Imagine walking into a bespoke tailor and finding clothes on long racks, inspiration pieces on mannequins, and unusual mid-century furniture. A tailor, in other words, that makes it immediately clear that they have just as much of an aesthetic vision as they do a craft one.
Luca Museo in Seoul, South Korea is this kind of atelier and the more you think about it, the more odd it seems that other tailors aren't similar. In my experience most don’t care much about the design side - it’s just the work and a set of cloth books - or their taste level is, in my view at least, not the highest.
There are, of course, some very attractive bespoke shops. One of my favourites is Anderson & Sheppard on Old Burlington Street, which manages to somehow feel both traditional and up to date at the same time. It’s beautiful.
But it doesn’t feel like a clothing shop; there's very little to look at. Most tailors have a handful of mannequins at most, nothing to inspire from season to season in the way the retail brands around them do. It’s just not how bespoke is set up.
The Korean tailors I visited in Seoul last year were markedly different, and Luca Museo most of all. The atelier is just behind a main shopping thoroughfare, with a lovely coffee shop opposite. The inside is all beige and blond wood, with two big sofas around an intricate coffee table. It feels a lot more like Loro Piana than Savile Row.
Korean tailoring is a small world, and two of the team at Luca Museo worked previously at B&Tailor, which was the forerunner for a lot of bespoke in the country. But they also trained abroad, with Ivano working at Saroria Pirozzi in Naples before moving back to Korea.
Their house style is a full cut, with wider shoulders and high-waisted trousers. They commented that they have quite a few domestic clients who are big gym-goers, and the wider shoulders and large sleeve help accommodate that physique.
They’re more influenced by 1930s and 1940s tailoring than by recent trends, and you can see that in those fits, in the wider-leg trousers and in some of the bolder materials. It should be said that in the richer areas of Seoul, it’s easier to wear this kind of tailoring than it would be in New York or London.
Luca Museo also have a tendency towards obvious finishing details, like prominent pick stitching around the edges and seams - often two rows of it.
This is something that appeals to me less, and I think they guys will forgive me for saying it’s something I associate with men who get bespoke for the first time - it's that urge to make it obvious the suit is bespoke, to add more bells and whistles than probably sensible. Over time, they tend to realise that elegance is quieter than that.
The polo coat, below, is a good example of Luca Museo having something on display that is bespoke but made to be picked up and tried on. I did, and the cut was beautiful. But it’s also an example of going a little overboard on the details, like those big rows of pick stitching on the lapels.
Luca Museo were keen to make me something, to demonstrate their work, and I agreed to a three-piece navy suit. I doubt I’ll wear the waistcoat much, but they wanted to demonstrate the full range.
It was fitted twice during the trip, a third time in January at Pitti, and a fourth at Pitti again this past June. I’ll cover and review the suit soon.
At the fittings I found there were one or two things I wouldn’t have gone with design-wise, like a purple lining, but I learnt early on that hospitality dictated some of these decisions being made by the host. That also included a coat, pictured below, which we ended up changing.
Of course, this was just because they saw me as being someone they were hosting in the country - it wouldn’t be the case with a regular tailoring appointment or trunk show. (They currently travel to New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Taiwan.)
I was already impressed with the set-up of the shop before the guys took me downstairs to the bar they had in the basement, which also had a small selection of RTW knitwear and a try-on space.
It’s always been a bugbear of mine that new shops create a ‘VIP area’ where they hope customers will hang out and pass the time. No one really wants to hang out in a shop unless they’re actually friends with the owners, and the spaces are usually quite sterile.
But the Luca Museo bar was impressive (as indeed most bars in Korea are). Small but beautiful, I actually did want to spend the hour I had before my next appointment there.
The knitwear, meanwhile, was almost treated as an afterthought, yet I found it as well executed as pieces we feature from Rubato or Colhays. There were fine-merino knits with a good stand collar, and cardigans too, both designed to work under tailoring.
It set the seal for me on an experience that felt like it showed how well bespoke tailoring and luxury retail could sit together.
Luca Museo offer three levels of make: Blue, White and Black label.
- Black is the full bespoke, which I am covering
- White is bespoke cut and fitted, but with some work (eg chest padding) done by machine
- Blue is made to measure, largely machine made and outsourced
Starting prices for each level (for a two-piece suit) are: $2,000, $2,500 and $3,800. Trunk shows are currently held in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Taiwan. All Asian trunk shows are hosted by Coller (prices might vary there slightly) and New York by Duleb.
lucamuseo.com
@lucamuseo
More on the Luca Museo tailoring itself soon
Why do they all have Italian names? Cultural appropriation?
