SPEAKER_05 0:11

Hello and welcome to the very first episode of the Men's Wear Style Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Brooker, and on today's episode, the inaugural podcast, we are gonna speak to Taylor and Trailblazer Gresham Blake on how to make a suit out of cork whilst wrestling his pet pug into a cupboard.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Excuse me, can I just split I'm just gonna go lock my dog downstairs? I've got a pug. And it's horrid.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Scrambles, scrambles, what's in here? What's in here? What's in there? You just stay there, you just stay there.

SPEAKER_05 0:46

We catch up with Ben Heath over at 21stcenturygent.com about how to pick your ideal suit for your wedding. And lastly but not leastly, a word from our fashion editor over at Men's Wear Style, Andre Latebotet, about how much attention do women really pay to men's shoes? And how do you even say Andri Letebode?

SPEAKER_04 1:07

It's Andre, so not really version.

SPEAKER_05 1:09

Oh sorry, Andri.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

Yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

Andri. So Andre Latibaudet. Andrei Latibaut, I must say. Andre. God damn it! Ah, what a beautiful name. If only one could pronounce it correctly. And to get us going, we're gonna have a chat with Tim Cooper. He's the cobbler in chief over at Oliver Sweeney. He's gonna tell us what we can expect from Oliver Sweeney this season and a little bit about the new Gandini boot. We have Tim Cooper on the line. Tim's the cobbler in chief over at Oliver Sweeney. So Tim, uh talk to me about the hiking boots range, the AW16 range, the Gandini boot in particular.

SPEAKER_06 1:50

Right, um, so it's an evolution. We've been doing hikers now, I think this is our sixth year. So we started off with one um oh a long time ago called LAM, which uh interestingly, I don't know why we called it LAM, but um it had a it had um a shilling lining, sold really well. We thought it was a bit limited by the shilling lining, and then um our uh then head of design and myself were travelling in France and we're in a flea market and we found a really cool old German ski boot. Um sort of unbranded. It had a sort of sort of alpine or alpista or whatever brand on the side, but it was actually a ski boot, one of the leather ski boots you used to put into your uh, you know, it had it had cutaway leather sole, which you then caught into your bindings. And the whole shape of it and some of the detailing was really cool. So that's that that spawned tenzing, which was our hiking boot of uh I think uh four years ago. So we first did tenzing four years ago, great success. Ran it in a brown grain leather, um, lots lots of padding, ski boot type padding, so really comfortable uh full grain anlin veg tanned calf lining, um, and so that sold incredibly well. Um we then move forward into the following season with a real classic, a real sort of almost vintage look hiking boot, which was called Gargano, named after um a peninsula on the coast of Puglia. So it's the spur on the heel of Italy. There's a beautiful, beautiful peninsula called Gargano. I think we were there when we when we actually thought of the idea, or I was there when we thought of the idea. So Gargano was beautiful, didn't sell as well as Tenzing. I think, if anything, a little bit too plain. We did it in a beautiful tamponata hand finished leather, but I think the upper was probably a little too pared down. So we went back to Tenzing last season, super super cells again, and um we move forward into this season's style, which is which will be landing in the beginning of September called Gandini. Gandini's got uh some quite interesting features, so it's got that that half sewn in tongue, so a very padded tongue, which is sewn up one side but free on the other side. So it's like a caught-in tongue on the left on a right foot boot, but it's uh uh uh an over tongue on the right. So it's got some super little details. So I hope it it has the same success that Tenzing did, as that's been the best hiking boot we've done over the last four or five years, and I think that if it does, we'll be on to a winner.

SPEAKER_05 4:22

Sure. Okay, great. So when can we see the Gandini? When's it going to be released?

SPEAKER_06 4:26

Uh September 1st in store, um, as soon as we go past the summer. Um, obviously the real key sales time for that kind of boot is probably October onwards, but we'll make sure it's in store from the beginning of September. Excellent. People buy it early.

SPEAKER_05 4:40

I'll uh I'll look forward to seeing it then. Um no doubt I'll be asking for press discounts and all sorts of things. No problem. Um uh just quickly, what's the etymology of the name uh Gandini? Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_06 4:51

So it's um this season's theme, interestingly, was Explorers and Exploration. Um and Gandini was an Italian explorer, so we uh we try and name all of the Italian production after something Italian, so it's often a town or a region. Last season we we it was all about architecture and particularly architects that designed chairs, so we had a lot of Italian architects' names. But Gandini was an Italian explorer, so uh that's where the name came from.

