Interview: Richard Anderson on his new ready to wear

SIMON CROMPTON

Thursday 6th of September 2012

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Last week Richard Anderson, ex-Huntsman head cutter and now a Savile Row pillar in his own right, launched his first full ready-to-wear (RTW) collection in the shop.

Why did you decide to launch RTW now?

We had a small collection when Brian (Lishak) and I first set up, but we felt the timing was now right to offer a full range. We always said we wanted the bespoke side to be bedded in, stable and settled, and I think we’re at that point now.

We always have requests for RTW, probably one or two every day in the shop. It’s a mix of casual shoppers and people who know us and what we do, but there is clearly a market.

I think RTW provides a good introduction to Richard Anderson for people who can’t afford a bespoke suit yet, or for fathers to introduce their sons to us.

Where is it made?

It’s made in Italy in a great factory that was recommended to us by a friend. We didn’t want to just tweak someone else’s block, which is of course what most people do. I cut our own coat and trouser pattern and then we went to find someone that could interpret that.

We tried several factories before settling on this one. Many just couldn’t get the cut right or the make wasn’t good enough. We wanted a fully canvassed suit that would be similar enough in cut, balance and styling to our bespoke suits. The armhole had to be high enough, for example. It’s still not quite as high as bespoke, but it’s very good. It needed a nice long suppression through the side seam. And the width of the collar, the height of the notch and the step of the collar, all had to be just right.

What did you have to work on with this factory?

The collar was one area we had to work on. Many RTW suits have collars that are too round, leading to it either standing away from the neck or sitting too tight, creating ridges just below the collar. Part of this is figuration of course, and it will never be as perfect as bespoke. But by straightening the sides of the collar you can achieve a much better fit more consistently.

I think the collar and the sleeve area are where you can turn a decent garment into one that is really very good.

Can the suits be altered substantially?

Yes, we were very careful to specify a lot of inlay, to enable us to make large adjustments. The trousers can go up a size in the waist, for example, and the side seams of the jacket can be taken out by up to an inch either side. Not many RTW garments on the high street have that flexibility.

The cuff is done in what we call an envelope style, so we can lengthen or shorten the sleeves, and if customers want the buttonholes sewn by hand we can take out the ones that are in there and redo them here. There’s a small charge for that of course.

Are you planning to sell it elsewhere?

Yes, we do plan to wholesale it in the future, and we have an agent who is looking at that for us. But for the moment we’re just selling it in the shop and we sold two last week, so it’s started well.

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Featuring	Interview: Richard Anderson on his new ready to wear SIMON CROMPTON Thursday 6th of September 2012 0 Comments Tweet Last week Richard Anderson, ex-Huntsman head cutter and now a Savile Row pillar in his own right, launched his first full ready-to-wear (RTW) collection in the shop. Why did you decide to launch RTW now? We had a small collection when Brian (Lishak) and I first set up, but we felt the timing was now right to offer a full range. We always said we wanted the bespoke side to be bedded in, stable and settled, and I think we’re at that point now. We always have requests for RTW, probably one or two every day in the shop. It’s a mix of casual shoppers and people who know us and what we do, but there is clearly a market. I think RTW provides a good introduction to Richard Anderson for people who can’t afford a bespoke suit yet, or for fathers to introduce their sons to us. Where is it made? It’s made in Italy in a great factory that was recommended to us by a friend. We didn’t want to just tweak someone else’s block, which is of course what most people do. I cut our own coat and trouser pattern and then we went to find someone that could interpret that. We tried several factories before settling on this one. Many just couldn’t get the cut right or the make wasn’t good enough. We wanted a fully canvassed suit that would be similar enough in cut, balance and styling to our bespoke suits. The armhole had to be high enough, for example. It’s still not quite as high as bespoke, but it’s very good. It needed a nice long suppression through the side seam. And the width of the collar, the height of the notch and the step of the collar, all had to be just right. What did you have to work on with this factory? The collar was one area we had to work on. Many RTW suits have collars that are too round, leading to it either standing away from the neck or sitting too tight, creating ridges just below the collar. Part of this is figuration of course, and it will never be as perfect as bespoke. But by straightening the sides of the collar you can achieve a much better fit more consistently. I think the collar and the sleeve area are where you can turn a decent garment into one that is really very good. Can the suits be altered substantially? Yes, we were very careful to specify a lot of inlay, to enable us to make large adjustments. The trousers can go up a size in the waist, for example, and the side seams of the jacket can be taken out by up to an inch either side. Not many RTW garments on the high street have that flexibility. The cuff is done in what we call an envelope style, so we can lengthen or shorten the sleeves, and if customers want the buttonholes sewn by hand we can take out the ones that are in there and redo them here. There’s a small charge for that of course. Are you planning to sell it elsewhere? Yes, we do plan to wholesale it in the future, and we have an agent who is looking at that for us. But for the moment we’re just selling it in the shop and we sold two last week, so it’s started well. 0 Comments LEAVE A REPLY Name (required): E-Mail (will not be published) (required): Website (optional): Security Code (required): Messages (required): No HTML allowed. URLs will be linked with nofollow attribute. Whitespace is preserved. You might also like: The tale of two Piccolos The new Rubinacci store: Photos The new Rubinacci store, Naples Best of Britannia In the beginning Loro Piana made-to-measure knitwear What the average Englishman was wearing Kent Haste and Lachter: The best value on JM Weston's New Flagship on Jermyn Street Skyfall, Daniel Craig and Omega Sotheby’s publishes incredibly stylish music video Amber Lounge Omega Planet Ocean 600M: For Men Ensuring the	Disclaimer: The individual copyrights for all the songs featured in this playlist are not owned by The Rake. This playlist is purely for streaming purposes and downloading of the songs through this website is prohibited. If you wish to purchase any of these songs, please visit www.apple.com/itunes.