7 of Australia’s freshest tailors
Tailoring is back - and it means business. Here, seven Australian suitmakers tell us about their brands, and why menswear is becoming put-together again
By THERE IS A STALE preconception that getting a suit made is strictly business – no fashion, no fun. But we’re here to tell you that’s just not the case.
Buying a suit – or getting one tailor made – needn’t be a daunting endeavour, nor an experience reserved for dapper dandies smoking cigars in gentlemen’s clubs or even for those with white-collar jobs. Tailoring is for all of us. And never has that been more apparent than now (except during the Roaring Twenties, perhaps).
Now, a new generation of tailors is helping to push suiting back into the menswear zeitgeist. From rhinestones to mid-century-inspired craftsmanship, there’s plenty to choose from when it comes to Australia’s freshest tailoring brands. Want the full bespoke experience? A linen suit for that wedding in Puglia? Or just a trustworthy, stylish option for the office? Right now, these are the tailors we’re turning to.
Reigner
Whether he’s measuring a musician or groom-to-be, James Noble, the founder of Reigner, understands the importance of stage presence. Made custom in vibrant jewel tones and embellished with rhinestones and embroidery, the signature offering of the Melbourne-based tailor has been created for those who don’t mind standing out — it’s as if the Nudie Suit got an Australian makeover. “People who come to see me want to express themselves on another level,” Noble says.
Founded in 2020 with his partner, the jeweller Millie Savage, Reigner was Noble’s way of providing an alternative to the stock standard black suit. And since launching, he’s observed the culture catching up with the Reigner aesthetic. “People are much more expressive and want to wear something a little more lairy,” he says. “I love seeing people express themselves and go further in what they’d normally wear. Don’t get me wrong, I love a black suit. But it’s what you do to it that makes it a shit-hot suit.” It’s for this reason that Noble doesn’t necessarily think of himself as a tailor. Instead, he calls Reigner “pleasure wear”.
“It’s all-out couture for whatever stage you may be performing on,” he says. “I guess you could say I make performance wear. Whenever I’m designing, I always ask myself, ‘Would you want to be seen in this playing to a crowd of 100,000 people?’”
Find out more about the brand at reignerclothing.com.
Umi Nori
Zi Nori and Roman Jody founded Umi Nori in 2019 with one goal: to be Australia’s ‘anti- dapper’ tailoring brand. Not unambitious, the high-school friends set out to cultivate a new look for Australian men – one that went past the “epidemic of tight suits” that has dominated corporate dress codes for the last two decades.
While Nori is traditionally trained garment-maker – he did his apprenticeship with a small owner-operator in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building who specialised in Italian tailoring – Jody, who also runs the streetwear brand Jody Just, manages the marketing side of things. The duo dresses a community of artists, actors and “big dogs around the city”, says Nori, as well as regular guys looking for a fly suit. Nori’s interpretation of the Neapolitan shines through in deconstructed jackets and wide peak lapels – Umi Nori’s signature.
But the brand’s approach is underpinned by education. “A big part of what [Nori does] in the store is to fill this nurturing and educational role for people,” says Jody. And an element of that is making tailoring less daunting. “I’d say 95 per cent of people who come through know close to zero about suits,” adds Nori. “And they end up leaving saying, ‘I actually know a bit more now’.”
Find about more about the brand at uminori.com.
Read our earlier interview with Umi Nori here.
Atelier Lavoro
After watching George Lucas’ 1973 American Graffiti in his teens, Davy Zhu was captivated by all things mid-century: the Chevrolet, the film’s classic rock soundtrack and, most importantly, the Americana-style clothing. But it was Ametora – a term for the subculture built around American fashion that emerged in Japan after World War II – that inspired Zhu to teach himself the craftsmanship of this bygone era of tailoring.
Now fully versed in the art of crafting trousers, jackets and shirts, Zhu this year founded Atelier Lavoro with business partner Joe Ha. Subtly sculptural, Atelier Lavoro’s cuts allow enough room for movement and comfort, while nods to sportswear and that mid-century aesthetic inspire the look and feel. “I think the silhouette defines the man,” says Zhu.
With studios in Sydney and Melbourne, the brand is rising at a time when many of us are replacing our hoodies with tailored chore jackets, and Zhu certainly has a flair for reinvention. “Our suits break away from conventional designs by incorporating modern, classic and slightly quirky elements,” he says. “This approach allows men to craft their own unique look.”