They are inspired by and were often trained by Italian tailors (Pirozzi here, as mentioned)
I’d say it is cultural appreciation.
This reminds me of the German businessman Robert Geiss who has a mass fashion brand Roberto Geissini. 😀 Or about one of the bespoke tailoring operations in Kyiv, Ukraine – Sartoria Fain. So yes, apparently Italian names sell better. 🙂 It is even funnier if you think that in the past Italians themselves wanted to be like the British – London House in Naples.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Simon I find your use of the word “atelier” in this context confusing. From the way you talk about their showroom, I would have thought atelier was the last way of describing it.
Is Atelier now a generic word to describe a shop?
Thanks
It’s not a showroom, it’s a workshop – all the bespoke work is done on the premises, the cutting, sewing and pressing, plus of course design.
The fact you assumed it wasn’t I think is quite telling about the point of this piece – that no other bespoke tailors look like this
Very nice indeed. Beautiful layout but all too far away for me!
It would be nice to see more of this at home in the UK
I wish you well on these commissions,Simon.
Is that a distinct curve from the lapel to the forequarters in the brown double breasted jacket, albeit not buttoned up?
BTW, my MTM trousers commission in Light/Mid-Grey Holland & Sherry Airesco is ongoing with Andrew Watson and if it is anything like the success and fit of the blue jacket which I love, I will be very pleased indeed and will be sharing in a couple of months time in an update post!
Thanks Lindsay, yes more relevant to US and Asian readers (note the trunk shows listed)
There is a distinct curve there yes, though as is usually the case, it comes from a lapel that is actually cut dead straight
Forgive my ignorance but does the pick stitching on the lapels have a functional purposes in tailoring or is it just purely done for aesthetic / design reasons?
Sorry, missed this one earlier Albert. Yes it does usually – there is a stitch running down the outside edge of the lapel that holds the seam in place and makes sure it isn’t visible from the right side. It also helps keep the edge sharp.
This is often pretty much invisible, but some tailors then do a second line of stitching a centimetre or so in, which holds the cloth and canvas in the same way and theoretically makes the whole stronger. You tend to see it on casual or perhaps country jackets in some countries, as it is for that more rugged piece
Thanks Simon. There’s a fantastic energy in Seoul and I was really impressed by the city.
I’m curious why some of the established tailors haven’t started to do this (i.e. have clothing available to see and try on). You’ve been valiantly suggesting it for a while. Is it tradition? In a nice way, tailoring does seem quite an old-fashioned apprenticeship type job where the views of the seniors and how they’ve been trained would be important.
Yes, with most places I think that’s right James.
The other reason of course is cost. It’s not cheap to make bespoke garments that aren’t sold to customers, and you would want to make a small number every season to keep the materials relevant or pieces interesting.
I also think there isn’t much focus on the design side, which makes it seem less relevant. My impression is that this is a little different to the past when bigger places had more front of house. In most tailors today the cutter themselves is also the salesperson.
Caroline Andrew in London often does a collection of example garments every season, which I appreciate as it often makes me consider fabrics and colors I normally wouldn’t.
She’s also on the younger side, so perhaps it’s partly a generational thing too?
To play devil’s advocate, would you worry about there being an expectation on craft people to put on a show like this? If the product is good, does it necessarily matter if the show room is glitzy?
Relatedly, would you worry that ultimately the costs of an expensive shop in an expensive part of town will just end up being reflected in the price of the suit?
Hello devil’s advocate!
To be clear, it’s not necessarily about the place being fancy, it’s more about it being clear that they have a design view. Someone like Michael Browne in London has a very clear design view, but his space has never been fancy, for example.
On the costs, yes absolutely this would be a factor, though the big tailors are already in expensive parts of town (though not necessarily paying the highest rents). I think it’s in the long-term interests of bespoke though – it’s only going to survive if tailoring can be relevant from a style point of view as well as a craft one.
MB has very clear distinctive design aesthetic and I love that.
Davide Taub at G&H have a lot interesting things unfortunately it doesn’t seem to flow into the G&H RTW at all
Thom Sweeney on Old Burlington Street has a distinct aesthetic, offering RTW, MTM and bespoke in one place. To me, it feels very contemporary compared to more traditional tailoring houses in London. And they have a nice bar on the top floor, too.
True, they have much more of that. I wouldn’t include them in this comparison because they do so much RTW and MTM, when of course you’d have clothes out. Also the bespoke tailoring isn’t being made in the same way as the RTW or MTM
What do you mean regarding the make of bespoke vs RTW or MTM? I had my first sportcoat made by Thom Sweeney (bespoke) in 2016 and still wear it today.