SPEAKER_05 5:20

Interesting. Um, keeping with the Italian theme, I know you've got the factories down there in March, is it?

SPEAKER_06 5:25

I believe in the Marche, in the Marche.

SPEAKER_05 5:26

Oh, sorry, in La Marche. Um, how hands-on are you with the design process and the manufacturing? Do you get to go down to the factories at all and oversee?

SPEAKER_06 5:34

I'm going on Tuesday. I go about once every two months. So we've got a lovely design team, great young team, really, really strong. Um, but I still am very involved. I still love going, I still spend a lot of time there. And I guess my job is now more one of review than actual hands-on design. Although I do occasionally I I get to do a few shoes a season, which um I love and uh I I would I wouldn't miss.

SPEAKER_05 6:03

Excellent. Uh is it uh I mean I know your father and your grandfather were in the industry.

SPEAKER_06 6:08

And my great grandfather at some point.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

Oh wow, so it goes all the way down the line. Um I was gonna ask you, do you think it's a certain trade like this that thrives on the generational expertise, you know, the knowledge getting handed down? Did you did you feel that when you uh entered the trade?

SPEAKER_06 6:24

Uh it's it's really interesting. I when I after university, I didn't think I'd go into shoe trade at all. Um, and then I ended up in France and my I I needed a job as Louis of France, needed some work, and you know, sort of that wonderful contact network, nepotism, whatever you want to call it. My dad knew somebody in a French shoe company, so I ended up getting on their graduate training scheme and fell in love with it. Um yeah, I think it helps. I think a background in the industry helps, it creates understanding. It also gives this my granddad, particularly, was somebody I could call and chat about stuff. You know, he was a real hands-on shoemaker, and you'd call him and say, Oh, you know, what about this? What about that? He was amazing. He was really interesting. As long as it was making, it was all about making. It wasn't about design or anything else, it was about, you know, the the actual construction of the shoes that he was interested in and that he um he actually he he he he enjoyed doing. Right. So yeah, I I think it's a it's an advantage, um, but it's a wonderful industry, and I think that we get a lot of great new young people, people are very excited about the industry at the moment. I think the last 10 years, the last 15 years has probably been more exciting within the women's side of it, but now the men's side is so exciting, and men's forward particularly, and I think that a lot of it's a it's a fun, interesting, exciting, and I think what's quite nice is quite a small industry. So uh it's still there's still some family in families in the industry, but less and less. Um so it's a small industry, it's one where you very quickly get to know the the other people in the industry, and it's very friendly. We're we're the there's inevitably some rivalry. I'm sure that Prader and Todd's is probably the famous one, but um, you know, it it's not the it's not the it's not the norm. The norm is we're all great friends, we all see each other at fairs, we all go and have a drink together, and it's a lovely industry.

SPEAKER_05 8:17

Excellent, yeah. But that's kind of answered my follow-up question, really, about your your contemporaries and whether you look over your shoulder and have a look at what other people are doing with their seasons.

SPEAKER_06 8:26

Um Yeah, I'm sure we all look over our shoulders a bit. It would be uh it would be wrong to say we don't.

SPEAKER_05 8:32

I think there's no stealing of blueprints or anything like that going on industry. Not at all.

SPEAKER_06 8:37

I I think that um you know that's what trend is, isn't it? We're all there's an element of a confluence of thoughts. Having said that, uh we try and be original, and um we we are often flattered when other people look a little too much over their shoulders, but you know, um sometimes it gets a bit beyond flattery and and a bit annoying. But um generally I think that uh we're trying to be original, we try and do our own thing. I think uh our brand has a very specific feel and handwriting, and it's really important to remain true to that. That's what our customers like, and that's what our customers love, and it's important that we remain true to that handwriting whilst of course looking at the broader world and what's happening and what influences are out there, and um and and we have to make sure that we remain relevant.

SPEAKER_05 9:29

Excellent. Okay, so um just just to wrap up, uh, when you see people, when you're in line at the butchers or the groceries, and you look ahead at the guy and he's wearing those shoes that you've put your heart and soul into, the Oliver Sweeney hikers, uh what do you feel? Is that the best part of the process?

SPEAKER_06 9:45

Oh, it's fantastic. I tap them on the shoulder and say, Oh my god, what fantastic shoes.

SPEAKER_05 9:49

Do you get your business card out and go looking at it?

