Madison Avenue is home to many of the worlds best menswear retailers, including Brooks Brothers, Paul Stuart, Sarar, Hickey Freeman, J.Press, Dunhill, Charles Tyrwhitt, Moreschi and Burberry. Each has a distinctive voice bringing their unique sartorial flair to life. When a relative newcomer dares to open shop on the Avenue one can almost sense the disdain. Men’s row sometimes becomes men’s rowe. Even gentlemen can get their ire up. Despite the competition, and a still stagnant economy, relative newcomer, My.Suit www.mysuitny.com has entered the tailoring tirade…pardon that’s trade.
At the crux of it, unlike “ready to wear,” My.Suit custom makes “made to measure” suits for 495.00 (starting) in as little as two weeks. Suits worn by gentleman. The question remains, can you build a store that is as distinct as the merchandise it houses.
The 3,000-square-foot flagship store at 360 Madison Avenue (between 45th & 46th Street) is designed by architect, and interior designer, Ji Kim of UnSPACE, New York City. www.unpsace.org.UnSPACE reports that their design philosophy is to find beauty in simplicity, by eliminating or reducing unnecessary elements to express the products’ true beauty in bold and uncluttered space. Their goal is to introduce less design, and introduce more artistic expression, by being true to an area’s form and space. Clearly this is carried out. The store has a modern aesthetic, wavering on the Zen, and true to form has an over-scaled black columned canopy to define the center of the mostly white box interior. There is a cleanliness and holistic approach, where the physical space supports the merchandise.
Today’s consumer wants (sometimes demands) eco-sensitive materials. Retailers who embrace this value are likely to succeed. The custom furniture design including benches and display platforms are by Uhuru. (Think of the beautiful Nichelle Nichols, as Uhura, Swahili for “star” in Star Trek) Uhuru (ooh-HOO-roo). www.uhurudesign.com is a design and build furniture company dedicated to sustainability. (Big plus!) Uhuru builds each piece by hand in its Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York studio. (Big plus! Big plus!) Uhuru’s mission statement references the Shaker assertion “that beauty rests on utility“. They report that they strive to make furniture, and products that are beautiful in their simplicity, with an acute awareness of materials and craft. To wit, white tufted leather ottomans snuggle around a glass topped table housing an art installation like video screen.
Artwork is found on the tray ceiling, albeit unconventional, very successfully, and throughout the store, in-between columns. It was custom created by Ivan P. aka Mr. Mustart www.flicker.com/operation.art and is abrtract, with splashes of a bright and warm colorful palate, and a pop art style font. Picking up on one of the key colors, orange leather bound scrapbooks are available for customers to look at the choice of buttons, linings, threads etc… available.
Mannequins and display forms are from Bernstein Display, www.bernsteindisplay.com, and RHO, www.rho.ca The window mannequins are painted in the same color as the artwork, vivid pops of color, they are exuberant, and posed to look like men joyfully jumping in the air with clinched fists like the Yankees just won the World Series. Aside of the mannequins are three vintage TV sets stacked like a totem pole with continuous loops produced by My.Suit. The interior mannequins are in traditional gloss white, headless and unfortunately demonstrate my biggest bug-a -boo…no shoes. Men in suits with bare feet, it will never do! I can only hope that My.Suit heeds my pleads.
Additional elements like vitrines and a fabric bar of hung material samples greet customers as they enter the store. The walls open up into mirrored closets and drawers for stock, keeping the interior free from eye numbing clutter, suggesting a kind of meticulousness to detail. The displayed suits on mannequins, and hung on lavalieres show prominently as a result. There are several dressing rooms on the sales floor draped with grey silk and embroidered with geometric tabs, that open up to tri-fold mirrors, and carpeted with the company’s icon. A white ottoman provides seating while you undress, and is easily climbed upon then a tailor needs to make an adjustment with brio or straight pins, on your pant cuff.
Thus far, the architecture and visual stack up, and seem to be in accord with the store concept.
Why My.Suit?
I only noticed My.Suit last week, as the retailer seemed to open up overnight. I’m on Madison Avenue all the time, so I was taken aback. I did know a little bit about them as they have a thriving internet presence, where anyone can log on and with a series of clicks, custom make a suit through a series of options. They maintain a shop in Herald Square, which I’ve walked by, photographed, but never ventured inside to visit.
I introduced myself to the staff one day, welcomed them to the neighborhood and wrangled an invitation for my class to visit. My class is coincidentally studying store design and planning and are working on a menswear challenge. My students liked the store when we visited, and were impressed with the products affordability, considering that they could have a hand in designing the item. One of a kind clothing resonates in a world of sameness for today’s consumer. Actually having clothing that fits resonates with today’s consumer who is weary of ill-fitting attire.
So how does My.Suit do it?
My.Suit is part of a privately held global company with more than 40 years of manufacturing and retail experience. My.Suit was founded in New York City in 2008 by Korean and American interests, with its sole production facility in Puebla, Mexico. Labor in Mexico is a fraction of what it is elsewhere.
My.Suit sells directly to the customer. On average, a consumer pays at least double (usually way more) the wholesale cost when they buy a suit at a retail outlet. While it does cost more in time and materials to create a made-to-measure suit, it isn't double the cost, so both the consumer and My.Suit benefit from the direct-to-consumer sale.
My.Suit benefits from on-demand production. Because of the costs of maintaining large inventories, (stock) many apparel companies, as well as other industries, now manufacture on-demand rather than anticipating markets. Technology is transforming us. More efficient electronic and shipping infrastructures also have contributed to the reality and profitability of on-demand production. My.Suit leverages this supply chain for consumer advantage, and most importantly for an individual customer and his own sense of style.
Many men (even gentleman) don’t know the rules of tailoring or design, but they aspire to dress well. My.Suit has consultants ready to help customers through every step of the measure-design-and-buy process, and their website does the same. “Made-to-measure suits and individual style have been married, precisely, and are now available to most anyone,” said James Hancock, Vice President, Sales, My.Suit. “Through My.Suit and www.mysuitny.com, any man who wears a suit can now afford a perfect fit. With each customer,we create a suit that reflects both traditional tailoring benchmarks and true individual style to assure a man he’ll look and feel absolutely on point.” Hancock is a local boy made good, Brooklyn born, with prior work experiences at Joseph Abboud and Macy’s Herald Square. He started out advising clients on their securities investments and that’s when he fell in love with dressing well.
If a custom made suit is in your future, you now have another option to exercise. If you are a student of retail and the economy you now have another retail to cite. If you are a suit fetishist, you now know where to go. If you are a love architecture and design and want to see an example of form following function, you now have a credible resource.
For Further Information…
My.Suit Appointment Scheduler & E-Commerce Site: http://www.mysuitny.com
The My.Suit Shopping Experience: http://www.mysuitny.com/website/msexp_experience.html
Current My.Suit Television Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/mysuitny#p/f/0/SEKexeShJd0
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mysuit
YouTube: www.youtube.com/mysuitny
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mysuitny
Return in a day or two for part two of Is My.Suit Your Next Suit?