I mean that the point I make in the article – about bespoke tailors generally not having much style or presenting it if they have one – isn’t relevant to Thom Sweeney because they sell so much RTW and MTM, so of course there is more of a design view and clothes on display
Thom Sweeney had a view, they have changed a lot over the years, the stuff they make now in RTW just felt 100% mainstream with very little to tell what makes them different
Hi Simon,
Luca Museo looks an interesting retail space, with an aesthetic that to me appears appropriate to their location and in my opinion creates a modern vibe. I don’t think tailors who take less interest in their space necessarily signifies a lower level of taste (which is quite subjective anyway). It’s just their aesthetic which could be wholly output focused, a different vibe (darker old school) and also a way of keeping down costs. As you have mentioned before, that non product costs make up a significant proportion of high end brand prices, hence some businesses are trying to keep overheads as low as possible. As for coffee hang out spaces, when I used to frequent London’s west end more regularly, I used the one in Tommy Helfinger, which at first seemed strange and became a favourite (no one hogging tables with their laptops!) space over time, nice coffee and barista, so like yourself I was a convert in this case.
My only disappointment with Luca Museo is that they don’t make capes – Manish casts a long shadow!
All the best.
Thanks Stephen. No you’re right, the lack of that in the space doesn’t necessarily mean a lower level of taste, but for a new customer it is harder to discover that or appreciate it – it’s a matter of communication really. I’d also say this applies mostly to new customers or those less familiar with bespoke.
I know the Hilfiger one, it’s a block away from me. Always empty!
Ha, ha, only visit very occasionally now I’m retired, that said being empty was actually a plus point for me. Yes I know!
Looks like a great shop. Will be interested in reading your review on the suit when it is ready.
Any quick thoughts on the offerings of Coller that are separate from Luca Museo?
No sorry, I don’t know them
Are these bespoke commissions you cover free, or paid out of your own pocket?
It varies – often first commissions such as this one are free and subsequent ones aren’t. Either way it makes no difference to the content.
There is more detail on our relationship between payment and content on the dedicated page here
This isn’t the first time it’s come up, but I find it amusing from a physics perspective – your work in reviewing people when they know that they are being reviewed is kind of like the “observer effect”.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)
Thanks Mike, yes I love that reference.
If I was being serious, I’d also mention that of course the reviews incorporate comment from other customers, many of whom I know, but I’m not sure there’s a physics term for that….
Not to further conflate reviewing clothes and tailors with science… I was coming at my original comment from something I remember from school, but to respond to your subsequent comment, I did some further skimming through Wikipedia and found this to be informative (note the ‘Hawthorne effect’):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_bias
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has already done some exhaustive treatise on “reviews” but I feel I’ve already indulged too much!
I think you covered this point well in another article where you wrote:
“ People always ask whether I get special treatment, and I’m normally fairly confident that I don’t. Not that some might not try especially hard, given the outcome will be so public, but rather that I talk to enough other customers that I know if the product is inconsistent elsewhere.
Plus, if you’re not a good tailor it’s hard to pretend. The results are there for all to see, and tailoring is not that forgiving. You can look good in an ill-fitting shoe, but not a suit.
Still, when there are five different people looking at the way your jacket hangs it can be hard to hold to that belief.”
Thanks Alex, always nice when readers have a better memory than me! I put it well back then
I think you do a fine job of balancing your reviews with external experiences as well as your own. I think as a reader you can notice this in your writing. Some other outlets that I appreciate are imo not as balanced. A big outlet for example recently covered quite a few mtm companies and whenever I see examples of the work these companies do they are obviously way way worse than what the presenter got. So the difference is obvious if you know what to look for.
Nice to hear teekay
I feel like best practice is to specify in each review, upfront, whether it was free or paid out of your own pocket.
For me it’s always in the back of my mind that the influencer sphere is generally rife with conflicts of interest. Namely between the need for the influencer to maintain positive relationships with industry people (to help bring more content), as well as the need to provide credible and valued influencing to their audience.
I appreciate that in your dedicated page you say that it makes no difference to the content, but it’s about letting the reader decide for themselves how much to weigh the review.
Thanks Aaron. I understand that view but it’s not the one we take and it’s never been an issue for PS. People know our reputation and they can see how objective and fair we are.
We also don’t need to maintain positive relationships with industry people – a benefit of being so large.
Simon, kudos to you for clarifying and being so open to continual questions on the topic.
