As someone who has just finished Gallo's tailoring school and had the pleasure of meeting Eric when he came to Rome in July, I know firsthand how incredible of an opportunity this is for whoever has dreamt of becoming a bespoke tailor. Best wishes to all the candidates
As always the content is great but this is exactly what I needed. I've been afraid that time was slipping by while I have been pursuing my athletics and that is never having the opportunity to look into tailoring and serve as an apprentice or go to a school. Hearing Eric didn't start until 26 gives me peace of mind.
It's great to know that New York now has on hand a European/Italian bespoke arm for tailoring which is just a hop skip and jump from Canada(east) at reasonable prices and precludes having the drudgery of flying to Europe at the present time.
Total aside: If you're looking for a bespoke tailor who's actually *in* Canada and who works in a southern Italian tradition, there's a maestro in Scarborough, Ontario (east district of Toronto) named Benito Viapiana, who's been tailoring for over 50 years. He's been eclipsed by his son who trained under him and is now a bespoke jeans maker in Toronto, but Mr. Viapiana is still quietly doing his work making beautiful suits. He doesn't have much of an online presence but he's known locally as one of the area's best kept secrets.
Hey Kirby, have you ever had the chance to interview other legendary tailors in America like Leonard Logsdale (or his son) or your old tailor Chris Despos?
Len Logsdale, Ken Shattuck, Franco Ercole, and Lal Bhambi would be very interesting interviews. Younger tailors like Tiefenbrun and Genuardi would also be great interviews.
I've been teaching myself tailoring over the past year and have managed to make a few pairs of trousers and a pretty amatuer jacket. It costs alot of money to get professionally trained.. and at such an early stage.. maybe you're not confident it'll ever pay off.. maybe you're wasting you're money on a hobby you'll quit, etc. You've gotta be committed to it. I'm sure Eric Jensen didn't sell everything he owned and move to Italy before fiddling around with it for a few years first to see if it was really for him. I would be willing to bet that most people who apply for these apprenticeships have already made a half decent suit just with a sewing machine in their bedroom and are now ready to take it to the next level. Industries like these used to have a sort of pyramid system where there would be thousands of people making simple things like pillowcases, bedsheets, and then the most skilled of those would go up to doing menial work on things like button sewing trousers, and then the most skilled of them would go up to making the clothes in full but with guidance by the lead tailor and then the people at the top of the pyramid who show the most promise would become bespoke tailors. But today the bottom of that pyramid has been lost due to offshore mass-manufactoring... and so if you want to become a bespoke tailor you kind of have to skip all those earlier stages it by learning it on your own out of your own pocket. I think to get more people interested in tailoring, we first need to strengthen that bottom line somehow.
When it comes to bespoke tailoring I think we can all agree the issue has always been the accessibility of training. In recent years this has improved with the opening of bespoke tailoring schools across Europe and the United States. I think that the industry does a great job of only accepting those who are truly dedicated, so I honestly do not see any issues with how it functions. It seems the industry would benefit greatly from starting a school so they can have more talent (as there isn't much) however I think this could oversaturate the market and turn it into something that is frankly, not as desirable.
The first meeting you guys had years ago you seemed to have come off on the wrong foot with each other. Good to see that now you're both enjoying each others company.
As someone who has just finished Gallo's tailoring school and had the pleasure of meeting Eric when he came to Rome in July, I know firsthand how incredible of an opportunity this is for whoever has dreamt of becoming a bespoke tailor. Best wishes to all the candidates
Wow, that is incredible! Thank you for sharing this, I bet it will convince many to consider the once in a lifetime opportunity.
Kirbys excitement on the filtration system he put in cracks me up, because I know how much I would geek out about it if I had one too 😁
As always the content is great but this is exactly what I needed. I've been afraid that time was slipping by while I have been pursuing my athletics and that is never having the opportunity to look into tailoring and serve as an apprentice or go to a school. Hearing Eric didn't start until 26 gives me peace of mind.
