THE HOUSE BRINGING FRESH DETAIL TO RETAIL
The tailoring maestro Tagliatore’s freshly opened Milan showroom exemplifies its heritage of innovation and attention to detail. We stepped inside a space dedicated to propelling tailoring forward in the 21st century.
“We believe in the future. So we’re opening despite everything,” says Pino Lerario, creative director of Tagliatore, presenting the brand’s first showroom in Milan, the city that has always been a global crossroads of innovation. He describes the new premises as “a strategic investment, a dynamic hub that will open the way to new scenarios”. According to the trade association Confcommercio Italia, in 2020 the pandemic and collapse in consumption forced the closure of over 390,000 non-food businesses (240,000 of which exclusively due to Covid), while in the same period there were only 85,000 new openings. With clothing and footwear stores being among the hardest hit (-17.1 per cent), Tagliatore’s Milanese expansion is also a courageous message of confidence and hope. Designed by the Paolo Rizzo studio, House of
Tagliatore is an open-plan space on the third floor of Palazzo Meroni, at Corso Italia 1. The architects evoked the brand’s essence with the use of precious materials such as Travertino Navona and Bianco Carrara marble, alongside a series of Italian design classics for the furnishings. The result is a traditional yet modern space for hosting exclusive, inclusive and international events dedicated to fashion, food, sport, cinema and music. “But our production will always strictly be carried out in Puglia,” insists Lerario. That’s where it all began with his grandfather Vito, known as Tagliatore (“Cutter”), who was a master at fashioning leather uppers. The business continued with his father Franco, the tailor who sewed the suits for Tim Burton’s Batman in 1988, at the request of the costume designer Bob Ringwood.
Combining aesthetics and performance, the latest collections created in Tagliatore’s hometown of Martina Franca adapt the brand’s know-how and values to the world of today. “As suits are on hold for now, we’ve rethought at least 15 per cent of our portfolio to offer our customers an updated wardrobe closer to streetwear, but without losing any of the taste, sartorial elegance and obsessive attention to detail.” The result is easy-to-wear apparel made with natural, ultra-light nylon and stretch fabrics to ensure freedom of movement, as well as authentic suits that are softer, more fluid and more comfortable than ever, cutting across age groups and blurring the boundaries between formal and informal. Excellent examples include the Dakar deconstructed shirtjacket, or the looser-fitting sports-inspired trousers with a style-enhancing drawstring at the waist.