Bespoke · Mumbai
Wool suits
The cloth a suit was invented for, in a weight for the heat.
Why wool, even here
Wool drapes. It falls from the shoulder in a line nothing else makes, it recovers from a crease if you hang it overnight, and under evening light or a photographer's flash it has a depth that cotton and linen do not. For an evening wedding, the boardroom, or any suit you intend to still be wearing in ten years, it is the cloth.
The fear is heat, and the answer is weight. A fine worsted at a light weight is cooler than most people expect, because wool moves moisture away from the body rather than holding it. The mistake is the heavy, shiny, synthetic-blend suiting most ready suits are made from; that is what people remember as hot. Pure wool, light, open weave: that is what we start from for Mumbai.
Worsted, flannel, and the rest
Worsted is the smooth, combed cloth of the business suit: navy, charcoal, mid-grey, a pinstripe, a windowpane check like the one in our photographs. Flannel is softer and warmer, for a December wedding in Delhi or a winter in the hills. Mohair blends add a slight sheen for the evening. Fresco is an open, airy weave made for exactly this climate.
The suit that lasts
A wool suit made to your pattern, with a hand-padded canvas chest, is a ten-year suit if it is cared for. Rest it a day between wearings, brush it, press it rarely. Your pattern stays with us, so the second one is quicker and fits better still.
In practice
What we decide together
Weight
Light for Mumbai, mid-weight for travel, flannel for the north and for winter weddings.
Colour
Navy first, then charcoal; a mid-grey or a check once the first two are done.
Construction
Full or half canvas, hand-padded lapel, the shoulder as soft or as built as your frame asks.
Care
A cedar hanger, a clothes brush, a rest day between wearings. We show you.
Book an appointment
A consultation costs nothing. Tell us the occasion and the date, and we take it from there.
Questions
What people ask us
Is a wool suit too hot for Mumbai?
A light, open-weave pure wool is not. The heavy, shiny suits that feel hot are usually synthetic blends. Weight and weave matter more than the word wool.
Which wool suit should be my first?
Navy worsted, two-piece, in a light weight. It goes to a wedding, a meeting and a funeral, and it is the suit every other one is judged against.
Do you make flannel suits?
Yes, for the north, for December, and for the man who likes a softer cloth. Flannel is wrong for a Mumbai afternoon and right for a Delhi wedding.
How long will a bespoke wool suit last?
With a canvas chest and reasonable care, ten years is normal. The trousers go first; we can cut a second pair from the same cloth at the start if you want the suit to last.