A beautiful story of hard work, persistence and passion.
It's great to know that New York now has on hand a European/Italian bespoke arm for tailoring which is just a hop skip and jump from Canada(east) at reasonable prices and precludes having the drudgery of flying to Europe at the present time.
Total aside: If you're looking for a bespoke tailor who's actually *in* Canada and who works in a southern Italian tradition, there's a maestro in Scarborough, Ontario (east district of Toronto) named Benito Viapiana, who's been tailoring for over 50 years. He's been eclipsed by his son who trained under him and is now a bespoke jeans maker in Toronto, but Mr. Viapiana is still quietly doing his work making beautiful suits. He doesn't have much of an online presence but he's known locally as one of the area's best kept secrets.
@@AE1P Thx, I'll try and check him out!
So proud of you, Eric! Amazing journey!!!
Watched all the way. Great inspirational story. Makes me rethink my career.
You two have a nice flow together! Good conversation
Eric telling his story and Kirby intently focused on lighting his cigar. lol
Kirby, I love your videos man! Never stop!
Thank you so much, Joshua! I don't plan to stop anytime soon!
The mustache is a good look for this guy.
Hey Kirby, have you ever had the chance to interview other legendary tailors in America like Leonard Logsdale (or his son) or your old tailor Chris Despos?
Len Logsdale, Ken Shattuck, Franco Ercole, and Lal Bhambi would be very interesting interviews. Younger tailors like Tiefenbrun and Genuardi would also be great interviews.
I've been teaching myself tailoring over the past year and have managed to make a few pairs of trousers and a pretty amatuer jacket.
It costs alot of money to get professionally trained.. and at such an early stage.. maybe you're not confident it'll ever pay off.. maybe you're wasting you're money on a hobby you'll quit, etc.
You've gotta be committed to it. I'm sure Eric Jensen didn't sell everything he owned and move to Italy before fiddling around with it for a few years first to see if it was really for him.
I would be willing to bet that most people who apply for these apprenticeships have already made a half decent suit just with a sewing machine in their bedroom and are now ready to take it to the next level.
Industries like these used to have a sort of pyramid system where there would be thousands of people making simple things like pillowcases, bedsheets,
and then the most skilled of those would go up to doing menial work on things like button sewing trousers,
and then the most skilled of them would go up to making the clothes in full but with guidance by the lead tailor
and then the people at the top of the pyramid who show the most promise would become bespoke tailors.
But today the bottom of that pyramid has been lost due to offshore mass-manufactoring... and so if you want to become a bespoke tailor you kind of have to skip all those earlier stages it by learning it on your own out of your own pocket.
I think to get more people interested in tailoring, we first need to strengthen that bottom line somehow.
When it comes to bespoke tailoring I think we can all agree the issue has always been the accessibility of training. In recent years this has improved with the opening of bespoke tailoring schools across Europe and the United States. I think that the industry does a great job of only accepting those who are truly dedicated, so I honestly do not see any issues with how it functions. It seems the industry would benefit greatly from starting a school so they can have more talent (as there isn't much) however I think this could oversaturate the market and turn it into something that is frankly, not as desirable.
Wow I might send in a resume
We encourage you to do so! Best of luck, John!
Very inspiring, and true observations in cultural differences across the pond
That was great
Great interview. For Italian how 'bout a little sprez!
The first meeting you guys had years ago you seemed to have come off on the wrong foot with each other. Good to see that now you're both enjoying each others company.
Isn't Oxxford full bespoke? Where do they get their tailors from?
* Would have liked him explain the differences in Italian vs English tailoring vs . . .
They sort of cover that in their second video of this session.
Maestro Jensen has that nice touch on his work. I enjoy listening to his commentary.
Ditch the cigars. It’s a man’s game.
Oh man, if I wasn’t 40 and had a kid…
Im bespoke suit warkar i need a job sir 🙏🙏
First
Im bespoke suit warkar i need a job sir 🙏🙏