SPEAKER_06 9:51

Absolutely. The whole the whole nine yards. Um yeah, I love it. It's a fantastic feeling when you when you take something from for all of us, when we take something from that point of creation, from that initial sketch, from the last in the last factory, from choosing the leather at a fair or at a tannery, and then you've gone through all of that and you're walking um well, the last time was at the um the uh the um premiership rugby final at Twickenham two weeks ago or three weeks ago. Just seeing people wearing them is really fabulous. And I actually do quite often go over and tap them on the shoulder and say, great choice, great shoe, thank you very much. And um they love it, though people love it, they love the connection, the fact that it's personal, the fact that we're still sufficiently small to be very personal.

SPEAKER_05 10:38

Tim Cooper there, coupler-in-chief over at Oliver Sweeney. Now time for a word from our fashion editor, Andre Letebode. It's over to you, Andre Letonier. We're talking to Andre Letebode, uh, the fashion editor for Men's Wear Style. Thanks for coming on the show, Andre.

SPEAKER_04 10:59

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_05 11:00

Uh so how much attention do women pay to men's shoes and what they're wearing on their feet?

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Um, I think that most women are going to kind of take it in really from the head to the torso first, but you do take a sneaky peek at the shoe just to see if it's, you know, A kind of appropriate and B what condition they're in. So, for example, if a guy kind of turns up and he's wearing, you know, a full, you know, bespoke suit tailored to the max, you're not going to expect him to have on dirty trainers with it. And, you know, you you want everything to kind of go together. So I think, you know, if you are putting together a look, don't neglect your shoes. Don't just kind of pick up whatever is closest to the door. Think about what you're actually wearing and also the condition of the shoe. You know, make sure it is polished. It's something that you know you've paid attention to here.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

Um, it doesn't have gum on it or paint or anything random on it.

SPEAKER_04 11:56

Oh but I think, you know, I think shoes are such an important part of the entire look. Don't neglect it.

SPEAKER_05 12:03

So would you say you look at the eyes first, then the torso, then maybe the behind, and then the the the shoes are bringing up the rear, pardon, pardon the pun.

SPEAKER_04 12:15

Um I think yeah, but um it's difficult to kind of get an idea of the rare behind the four of the shoes, because we usually are presented for and on. But some women are crafty, so who knows? Um for me personally, I definitely take in you know, face slash eyes, hair, um, torso, and then I take a peek at the shoes.

SPEAKER_05 12:35

What's uh what are the the main pitfalls that guys should avoid when when it comes to shoes and trainers in general?

SPEAKER_04 12:42

Ooh, I think I mean there's so many options out there now for trainers, um, especially just because you know most brands uh have embraced that leisure wear um trend and they're producing a much wider range of shoes. Um, I think personally that guys should kind of try, you know, maybe lesser-known brands. I mean, Sutomantality has just released this amazing collaboration with the Saratorialist, and it's really embracing like colour and kind of like blocks and different types of fabrication. So I think this is an is an area that guys can really explore. So I probably say go a bit bold with it, really, actually. Um, you know, try something else, try incorporating a colour that you wouldn't say, you know, go to, don't just stick to black and white. So I would suggest maybe maroon or olive or even a pop of mustard, I think would be really nice.

SPEAKER_05 13:42

Now what does this? I'm not exactly match fit. Seem alright to me. No, not really, don't look fine. I'm not do the job. What? Do the job. No, don't, yes, no, yes, no, yes, I can't I can't have in common with suit you, so juicy. Oh, suit you, suit you, so juicy. And this Aha The answer is they're all clients of the bespoke flamboyant tailor from Brighton, Gresham Blake. Gresham has over fifteen years experience in the trade, combining traditional skills with modern techniques. I managed to catch up with Gresham and ask him how it all began for him. It's over to you, Gresham Blake!

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Hello, Peter. Hello Gresham, how are you? I'm very good yourself. Excellent. Yes, can you hear me okay? Yeah, I'm fine, yeah, yeah. I've got uh uh uh I do you know, I've I've did one Skype once. I like I like to measure these people up in um um in uh well in New Zealand, this couple. Yeah, because I because I'd I'd measured all these people all their whole wedding party had come into the store in Brighton, but he lived in New Zealand, and I just had him and his wife in a tape measure, and they just had this almighty row, and they started hitting each other and shouting at each other. Oh my god. And I was thinking, I was thinking, that's it, I'm never Skyping again, it was a disaster. And I just guessed I guess the measurements from like watching him, you know what I mean? And fun funnily enough, I got it. I think he he was very happy with it.

SPEAKER_05 15:12

It must be quite it must be quite hard to measure whilst on the move.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yes, yeah, well, you know, you you you can get you can get a good idea of people, you know, by their shoulders and their shape, you know.

