Berluti's creative director Alessandro Sartori aims to change the average man's attitude toward dressing. Kitty Go reports.

There is hardly any men's ready-to-wear designer who would quickly identify "bespoke tailors" as their brand's biggest competitors. Alessandro Sartori, creative director of Berluti, does. And with that he establishes a tall order for his luxury house, which started as a bespoke shoemaker to the glitterati in 1865.

He is no stranger to luxury, having been artistic director at Zegna, and is credited with the creation of the successful Z Zegna line before he joined Berluti in the summer of 2011. Although he started the clothing line from scratch, Sartori is on a mission to change the average man's (with a higher-than-average net worth) attitude to dressing.

Sartori has singled out "character" as Berluti's greatest strength and has run with it. Some of that character comes from their current and past famous clients but all of it is based on the thin line that runs between continental European and British dressing, which the soft-spoken Italian has mastered with this new venture.

"I was so delighted and looking forward to launching a brand with depth and beauty with an amazing heritage with customers like US artist Andy Warhol and Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge," he says. "Today we have shoe customers turned RTW customers like royal offspring Andrea Casiraghi and actor Jeremy Irons. The brand is a combination of Italian and French values such as the Italian quality and attention to detail but with French impertinence and attitude to colors like the use of dark violet, petrol blue and brown. But the attitude to make this work in a personal way is very British. We think about each customer with his own needs, desires and style."

Berluti's ready-to-wear menswear feature Italian, French and British design elements. On top are leather goods from Berluti. Photos provided to China Daily

This accurate and logical classification is chicly illustrated in their website in a user-friendly ready-to-wear section divided into English Boldness, Italian Nonchalance and French Classicism. Clothing styled for every fashion need in every area of a man's life is laid out and photographed like a magazine editorial and organized as a wardrobe should be.

At Berluti's price points, there are very few players in a very competitive market serving a very exclusive and demanding clientele. All of them have their strengths and RTW has a way of instilling brand loyalty among their clients. When pressed, Sartori identifies the following (other than bespoke tailors) as his competitors - Loro Piana for knits, Tom Ford for design details and Kiton and Brioni for suiting. He reveals his methods for approaching and capturing this highly coveted market.

"Many of our RTW customers start off with shoes then went to RTW and others have never bought shoes at all. What is interesting is that we don't have a specific age group of customers. They don't belong to an age matrix. We have 20-year-old to over 70-year-old customers. They are more ambassadors than clients of the brand," says Sartori. "This is a very educated customer who wants something more for himself. Our customers are very demanding but at the same time once we have a good relationship with them, it is very difficult for them not to come back into the stores."

The brand's positioning is clear: On the surface, the high prices keep the brand exclusive. But delve into every collection closely and the most perfect construction and most unusual fabric treatments and weaves are uncovered. The resources and time spent on research, development and labor would make mass production impossible.

"We keep strong brand awareness only for connoisseurs because we don't want to talk to everybody and we can't because of the product and the price," says Sartori. "More than becoming big, we want to be close to our customers and make the brand feel like a men's club."

Aside from communication to and from boutiques, Berluti stays in direct contact with their customers through special events which Sartori calls the "Gentleman's Club". These are held in various cities, most recently in London.

About 100-120 customers and their friends (potential customers) were invited to an evening trunk show featuring about 20 outfits where Sartori explained every look and the store took private appointments either for personal shopping, semi-mesure and even Grande Mesure (fully bespoke, done by the Paris Left Bank tailor Arnys).

"The next day, we had 10 appointments from people who were curious about the brand," says Sartori of this particular event. "We want to be deep and tight more than huge, but very close and in step with the customer. We need to grow but in a strong and clever way."

Sartori addresses the idea of men being resistant to change. "Generally the adage is men are afraid to be styled in a different way so we started with (introducing luxurious fabric in) simple things," he says.

Last spring he used an open work pique jersey in two-tone jacquard on basic polo shirts. Highly prized Japanese denim was cut and crafted with couture details like leather binding. Sartori makes a strong point that the denim is "not just classic ring (ring denim is a type of denim weave where the threads are wound 'like rings'- meaning vertical then woven. This technology came from Japan)", but a special machine-washable weave of 70 percent cotton and 30 percent silk, which will not fade.

This autumn, stores have received unlined leather blazers and unlined cashmere sports jackets. This coming spring, expect to see suits in linen and Tussah silk with tweed finishes. Next winter, he will introduce baby llama, cashmere and alpaca melanges in unlined, striped, solid and checked jackets.

A unifying quality in this subtle introduction to new ideas is that at first sight, there seems to be nothing earth-shattering with the clothes because they have retained their basic silhouettes. And yet ... upon closer inspection there is a difference. There is a subtle, identifiable newness in the fit and the fabrics.

Sartori sums up his strategy: "I like creating new rules but with knowing the rules. I don't want to do something just for design or any new product ... and now we have arrived at a moment where the average man is not afraid to try something new, where he doesn't have to be a fashionista to be able to style his scarf in a different way."

One ensemble Sartori is extremely passionate about is the three-piece suit in all its incarnations but with a special fondness for those in superfine, 13-micron wool.

"The three-piece suit is part of this (move to change and newness). There is this impression that only very stylish guys can carry a three-piece suit. It is not a costume," he says. "The need to have a gilet is behind the flavor or energy or the look that a three-piece suit would give you."

Like his direction for the Berluti label, he believes the three-piece suit is an ensemble that tries once and returns for more, never to look back. If he convinced someone like Jeremy Irons (on their first meeting, no less) to wear a three-piece suit, he feels he can convince other customers to follow suit.

Sartori is such a believer in this look that he has an answer for every style dilemma associated with the three-piece suit.

"You will look fat only if your gilet is too tight or you have on a jacket that can't close," he advises. "If you have a perfectly fitted gilet under a single-breasted jacket that can close properly, you will look sharper. A single-breasted jacket is better because it leaves the gilet to be seen underneath. You can leave your jacket open to show the gilet but if you really can't close it, it will show. Double-breasted jackets must be worn alone."

Aside from the favored three-piece suit, Sartori recommends that every gentleman's wardrobe must have "a beautiful, handmade navy blazer in wool and mohair that is almost wrinkle free", and a pair of Berluti's Andy loafers in flannel gray because "I love medium dark colors that have a completely different shade. I'm not a fan of black but a beautiful brown, gray or even Bordeaux like our Saint Emilion (named after the prestigious vineyard) would go with everything." If you can only have one shirt, make it white and pair it with a blue seven-fold tie which "you will see really looks substantial and falls differently.

"It's good to be different and it's good to change. It's nice to change style and approach and have the freedom and pleasure to play like women do with clothes. Why not wear a beautiful leather biker jacket on top of a shirt and tie? Why do you have to wear it with a polo? It's boring," he says. " Being stylish gives you a different and better energy."

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 12/15/2013 page8)