Hi, I'm Kirby Allison and here a The Hanger Project we love to help the
well-dressed take care of the wardrobes. Today, I'm in New York City with Angel
Ramos of ANGEL | BESPOKE and we're gonna talk about the differences of
made-to-measure and bespoke. So, talk to me a little bit about the product
and what you're doing and just kind of the general aesthetic that you
know that really represents your brand. And maybe put that into context for
someone who's really not familiar with anything other than off the rack and
kind of where you fit between, you know, walking into Nordstrom's and you know
buying Hugo Boss to you know walking into Huntsman on Savile Row and getting
something that is you know fully, you know, Benchmade made by hand bespoke.
Although our name is Angel Bespoke, the bespoke part of our name, even though,
it's a full brand name it's more of a bespoke experience and what we do offer
is made to measure. Most made to measure, what I would think about it is, an
experience where you walk in and they're taking you know three or four
measurements and they're using you know try on garments. I actually take full
measurements about 25 to 30 measurements. What I would say our house style is, in
the beginning of my business, I was really heavily influenced by kind of
Southern Italy -- like the style and aesthetic. An a ultra unconstructed
shoulder and this very free and easy way of like dressing as I've grown and
matured in an age and obviously in style although we're still kind of like with
the essence of Italy and the soft shoulders and and larger lapels whether
they're notched or peaked, I feel like we're a mash-up of like Italian softness with
the elegance of like an English shoe with the 1920s feel of like America --
it's all that mashed up and I love wearing three-piece suits. I actually
typically prefer a high-waisted trouser. And it's essentially putting someone and
making a suit for someone that's proper and appropriate for their body type. I
don't like making skinny suits so if someone comes and says I want this super
kind of like tapered, you know, trouser with you know super skinny lapel -- I'm
just not the guy for you and we would have to respectfully kind of like
decline that order. Just because it's one it's not part of our aesthetic
we don't believe in that type of kind of tailoring and we don't believe in that type of tailoring...
it's not flattering for the person and it typically it's the person
who wants it to be it's, it's definitely not flattering for them. You know, the sad
reality I mean I guess maybe not said but you know the reality is nothing
about mens wear's black and white. So you know it's not either made-to-measure or
not, bespoke or not, or off the rack or not. You know even within made-to-measure
there's a pretty big continuum of, you know, not just the quality of
customization of the pattern right but also quality of make right because those
are two really separate inputs. So, I've talked a little bit about you know, so,
you're clearly doing a highly customized kind of made-to-measure program. But talk
a little bit about quality, also, you know you've got a $1,400 product offering and
you get a $3,000 product offering -- you know what's the difference between the
two and what's the difference between that and something that someone's you
know buying for you know maybe even more money off the rack you know at you know
like a Nordstrom... When we when we break up both of our
offerings -- so I'll start with the lower end line, the lower end line is made in
Asia, we outsourced a beautiful factory made in Asia. So the make is about 80%
handmade, every major component's made by hand -- arm whole, collar, buttonholes, ... fully canvas ...
fully canvas or obviously unconstructive if you want, depending on
your garment you're getting. In my opinion, it's an incredible garment for
the price. When I think about it and I've shown these garments to many of my
friends in Italy that are you know obviously bespoke tailors -- they're
actually blown away by the the handwork and obviously I feel that I charge
appropriate for it so what we charge $1,400 for a jacket -- I'm sorry $1,400 for a suit,
$1,000 for a jacket and it's about 350 - 395 for a pair of trousers even though it's a
great entry-level point, it's also a great amazing made-to-measure suit for
that price point. That is, I would compare it to many things that are out there now.
Now, on the higher end point we have a completely handmade suit made in Tuscany
and that starts at about $3,000, so in the lower end suit, we've actually curated
this beautiful collection of fabrics from Loro Piana, Caccioppoli , Ariston and so
that's the choosings you get from. Obviously, there's several to choose from and then...
so, that's slightly narrower selection of fabrics.. it's definitely yeah... but certainly
Italian, there's still the same high quality stuff you would get from you
know your higher end offer... sure and it's all and it's all been... curated...
curated by me. So it's we go out and I look at the collection of Loro Piana, from
from Harrisons of Edinburgh, from W Bill, whoever it is and I start, I like
this, I like that, and you start to kind of choose, what I feel is us as a brand
and our kind of like our make up what we think that people would love and what I
think would sell. And then on the higher end point it's kind of like it's
you know any ice cream flavor you can choose... so maybe there's more latitude
and pattered modifications I mean the construction still is being done by hand
at the highest quality and I guess at that point you're ordering from you know
full books versus you know these are the ten or twenty fabric offerings we have...
So on the higher end side it's if you want that fabric that's
super exclusive, oh it's also on the higher end side we let you choose from
actually vintage fabrics that we curate when I travel the world so we're not
whether I'm in Paris or Italy 99% of the time when I
travel I'm always stopping off at a fabric store and have relationships all
over the world that I kind of curate all this vintage stuff from the 60s and 70s
and that goes towards higher end line... I mean I think that you hit on something
earlier that I think most people don't really fully appreciate and that's that
you know with the right person managing the program some absolutely incredible
stuff can come out of Asia. I mean a lot of crap you know trash comes
out of Asia... Also a lot of crap comes out of Italy and I think that you know the
value that I've seen from the people that I know that work with you, is that
you know you've got someone that really is passionate, knows what he's doing, has
long-standing relationships with the people with whom he's working that's
able to manage the process to produce a better product. But then even other
people working with those same factories will be able to do it. ... There's also this,
is that, you know, aside from us wanting to gain trust from the client that says
you know what he has the aesthetic that I kind of like, I feel like he would be
great to kind of take me through this process. We also want you to trust that
when we offer you this offering for a $1,400 a suit made in Asia, we've done so
much homework, we've done so much traveling there to curate and procure the
best option in terms of quality and make to offer you this garment. So, it's not
like just any run-of-the-mill Asian product that you know it's the guy who
comes into the hotel room and after making you a fuse suit - it's us saying
what's the best option what's the best quality product we can get that we can
offer for this price point that the value surpasses what we're actually
charging for it and and we wholeheartedly believe that this is it. Well,
thank you so much for joining us Ramos. If someone wants to get in touch with
you what's the best way for them to reach out... They can reach out to us via
our website or info@angelbespoke.com ...okay and your website is... angelbespoke.com
... And then your Instagram I guess @angelbespoke. Well, thanks again
for joining us. If you have any questions about anything we
discussed in this interview please feel free to ask them in the comment section
below I get back to all those questions personally.
Any questions for Angel, I'll be more than happy to pass on to him and
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