I must say your stance is a fair and commercially pragmatic stance.
I must confess whilst I dont agree that a reviewer taking free review can be as impartial as if it were paid for, the next logical step up in impartiality would be for to forego free samples and ask the consumer to pay a subscription instead and I am not sure if that is commercially viable in such a small nice market.
One lingering concern – are makers who cannot give free review product precluded from appearing on Permanent Style?
Thank you, and you make good points.
No, absolutely not. The other thing I always make clear is that I can afford to buy anything for review, and often do even when they are expensive
Hi Simon, interesting read. Could you expand a bit on how Luca Museo’s style is easier to wear the richer areas of Seoul than it would be in New York or London?
In my fairly brief experience of Seoul, there is a greater variety of clothing worn and fewer obvious dress codes – probably fewer hang-ups with tradition in that sense, from what people told me as well. Then, in the area south of the river, Gangnam, there is simply so much money that smart things can’t look out of place. All the streets are new, everything is clean, everyone seems to own a sports car!
NYC has less unspoken dress code than London, but more so than the large cities in Asia (outside Japan)
The highlighted clothing pieces are very nice… but mid-century furniture might almost cause me to turn around and walk out.
I love the double breasted jacket, there’s something very appealing about a horizontal peak lapel, though it might be my fondness for the 1930s old Hollywood icons that’s coming to the fore there.
The shop is gorgeous, If it wasn’t for the lack of UK trunk shows I’d love to see and hopefully commission a fair few of the Asian tailors you’ve shown, your Assisi jacket and anthology stuff being particularly nice to my eye.
Beautiful clothing. Are they using swelled edges? Striking. I also quite like the Scandinavian interior.
Yes they do quite a bit
Interesting read, thank you. I’m just wondering if there’s any interaction between the Korean and Japanese tailoring scene? Or did they just both spring up more or less independently of each other?
There is some, just because they may have trained at similar places, but it’s largely been independent
Interesting article.
It sounds similar to Stephen Kempson’s atelier in the NYC suburb of Westport, CT. He has a very distinct color forward design POV and a great bespoke / luxury RTW balance with examples of both on prominent display. The work table is out in the open and yes, they have a small but comfortable bar area in the back with leather couches and impressive bottles. At least by suburban standards. May be worth a trip the next time you’re in NYC. Many of his clients come to him from the city.
Thanks Christopher
Stephen Kempson’s stuff is a lot main stream I would say (or less stand out)
Hi Simon, as someone who is originally from Korea and has lived in London for over a decade, I’ve always wondered why there are no such places in London. Do you think it could be simply because affording an extra space in London is ridiculously expensive due to rent and lease premiums?
Many thanks,
Jack
I don’t think so, because often tailoring houses can be large, but still lack the style/decoration
Sorry stupid question: Does anyone recognize that rattan lounge chair in the second picture? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it before, but can‘t find it now.
Ah nevermind, it’s the PK22.
i think this is how it’s suppose to be done, when I first started, it was very hard to know “what does one mean by house style”. I suppose IG helped in this regard by showing enough client work to have a good sense of house style these days but it’s still nice to have something that communicate maker’s vision (though I can see plenty bespoke tailor won’t do it that way since they’re usually not “designer” mind set)
I think it is more about tradition. Tailoring in west world is more a traditional thing. Tailoring houses there can shout out by their heritage, prestige and appreciations from former customers. But in east Asia (maybe exclude Japan) tailoring is just another fashion genre. Considering the price level, there is a natural implication between tailoring and luxury retail. If a tailoring house there fails to deliver the luxury vibe, customers may think like “Can I confidently spend so much money on a merchant that doesn’t feel premium enough?”. I think that is why tailoring houses in east Asia usually try to make themselves look fancy.
Interestingly, I actually find most Japanese crafts people want to be seen as just as traditional as the European places they learnt from. You get far less of this design approach there than in Korea
Greatly affected by culture and customer’s buying pattern, among the countries.
Most Japanese crafts people are looking for maintaining the tradition and run their shop as a family business.
But in Korea and China, tailor houses are more in a business oriented mindset where they eager to set up the RTW line and build up the brand image.
Maybe it is a sign that reflect the attitude among local customers towards traditional tailoring among different countries.
Definitely not the case for Japan, Korea is very different in this regard I suppose.
For UK guys if they don’t have a nice showroom it would be nice to know what house style is besides roughly one similar sentence from roughly 4 tailors. Like for example all the ex A&S guys would say the same thing (as one would expect), without design element you would have to judge on fit which without throwing money in is just ask around