SPEAKER_05 15:22

Hey, you know, um Gresham, you know that I don't know if you've seen um Casino Royale, the James Bond film. Yeah, you know that bit where Eva Green uh has the suit tailored for Daniel Craig and she lays it on the bed and she goes, I sized you up the minute we met. Oh yeah. Is that possible? I mean, is that actually possible? And he then puts on the suit and it's inch perfect.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Well I'm she can do anything, can't she? Um Well, yeah, you you know what? I've I've I've had clients that have come in that are quite well known or well well well known, and I've seen them on TV and things, you you know, so you sort of look at them, and actually, funnily enough, I'm reasonably good at getting it right if I just like looking at it. Wow, but sometimes like I remember Rowan, I saw Rowan Atkinson once, and he's about six foot something. He's really and we do a lot of stuff with David Dimbleby, and he's actually so much taller than you think. So so yeah, I I think but if someone's right in front of you, you can have a you can have a good go. Yeah, it's not, it's you can have a good go at it, yeah, but not not not really.

SPEAKER_05 16:26

I mean, I think I'm okay on perhaps waists because I run an independent fashion shop in Cambridge, so uh when it comes to jeans, you know, as soon as they walk in, I kind of clock whether it's a you know, it's not rocket science, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Yeah, no, no, but it's funny enough though, like I chest size, you know, you can look at someone and they look like a 40-inch chest and you measure them and they're a 42 or a 38. Right, okay. Because they've got protruding shoulder blades, or you know. So so when you're actually measuring them up for a su for a suit, then of course you've got to make sure, you know, because some people might be sort of a 40, but there might be like a 38 in the back and a 42 in the front, which makes the 40. Then of course, you know, but as we make them bespoke, we we we tailor that out. That's why you get a better fitting suit. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 17:14

I mean, I I had the good fortune of coming down to your book launch. That's right, yes, not too long ago. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to meet you.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yeah, that's that's yeah, that's the same way.

SPEAKER_05 17:22

But uh, I was quite uh quite amazed by some of the suits on show, you know. Um, some really cool party pieces. Now, um, is that what you um pretty much focus on? Is that where you really want to be in the flamboyant side of the show?

SPEAKER_02 17:36

I I do you know what I I really like elegant classic as well. You know, a really nice well-cut black suit. I really like that as well. But most but I guess I lean towards doing things that are a little bit outrageous, and I've set my we're sort of a design-led tailors rather than a traditional tailors. So I tend to really let my customers say what they want, and often they'll come in and they've actually got quite flamboyant ideas, you know, which is great, and I'll interpret them. If I think something's wrong, I might guide them away from uh you know, I'll gently guide them away from it if I think it's gonna be too you know, not really work, you know, because obviously they're relying on our interpretation of what they're saying, but um but really actually thankfully it probably 70% of my suits are for people who want to wear them out in the evening or at the weekend. Oh, okay, great. You know, and for one-off parties, no, no, we yeah, we we do we do obviously do that as well. But most of my suits I make are for people who want to be wearing suits, not because they have to be wearing suits, sure, which I think is really really nice. So, you know, we get like a a very interesting sort of clientele, and and obviously, you know, being in uh setting up in Brighton originally, we got that quite eccentric Brighton sort of no rules sort of people, which I which I really like. They're not sort of really bothered about what they should be or shouldn't be wearing, they'll just want to wear what they want to wear. Which I really like. It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:07

I mean it's incredibly um when I when every time I've been down there, it it just comes across as very bohemian, very artsy, you know. Obviously, there's a great music scene down there, and I think that all kind of cross-pollinates into the fashion.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Yeah, it does. Excuse me, can I just I'm just gonna go and lock my dog downstairs. Yes, I've got I've got a pug. And it's horrid.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Scrum, scrambles, what's in here? What's in here? What's in there? You just stay there, you just stay there.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Alright, sorry, mate. Right, sorry, it's gonna mess up your you edit this, do you? A bit anyway.

SPEAKER_05 19:42

No, I think I'll I'll keep all the the the nuances.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

The chaos. Should I tell you my shameful way of getting in the press?

SPEAKER_07 19:50

Please.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Um, but basically, I I I wanted to do men's men's tailoring for my final collection at college. Um to be honest, I couldn't because they they send ladies' models down the catwalk, which are provided by the university.

SPEAKER_05 20:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

And I couldn't afford to get male models. So my actual final collection was ladies' tailoring because I couldn't afford to get the models to put my men's stuff on.

