Alex Pirounis has a problem with the word “trendy.” When you consider his line of work, it’s not difficult to see why. The half-Greek, half-Italian haberdasher was in Manila last weekend with his partner Alan See to represent famed Neapolitan tailor Orazio Luciano.
Together with a few other partners, they own the Hong Kong-based menswear store The Armoury, which also has an outlet in Tribeca. In it, they carry heritage menswear lines by Ascot Chang and Liverano & Liverano, along with shoes by Carmina and Gaziano & Girling, ties by Sorley and Drakes of London, and basically anything a modern-day and old-world dandy could hope for.
Almost every quarter, though, the Signet Store in Legazpi Village, Makati flies them in for a trunk show where they meet with their Filipino customers, and take measurements and orders.
To suggest that the bespoke industry, where their professions and passions lie, will be subject to waning interest is something that Alex can’t even fathom.
“If something fits right and it feels right, it inevitably looks right. So that’s not something that comes and goes for me,” he says. “The whole idea of bespoke is that it’s made ad hoc for each person, and that can’t be trendy. It’s part of the rest of a gentlemen’s routine. As long as there’s some form of etiquette in everything we do, then our industry is always going to be here.”
Trending, not trendy
Of course, he’s entirely right. Classic menswear has its roots in bespoke—they had to be because in the past, people didn’t have a choice but to go to a tailor for their clothing.
Today, though, people have more options for clothing than they know what to do with. In Manila alone, there’s been less and less reason to fly to Hong Kong for a weekend shopping trip with the proliferation of fast fashion brands like H&M, Forever 21, and Topshop.
But not even fashion escapes the laws of physics: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In the same way that third wave coffee shops like The Curator and Magnum Opus have set up shop in reaction to coffee chains like Starbucks, in the manner of organic and artisanal foods making their way to supermarket shelves alongside processed franken-snacks, this surge of interest in bespoke clothing is a clear reaction to mass-produced fashion.
And while London has the tailors of Savile Row, Hong Kong has Ascot Chang, and Italy has legends like Antonio Liverano, it’s difficult to say who in Manila is defining the aesthetic of Filipino men.
This is where the Signet Store steps in.
A brotherhood of bespoke
Run by three partners, namely Kelly See, Edie Lim, and Jason Qua, the Signet Store feels almost like a passion project run by a bunch of buddies who really, really like their pants sewn in a particular way.
“Basically, we’ve been customers of The Armoury before and then we decided to bring Neapolitan tailoring here to the Philippines,” Jason explains.
Apart from the quarterly trunk shows that they host, you’ll find staples like Doek sneakers, Farfalla slippers, shoes by Carmina, Fox Umbrellas, Ring Jackets, and Saint James shirts. For bespoke orders, they have a selection of fabrics from England and Italy to choose from.
“It’s just something that we’ve always been into. It’s not because it’s trendy,” Kelly tells me. “That’s why we like it. Because the thing that ties everything together for us is our appreciation for quality and the heritage.”
Having opened just this year, placing an order for a bespoke suit at the Signet Store will cost you P210,000—a jacket by Orazio Luciano is P150,000, while a pair of trousers by Salvatore Ambrosi, who was also in Manila last weekend, is P60,000.
It’s not just a jacket
The real reason, I believe, why bespoke clothing will never reach a certain saturation point is it’s too expensive. Also, because every piece is unique, there’s no chance of running into someone else wearing the same thing. It can’t be a trend if there’s no ubiquity.
As Alex stated earlier, bespoke clothing is made ad hoc. Every piece is fully handmade, which means it will last longer. “It’s a combination of things that companies rarely spend a lot of time researching because they’re more interested, maybe, in profit maximizing, more interested in trends, more interested in a series of things that are not time-affected,” he adds. “While for us, especially in Naples, they have a lot of time. With time, they’ve developed nice fits, nice fabrics to work with.”
What you’re also paying for is the decades of expertise of these fabled traveling tailors—as far they’re concerned, Tom Ford’s got nothing on these guys.
“I think there used to be a saying that went, ‘Trust you tailor,’ right? Those are the guys who are well informed,” Alan says. “When you look at guys like Salvatore—this guy’s been working on only pants since he’s been eight years old. When you’ve been working for that long on pants, he knows what’s wrong and what’s right for each customer, each body type, how cloth will react, just every aspect of it.”
For good measure
While the Internet has made it possible for the likes of Salvatore Ambrosi to have clients from all over the world, it has also, in a way, made it more difficult for him to do his job.
“I mean, nowadays you have the Internet and everybody goes online and does their own research. And sometimes, too much information could be a bad thing,” Alan explains. “You meet with an Italian tailor, and you start requesting details that are sort of English or something else that [you] saw on the Internet, and that becomes sort of bastardization of what other people do.”
However, in a city like Manila, where the bespoke game is still fairly young, it’s relatively easier to get their tape measures out.
“Especially here in Manila, it’s hardly hit town. We’re probably one of the first guys to actually come here and do the traveling tailors,” Alan observes. “Of course, you guys have quite a few tailors here already, but in terms of Italian tailors coming to Manila, we’re probably one of the first.”
Signet Store. Unit 102C Windsor Tower, 163 Legazpi Street, Makati City. For more information, visit their Facebook page.
Photos by Bryan Kong