Can Made-to-Measure Go Mass?
You’re reading Shopper: Highsnobiety's bulletin on what’s taking up headspace from the marketplace. This is an edit of August 11's newsletter, in which shopping editor Max Migowski interrogated the "custom" category and its jargon. Subscribe here, or head to the Shopping tab for more recs.
Anyone Can Own An Expensive Shirt. But A Bespoke One?
Ironically, an abundance of choice has made it harder than ever to track down clothes that are worth their money, hold up over time, and hang on the body the way they're supposed to. In light of this, the industry has coined terminology to appeal to a male shopper who is willing to spend, but highly discerning about it. He’s interested in both functional quality and thoughtful, sophisticated, intentional wares that are distinct from regular mass apparel.
Unfortunately for him, we now see at every tier of the market fierce rivalriy between brands that try to parlay visual or linguistic proximity to this highly sought-after sense of “craftsmanship.” Once-important descriptors like “personalized” or "artisanal" or “hand-made” and their semantic differences have quickly become unhelpful as their meaning dilutes. “Tailoring” has long been one such buzzword, too, with a clear aesthetic connotation beyond its definition. And lately, more players are trying to cash in on a look rather than the actual service of tailored workmanship.
To be fair, there's nothing wrong with, say, Massimo Dutti et. al doing for the next generation what Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren built their up-to-200-year-old businesses on. This trend does, however, speak to a new guard of customers and makers, and their respective literacy. Everyone wants to see the markers of traditional, aspirational menswear refracted through a modern lens, at a competitive cost, and applied to formal and casual garb. But who’s truly walking the walk?
Enter names like Son of a Tailor and Proper Cloth, or Husbands and Stòffa, all of whom populate an expanding range of similarly-minded upstarts that aim to bridge the gap between contemporary values, optics, and budgets — without simply juggling vocabulary that suggests as much. To varying degrees of actual custom-ness, these places sell garments that are “engineered” or “algorithmically-sized” to fit better, individually measured to fit full stop, or all of the above. This is slow fashion, literally and figuratively, at a near-luxury-level cost that bakes in meticulous manufacturing processes, client involvement (“book an appointment!”), material durability, and even eco-friendliness.
Drake's has swayed the populace with this wide-range style of offering that includes off-the-rack and one-of-a-kind for decades; so has Charvet for over a century. The latter Parisian family company's in-house trickle-down approach of letting bespoke creations inform the techniques behind standardized pieces ends up lending credibility to every grade of its reasonably expensive slash relatively inexpensive product, from ready-to-wear to semi-custom (“demi-mesure") to what is, in essence, straight up men's couture.
Charvet's is the model that arguably inspired a current obsession with the custom concept. No wonder I'm desperately craving a trip to its Place Vendôme headquarters — me, a proud vintage nut whose wardrobe sometimes feels more chance than choice, suddenly in need of a button-up that's uniquely mine, down to every fiber and inch of fabric. It's even less of a wonder that Chanel bought the company in July. Best I get there fast then, before the Wertheimers mess with the formula, eh? Otherwise, heaven help me, I might be forced to stick to Fruit of the Loom's weird T-shirt suits…
Open Tabs: Everything We've Got Our Eyes On Right Now
Slotting right into that nouveau dapper vibe is Mfpen's… well, anything really, but this striped deadstock poplin number is the closest thing you'll get to a custom-vibe, without the fuss.
Buck Mason also uses to its advantage that je ne sais quoi that can emerge from distilling old school traditions through fresh filters. The so-called big oxford, as well as the big and the paperback chino, respectively, are wonderful points of proof.
Moving along to something more laid-back: Telfar's weathered NYC skyline tee erases any excuse to not buy it. It’s great as either a perfect Big Apple souvenir, or a token of residential pride.
Folks are all about Japanese denim these days, but have they heard of Welsh denim yet? HIUT's sustainability-conscious jeans are sewn in Wales and come with a lifelong free repair service. The Jerald cut is my favorite.
And for when you're stripping off said jeans to slip into something comfier, Rick Owens of all people carries a solid pair of loose and airy drawstring slacks.
Somewhere in-between fancy and lounge-y, find these sculpturally pleated culottes by Homme Plissé Issey Miyake.
I can't wait to take these hunky all-black Altras up through the trails.
In the meantime, for city runs, I'm eyeing these thick and foamy Sauconys.
Could Sabah's lean mule be the last great summer shoe purchase of 2026?
… if so, then let these debonair Lemaire slip-on loafers be the year's first fall footwear splurge.
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase.