SPEAKER_07 20:13

Uh-huh. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

And and and but I'd but I'd already been making loads of men's suits. Um, and during my year out, I'd actually picked up three clients. Um, and in my year out, um, I was doing um a load of training with a guy called John Hume, um, who's sort of like a uh uh a saval row, so troubleshooting tailor who'd work at lots of different tailors and is very good at maybe people with certain disabilities, you know, and a lot of military tailoring, stuff that's sort of slightly out of the norm. So he sort of taught me, but anyway, um, and and I wanted to set this business up, and I thought the only way to set a business up, I couldn't afford advertising because I mean I was properly skinned. Well, the only real way was for was to get in the local sort of magazines and press, you know, all those sort of things. And I thought, why on earth would anyone write about me? And I thought, well, I've just got to make something for someone famous, and it was a literal show. I literally thought, I'm gonna ask everyone I know if they knew someone who was famous. And my my uh my wife's best friend's boyfriend was in Jamiraquai. So who was that? Uh he was the one of the he was the drummer from Jamiraquai. This was like 18 years ago. I can't I can't name the drummer. I can't remember. But anyway, so he put me in contact with JK and JK said, Yeah, come up, have a suit. And I said, Well, I'm only gonna make you the suit if I can photograph you and if I can tell everyone I did it, which I uh to me was a fair pa uh payoff. Yeah, you know, because people sort of say, Oh well, everybody makes stuff for people for free, but there there is a there is a payoff against that.

SPEAKER_05 21:49

You've got to get your beak wet, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Exactly, exactly, yeah. And then um I I met Mark Williams um out and about, and he was actually just you know, he was still doing the suits you, sir, at the point. Perfect. Think, yeah, I think. Anyway, but he wanted a suit, so I just charged him he paid for the fabric and and I I made it up. We did a photograph with him. So it sort of I sort of just latched on to famous people and I just prayed to myself that one day people would write about me in my own right rather than writing about me because they wanted to write, you know, because they wanted to mention my celebrities. Yeah. You know, which which has happened now. I'm really I'm really I'm really summit. Yeah, I'm really pleased for that. And now of course I want to play the celebrity thing down a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 22:36

We've reached the higher watermark wisham. Now the tide is receding back on itself.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Well Steve Coogan said said to me the other day, Steve, he's a he's away in um uh uh make making a film with Paul Rudd um in Mexico at the moment, and he he emailed me only yesterday saying, I'm back next week if you need to haw me out for anything. And I thought, no, that's what I do. Well, you can you it's it's it's it's the way of the world.

SPEAKER_05 23:01

You've got to play the game.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

But they all they all like everyone pays now. I don't I don't give stuff to peep people anymore, you know. It's uh I did that when I started, you know, and and the sort of the the famous people I make for, they're sort of they're they're quality people if that makes sense, but what they're they're famous as a byproduct of what they do, yeah. Like they're either good musicians or they're good actors, you know. So um famous for the sake of being famous, they're not famous for the sake of being famous, and and they know that we're just you know family business, you know. And I thought I think people want to, you know, what I love about this country, people actually want to support each other, you you know, and and I had the good pleasure of meeting your dad actually.

SPEAKER_05 23:42

I spoke to your dad for 15 minutes outside. Oh right, good. He's very proud of you.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Yeah, oh that's nice. He wouldn't he wouldn't tell me that, but well, he's of that old generation, you know, the old generation that don't want to give anything away. He's one of them.

SPEAKER_05 23:58

Well, um just a just a little bit else. I know we're gonna try and downplay the celebrity thing, but uh I just wanted to get uh a little bit of an inside track on how you got to meet then. Ray Winston came along, and you said Ray Winston comes in and he's very um militarized in the way he wants a suit, or he's he's got an idea in his head how he's yes, he has, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Well, I I met him through um uh he was doing adverts for is it Bet360? I think it was.

SPEAKER_05 24:24

Bet365, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Yeah, he used to do, I think it's that he used to do adverts for them in between the football and the telly, not into sports, not into betting, so I can't remember the details. But he uh uh so I made his and we just hit it off really well, and he's become a good friend since then. Um, and uh yeah, he he he's great, he knows what he wants. You know, he wanted it the first time. I think the first thing I did to him was a four-piece, which means he wants the waistcoat trousers, jacket, and then an overcoat made out of it as well. So, and he's very he's very uh it'll sort of he like he rang me up only about a month ago wanting a black suit, and he's like, I don't want a collar on it, straight bottoms on the waistcoat. He's just very sort of he knows it, he tells me what he wants, and that's it, and I make it, you know, which which which which is great because I know he's gonna love it, you know. And then uh you know, you can get other customers that really don't have a clue, yeah, you know, and they could sit around for ages and ages and come back and forth. But funnily enough, I like that as well because it's a journey for them, and it's a nice, nice journey to go on. Because at the end of the day, some people some people could be spending you know a couple of grand on a three-piece suit, you know, and it's their wedding or it's for a very special occasion. I want them to enjoy the experience, you know, because it's a lot of money to spend, yeah, exactly. You know, it should be enjoyable.

