'Los Angeles Bespoke' Recreates London Suits

Related: Requisite Custom Clothing, Apparel, Menswear

Los Angeles-based boutique bespoke custome suit maker Requisite Custom Clothing released a new selection of fabrics for their new collection. These fabrics feature authentic British cloth as part of a limited-edition designer series entitled "Los Angeles Bespoke."

The series will feature traditional English textiles cut in the sleeker, more modern approach characteristic of Requisite's signature custom bespoke suits.

"We wanted to offer something that was a combination of classic and modern but that has a wearable quality. What's more classic than taking London's bespoke suit tradition, using English country fabrics, and giving them a Los Angeles twist?" said Requisite senior designer Jeric Rivera. "Something about the look of a great worsted hound's-tooth or barleycorn weave gives the clean lines of our slim-cut custom suits a more everyday feel. That's exactly what we were looking for: a suit to wear because you want to wear a suit, not to wear to work or because you have to-because you want to."

Requisite will accomplish this through a deal with fabric mill Hardy Minnis, John G. Hardy of London. For more than a century, John G. Hardy has supplied Savile Row's custom bespoke suit makers with cloth that has become synonymous the world over with quintessential British style. Legend has it that King Edward VIII, while still the Prince of Wales, frequently purchased Glenurquhart plaid fabric from John G. Hardy to be crafted into bespoke suits. Today that fabric is more commonly known as the Prince of Wales plaid check. The deal will bring roughly 150 textile patterns, in limited quantities, directly from the UK to Los Angeles.

"The suits created from these fabrics are completely different from the suits, ready to wear or bespoke, that you'll find here in Los Angeles," states Rivera. "British fabrics feel beefier, have a dry hand, and tailor completely differently from their Italian counterparts."

Conceding that these fabrics might be a bit heavy for Los Angeles's mild climate-British suit cloth generally ranges from 10 ounces to 12 ounces per yard-Requisite's design staff was quick to point out that these fabrics aren't about utility.

"It's like a car: there are cars for commuting and cars for driving," said Requisite style director Chris Vance. "These suits are meant to be worn for the same reason you drive a convertible-because you enjoy it."

"We love the tradition behind the John G. Hardy brand and its fabrics," stated Vance. "The fabrics are still produced the old-world way. We want to bring a little of that English attitude to Los Angeles."

REQUISITE clothing is available by appointment only: 800-617-6313