor can be expert and skilled and based mostly not too distant. This can assist with correcting the errors. The shopper also needs to know precisely what he desires however go away the tailor sufficient freedom. In any other case he may choke the passion.
At all times bear in mind, a tailor shouldn’t be a magician. Don’t anticipate an excessive amount of; there isn’t a good go well with. Communication is an important: discover out what you need and let the tailor realize it. It’s your go well with so you will need to prefer it and really feel good sporting it. Lastly, in the event you discover a tailor who makes this go well with, follow him!
Which tailor would I exploit at the moment? Effectively, the tailors above are all ones I might use once more as a result of I used to be pleased with the outcome. However what number of instances can we like a meal in restaurant and but by no means return?
The tailors that I’ve been most pleased with judging by the variety of repeat orders are Zdenek Hartl from Prague, Kathrin Emmer from Potsdam, Massimo Pasinato from Vicenza and Dawid Kukliński (under) from Gdansk.
Mr Hartl affords the very best worth for cash, this is a vital issue. However he’s additionally extraordinarily expert and I like his model. And he’s a really good individual although verbal alternate is restricted.
Kathrin Emmer is closest to my dwelling of all, it is solely a couple of 90 minutes drive to see her. She is the one that provides the smallest quantity of enter concerning model however she is extraordinarily versed at reducing and she will be able to exacly replicate the fits she makes.
Massimo Pasinato has not too long ago reached one other stage in his reducing, no less than in my statement. His handwork was at all times glorious, however he appears extra mature and relaxed now. He’s very dependable and constant which I discover essential.
Dawid Kukliński makes a really good go well with, very center European within the sense of a quiet and subdued magnificence. He admires Savile Row model greater than most youthful tailors from Center Europe however he would not attempt to copy it. His costs are engaging and he involves Berlin regularly.
If I had to decide on certainly one of them as my solely tailor it might most likely be Mr Hartl.
Half 1 of Bernhard’s journey, speaking about utilizing an English and German bespoke tailor within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, will be discovered right here. For extra on Bernhard’s writing, particularly on retailers and tailors to go to in central Europe, see his writing extra usually right here.