SPEAKER_05 25:46

Um, but yeah, I mean it's all part of the journey and the experience, isn't it? And and it's up to your interpretation, I guess. So you know, you've got to kind of see it from their mind's eye of what they want, and hopefully you can just you can you can give them what they've been imagining all the time.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Yeah, and and and I I find someone that's quite interesting. I I've had clients come in, they think they're being outrageous if they have red lining in their suit. You know, that's them really sort of like putting themselves out there. Yeah, and I've got another guy who who wanted well, I've done it, he's had underpants printed on his suit on the outside.

SPEAKER_05 26:20

Brilliant.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

And another guy's had um calling cards from phone boxes. I saw that guy. I saw that was amazing, and he's out there, but he thinks he's as out there as much as the guy that put red lining in his suit.

SPEAKER_05 26:32

Right, okay. So it's all about you need to be stuck in an elevator at some point, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 26:36

That's right. So you re yeah, you really have to sort of gauge, you know, when people say I want something outrageous, you're thinking underpants, calling cards, or red lining, then you know, and then then they're gonna sit somewhere in between the two, probably.

SPEAKER_05 26:50

Yeah, um yeah, I mean that one in particular, that that guy, what was his name? He had like a spiky hair and he was like of an Asian.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Yeah, Jude.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

Jude, yeah, really nice dude, but yeah, what a suit. He's he's great.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

I've I've done him some out uh some really, really I I'm I'm amazed. He's got some balls on him, I can tell you that. Because he wet he wear he's done one with the karma suture on with loads of sexual positions on it and like silhouettes. It looks awesome, but he's all but he just walked, he goes, he goes to work in it, he's an accountant, and he goes to work in it. You know, I just think he's brilliant.

SPEAKER_05 27:22

Well, the next one's got to be like page three models or something like that, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Yes, well, yeah. We're doing our um at the moment. I can tell you, this is the sort of thing I land land myself in because I'm interested. I'm doing him two suits, one of them is blue, and then it's got a rainbow printed on it, and then it's covered in plastic like you would on an old tablecloth, you know, that sort of so then and then we're gonna embroider um uh so he wants Chris, he wants a rainbow laid on top, bit in um what they call in sequins, um, and then he wants sort of like uh leaping um ponies sort of leaping over the top of it, embroidered on. Wow, okay so it's really really complicated. And the other one I'm doing him is out of cork, so we're making him a suit out of cork, which is very, very fine. Cork, you might have seen people use it with umbrellas and things, right? Okay, it's very fine. Um, and then we're uh graffiti spraying bottles of wine on it, and then we're tattooing the labels of the wine onto the cork bottles. That's insane. And I'm and I'm like, yeah, we'll do that, we'll do that. And of course I've gone away, and I'm like, how are we gonna do that?

SPEAKER_07 28:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

But without but without him, my mind wouldn't be stretched all the time, trying to work out how to do this. You know, I've got a load of cork with this uh tattoo artist just over the road from the shop who's who's trying to do it, and then he wants us, then we've got to put bottles of wine on it to sing the you know whether a bottle of red wine will leave that ring. Yeah, so we've got to do that. But of course, if we get any of this wrong or he doesn't like where it's placed, he's not gonna be happy.

SPEAKER_05 29:02

That is insanity. I mean, yeah. I'm just thinking not only the of the logistics of something like this, but from a money point of view as well. How do you even price up a job like that?

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Well, I this is the sort of job that I I can quite easily lose money on.

SPEAKER_05 29:16

Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Because I I I'll end up wanting to do it and I'll be like, oh, don't worry, let's just do it, let's just do it, let's see what happens. You know, I mean he's he's he's got a bit of money, it's it's it's not it's not gonna be cheap. Yeah. But I fitted a guy came in the shop today. We did him a bit um a really deep navy mohair suit.

SPEAKER_07 29:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Elegant, and it just looked awesome on him. Do you know what I mean? So I get I get as much love out of that as I do out of someone really fun and fantasyful. Well, you know.