Find out more about the brand at atelierlavoro.com.
Trunk Tailors
As one of the last purely bespoke operators in Melbourne
– or Australia, for that matter – Trunk Tailors is all about preserving the craft for a new generation of suit wearers. Each piece that comes out of its studio is handmade by its team of skilled tailors and cutters using the highest-quality fabrics from across the world.
“We love visiting our friends at Lafayette Saltiel Drapiers in
Paris every year,” says founder and designer Jack Liang of his suppliers. “In the centre of Paris, they stock just under 20,000 metres of vintage fabrics with bold patterns and silk blends that are not readily available elsewhere.”
Fortunately for Trunk, its clients appreciate the difficulty of transporting bolts of sourced fabric halfway across the globe in the name of a good suit and find the minutiae of tailoring fascinating. “Guys are spending more time on researching quality and are more informed about how and what they commission,” says Liang. “There seems to be a greater emphasis on quality and value . . . and the provenance of the suiting material.”
Find out more about the brand at trunktailors.com.
Oscar Hunt
Men used to get suits made for the office. But today, if we’re investing in made-to-measure (because made-to-measure is an investment), we want to be able to wear those pieces in contexts beyond work. “This has been a great change for us,” says Chris Edwards, co-founder and director of contemporary Australian tailor Oscar Hunt. “It means that we can really work with the client creatively.”
Indeed, how Oscar Hunt’s customers can gain a sartorial return on their investment is top of Edwards’ mind. And with a showroom in every mainland state capital city, Edwards and his team are pushing this ‘whole-wardrobe’ approach further. “Our clients are more open to trying more technical fabrics, mixing in casualwear with tailoring,” he says. “We do more wardrobe building now, [and] we cut our clothing in a way that avoids fads or fast trends yet has our unique twist.”
Oscar Hunt’s recent collection reflects experimentation with Japanese tailoring: relaxed construction for a less-formal fit, and toying with softer textures and tones. It’s about “paying attention to small details,” says Edwards. “In our game, details really matter.”
Find out more about the brand at oscarhunt.com.au.
Belancē
Taking cues from classic menswear shapes, Belancē elevates them through contemporary detailing, fabrics, fresh cuts and proportions. Driving the vision is Oscar Leal, a creative force whose inspiration “comes from being present, observant and curious of our environment and personal interactions,” he says.
The fact Belancē operates predominantly as a made-to-measure service tells you a lot about the brand’s attention to detail. According to Leal, the brand’s best designs come from an open yet focused dialogue with his clients, where his aesthetic and the client’s vision come to align. “Our design process is very intuitive and playful,” he says. “We aren’t afraid to create just for fun.”
Operating in a boutique in Paddington, Sydney for more than a decade, Belancē has put sustainability at the heart of its operation. Made-to-measure suiting is sustainable in itself – an investment in something designed to last – but Leal takes it a step further with his use of breathable silk and bamboo fibres. And he’s confident we’re only getting more experimental with our dressing, adding: “Menswear is becoming more exciting than ever before”.
Find out more about the brand at belance.com.au.
Read our Five Fits With Oscar Leal here.
P. Johnson
“Tailoring was how it started, with the emphasis on beautiful fabric, construction and shapes,” says Patrick Johnson of his eponymous brand. “I guess at the heart of it all is a desire to indulge people in beautiful clothes.”
For 25 years, Johnson and his team have been doing exactly that. With showrooms along Australia’s East Coast, as well as in New York and London, the brand’s elevated sense of comfort and ease resonates with stylish men all over the globe, while maintaining a distinctly Australian sensibility. In fact, it’s this outsider-to-insider trajectory that’s allowed Johnson to observe, adopt and adapt the best of American and British tailoring. Most recently, P. Johnson’s offering has expanded to include “clothes of the whole wardrobe” – denim, carpenter shorts and caps – and women’s wear under sister brand P. Johnson Femme.
As for what his customers are wanting now, “there is a view to something more mature, something more stylish and not costumed,” says Johnson. “Suits are clothes at the end of the day, and they ought to behave that way. The simpler the better.”
Find out more about the brand at pjt.com.
This story originally appeared in Esquire Australia’s September/October 2024 issue.
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