If you stroll through downtown La Jolla long enough, you are liable to see an older gentleman motor by in an insanely expensive automobile. (The McLaren shop is, after all, just down the road.) It’s an impressive accessory. But after a certain age, no matter what he drives, a man never looks as good as he does when wearing a properly tailored suit. (Probably before that age as well, but I’m not here to argue.) He can get close with something made-to-measure: a suit based on a template, which is then cut and trimmed according to 15 or so measurements. Or he can make himself the template, and go bespoke. For that, he would do well to visit John Park’s Zeglio Custom Clothiers on La Jolla Boulevard. (There’s another location Downtown.) There, he will be asked 50 to 60 questions, subjected to roughly 45 measurements, and given multiple fittings that will help guide the tailor’s shears. “Everything from scratch,” says Park.
He stands me before a mirror and holds up his tape. “Your right shoulder is lower than your left,” he observes. It turns out my right arm is longer as well. He doesn’t need to tell me that I slouch, but he does need to take it into account. The slope of my shoulder will help determine the right degree of shoulder padding. The thickness of my watch will help determine the aperture of my sleeve. The thickness around my belly, on the other hand, will help determine the placement of the jacket’s top button. “If we go lower, it looks more slim.” (Younger, fitter customers will need accommodations for their bulging biceps and deltoids.) And so on, and so on, and so on, everything checked once, twice, three times. The whole process takes three to four months.
Park opened his first shop in Chicago in 2006. “I’m from South Korea, and I have a masters in Hotel Management. I was working at the Chicago Hilton; I ordered a custom suit from back in South Korea. A lot of people started asking where I got the suit.” He paid attention to their curiosity. Today, he’s still got two Chicago locations, but he moved to San Diego nine years ago, in part because “about 80% of my business is weddings, and the wedding season here is longer.” Business is good; he also has locations in Orange County and Beverly Hills.
He has just finished two new suits for customer Rob Clark, an Englishman who owns “a whole range of suits and sport coats” from Zeglio, and who will be wearing one of them when he gets married in Amalfi this week. “John knows the European standard,” attests Clark. “The cut never disappoints. And he has the books” — shelves of them, all filled with swatches of fabric from brands with names like Loro Piana and Scabal. The fabric has a great deal to do with whether a bespoke suit costs $3000-$8000, which is the average, or $20,000, which is above the average. It’s a significant expense, but there is a significant return. And it’s much less than a McLaren.
If you stroll through downtown La Jolla long enough, you are liable to see an older gentleman motor by in an insanely expensive automobile. (The McLaren shop is, after all, just down the road.) It’s an impressive accessory. But after a certain age, no matter what he drives, a man never looks as good as he does when wearing a properly tailored suit. (Probably before that age as well, but I’m not here to argue.) He can get close with something made-to-measure: a suit based on a template, which is then cut and trimmed according to 15 or so measurements. Or he can make himself the template, and go bespoke. For that, he would do well to visit John Park’s Zeglio Custom Clothiers on La Jolla Boulevard. (There’s another location Downtown.) There, he will be asked 50 to 60 questions, subjected to roughly 45 measurements, and given multiple fittings that will help guide the tailor’s shears. “Everything from scratch,” says Park.
He stands me before a mirror and holds up his tape. “Your right shoulder is lower than your left,” he observes. It turns out my right arm is longer as well. He doesn’t need to tell me that I slouch, but he does need to take it into account. The slope of my shoulder will help determine the right degree of shoulder padding. The thickness of my watch will help determine the aperture of my sleeve. The thickness around my belly, on the other hand, will help determine the placement of the jacket’s top button. “If we go lower, it looks more slim.” (Younger, fitter customers will need accommodations for their bulging biceps and deltoids.) And so on, and so on, and so on, everything checked once, twice, three times. The whole process takes three to four months.
Park opened his first shop in Chicago in 2006. “I’m from South Korea, and I have a masters in Hotel Management. I was working at the Chicago Hilton; I ordered a custom suit from back in South Korea. A lot of people started asking where I got the suit.” He paid attention to their curiosity. Today, he’s still got two Chicago locations, but he moved to San Diego nine years ago, in part because “about 80% of my business is weddings, and the wedding season here is longer.” Business is good; he also has locations in Orange County and Beverly Hills.
He has just finished two new suits for customer Rob Clark, an Englishman who owns “a whole range of suits and sport coats” from Zeglio, and who will be wearing one of them when he gets married in Amalfi this week. “John knows the European standard,” attests Clark. “The cut never disappoints. And he has the books” — shelves of them, all filled with swatches of fabric from brands with names like Loro Piana and Scabal. The fabric has a great deal to do with whether a bespoke suit costs $3000-$8000, which is the average, or $20,000, which is above the average. It’s a significant expense, but there is a significant return. And it’s much less than a McLaren.
Comments