SPEAKER_05 29:46

The mohair is um uh it's come back in a big way over the last couple of years, hasn't it? It's been a bit like a renaissance of mohair. So um yeah, what do you think that's down to? Why was it so out of vogue?

SPEAKER_02 29:57

I don't know really. Because it's I've always I've always loved it. It's associated with sort of 007, isn't it? James Bond, you know, very slick, the sort of the 60s sort of mod thing, and then the 80s, you used to get those tonic, well, they're not really mohair, but they had that mohair sort of quality about them. Yeah. Um so well, maybe some of them were mohair, but it's uh there's a lot more variety. So when I started doing this, I used to have some mohair bunches, and I you'd probably have 12 different mohairs in it, different colours, you'd have different weights. Now I've got hundreds. So it's range, yeah. It could, yeah, it could be. So then you've got to ask yourself have have the mills responded to the popularity in Mohe by bringing out more varieties of it, or have they brought out more varieties of it that means the tailors can sell it? Yeah, I don't know. I I I like I like rid of it. I like yeah, it is, yeah. But uh, I think it's uh I think people are more educated. You know, it Mohe's much cheaper than it used to be. Okay, it's it has come down. I don't care what people say it has. You know, Mohe, you know, you could be paying £300 a metre for Mohe when I started, but you can get it, you know, you can get it for much less than that now.

SPEAKER_05 31:13

So it's more accessible, uh it's more accessible, yeah. Yeah, I guess there's more range, so it's become easier to get hold of.

SPEAKER_02 31:19

Yeah, and and and people want a lighter weight suit that doesn't crease as much. People are going on on weddings abroad a lot more. You know, Mohe is ideal for that. You can put it in your suitcase, get it out the other end, and it and it will still hang nicely. So I think there's that you know practicalness.

SPEAKER_05 31:34

So awesome. Well, um just lastly, um Gresham, I was gonna ask you what your backlog is. I mean, what's your diary like when someone comes in, like the guy that wanted to have ring wine ring suits made out of cork with graffiti over it?

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Well, how long does that take out and how do you plan times? It took me it took me a month to get the cork. We did we we I actually well I sourced it. This is the problem, I sourced it, and it's a new type of cork that's being manufactured by this company in Portugal. I source it, they won't let me have it because it needs to be tested for uh fire pro it needs to have a fire rating on it because it's actually for walls and for furniture and things, and so I'm waiting. So I've had the sample bit, but they won't send me, sell me the actual four meters I need until the uh fire, until it's got its fire rating. And I'm saying, well, it's for a suit. And I said, you know, wall doesn't have a fire rating, you know, you've set fire to it, it will set it'll catch on fire, you know. So where's the red tape? Is it the government or is it uh it's it's it's it's the uh it's the Portuguese or the import. I d I don't know. You're I'm getting into the world of uh interiors there. But so so that so that this is it's on hold probably for I reckon it's gonna be another four months before he has it.

SPEAKER_07 32:52

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

But but but if it's something that I already know how to do, I mean I can have some some fabric printed in a week once we've once we've you know had the design worked out, you know.

SPEAKER_05 33:03

So uh are you like a a morning guy that's you know doing stuff at home before he gets to work and then brings his work home with him? And you know, what's what's kind of your diet?

SPEAKER_02 33:12

I'm a bit all over the place really. Um I was I was uh I had my uh personal trainer last night and I really didn't want to get up at all this morning. I felt dreadful.

SPEAKER_05 33:23

The dog got you up there?

SPEAKER_02 33:24

It depends, yeah. It it depends. Sometimes I love working in the night because of the quiet. If I'm designing, that's a great time to do it. But you know, but at the end of the day, I think, or at the beginning of the day I should say, I like getting in early, you know, when it's a bit quieter.

SPEAKER_07 33:38

Yeah do you know?

SPEAKER_02 33:38

I I used to work with this trouser maker. I used to start work at four in the morning and finish at about ten in the morning.

SPEAKER_05 33:45

Oh, it's not to be.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

Yeah, so he just did a six six hour in the morning, and he said he got twice as much done as when he used to come in at nine. Because there's no one there talking to you, is there? Yeah, there's no distraction. You just get on with it, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:02

Gush and Blake there. And now a word from Ben Heath over at 21st CenturyGent. On the wires now we have Ben Heath from 21stcenturyGent.com. Say hello Ben. Hi, how are you doing? Great, thanks for joining us, mate. Uh, you can catch Ben on Instagram at the same name as the website, so 21stcenturygent.com, all letters. Uh so Ben, congratulations. I heard you just got married. I did indeed, thank you very much. Two weeks now. I am fascinated to know what you wore, what suit you picked out, and uh how the process went for you.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Uh yeah, so obviously I had to go full tails, so the the the full three-piece suit with tails, uh the morning suit, because that was you know, it was a traditional English wedding in the countryside and nothing but the best would do. Um so yeah, it went the whole hog with uh with Moss Bros, they sorted me out with some suit higher. Um I was tempted to purchase, but when you're looking at upwards of a grand for a suit of that kind of stature, it seems like a big expenditure for what is essentially eight hours of uh of nervous sweating.

SPEAKER_05 35:05

Yeah, exactly. So how did the fit fitting go? Did you have to go down and get it all tailored and vented, etc.?

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Yeah, it was fine. I mean, uh this was off the peg, so very different um to to kind of getting it completely tailored. But I mean they they sort of taught you through the process and they have plenty of options on the go. So different materials, different styles, different colours. Um it was kind of a mix and match job. So so yeah, it was all good, but I I've I've also gone to them for a um a new service called Tailor Me, where I'm getting a three-piece suit made for me. Um I'm picking it up later today, so hopefully that fits well. Oh, and that's slightly more, you know, they take your measurements and they give you a wide range of fabrics to pick from. It kind of bridges the gap between I I guess between Savile Row and High Street brands off the off-the-rail stuff. So I think, you know, from my perspective at least, people are becoming more discerning in the way they pick suits out and they don't settle for kind of like a off-the-peg, might fit, might not fit kind of kind of uh style. It's more I want things that uh that are suited to me.

SPEAKER_05 36:02

Excellent, yeah. So it's does Mustbros do this tiered scheme?

SPEAKER_00 36:06

Yeah, I mean it depends. So I'm I think the the the the the for retail price for what I'm doing is between sort of 400 and 600, which is way below what you pay for a Savile Rose suit. Um I mean I went to go and watch Joshua Kane's show at LCM uh last week, which was obviously incredible, and the fabrics are insane, the tailoring is insane, it's all completely perfect, but they had a lot of piano player as well, didn't they? Yeah, yeah, which is which is it which is fantastic. But you know, if you're looking at one of those suits, unfortunately it's sort of you know 1500 sort of to to whatever, there's no real cap on the price. Whereas I think high street brands are now being being more savvy and looking for that kind of mid price point between your luxury and your your kind of off the rail stuff.

SPEAKER_05 36:46

Excellent, great. Okay. Cheers, Ben. I think we'll leave it at. Oh, how's the honeymoon?

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Uh fine. Well, Minimoon. Minimoon was in uh Minimoon was in in Spain, the honeymoon itself, because Minnie Moon's a cool now, apparently. But Honeymoon itself will be in South Africa Amoracious later this year, so stay posted.

SPEAKER_05 37:03

Ben Heath there from 21st Century Gent. Well that about wraps it up for this week's edition of the Men's Wear Style podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. Uh I'll be back in a fortnight's time. I'll be speaking to another flamboyant tailor, Joshua Kane, about his latest collection, and the head of design over at Turnbulanassa, Dean Gomelsick Cole, about the history of Turnbull and Assa and their relationship with James Bond, so stay tuned for that. You can catch us at www.menswear style.co.uk There you'll find all of the blogs, fashion reviews, car reviews, restaurant reviews, you name it. Uh follow us on Twitter at menswear style, and I think that about does it. So I'll see you in a fortnight's time. Take care. Andre, am I saying your name right, Andre?

SPEAKER_03 38:00

It's Andre.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

Andre, and how am I gonna do your surname?

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Um Latibaudaire.

SPEAKER_05 38:08

So Andre Latibaudaire.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Yep, you got it.

SPEAKER_05 38:11

Andre Latibaudaire. Fantastic. That's a that's an amazing name.

SPEAKER_03 38:14

Just go with my first name, that's cool.

SPEAKER_05 38:17

Andre Latibaudaire. Oh sorry, Andre. Andre.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

Yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_05 38:23

Andre. So Andre Latibaudaire. Andre Latibaudaire am I sorry?

SPEAKER_04 38:28

Andre. God damn it!

SPEAKER_05 38:29

Andre. Okay. Andre Latibaudaire. Andre.

SPEAKER_03 38:35

Andre.

SPEAKER_05 38:36

I I think I said that right. Andre.

SPEAKER_04 38:38

Andre. Andre. Yeah.