How a former lawyer quit his office job to revolutionize how men buy luxury bespoke suits
The Michael Andrews Bespoke studio is not on a main street. It's tucked into Great Jones Alley, which requires visitors to be buzzed in for access.
When you enter Michael Andrews Bespoke, a well-appointed wallpapered waiting room greets you.
The studio has the feel of a luxury hotel bar.
The bar is central to the room. Clients are encouraged to grab a drink while they flip through swatches of fabric and rows of buttons that they'll choose from to create their bespoke suit.
Andrews, whose legal last name is Mantegna, isn't the picture of a typical tailor.
His shoulders are square, and he's taller than you'd might expect. There's no tape measure draped around his neck or spectacles on his nose.
Of course, Andrews hasn't fit a man in years. The shop now employs about 45 people worldwide, including 15 or 16 in New York and another 30 in the workshop in China where the suits are made. Measuring and alteration is done by staff in New York.
Andrews' clients number around 7,000, according to the founder. Among them are Fortune 500 CEOs, actors and musicians, Wall Street bankers, and those who aspire to be them. Most of these clients are in New York City, but the company travels to both Washington, DC, and the United Arab Emirates to service clients in these destinations a few times a year.
According to Andrews, his company is the largest custom clothier in New York by revenue, based on the amount of luxury cloth they buy from the handful of top-tier providers.
"We move more luxury cloth from this one location than any place in the United States," Andrews said.
Michael Andrews Bespoke suits start at $1,795, plus a one-time fee of $1,000 for the pattern.
That fee is waived if more than three suits are purchased in the first year. The average two-piece suit runs around $2,500. Different fabrics and customization options can add up to the tens of thousands. The online collection carries the same prices, minus the pattern fee.
"We get two very very different reactions [to our prices]," Andrews said. "There are a lot of people who are like, 'Wow that's really expensive,' and there are folks who are accustomed to buying Saville Row, and they're like 'How are you so cheap?'"
True bespoke is made by hand with a fully customized and unique pattern made for the individual. Fabrics, linings, buttons, and even stitching can all be selected for a custom, bespoke suit. The same can be chosen for shirts.
The swatch books are both stacked and numerous, full of fabric choices.
In addition to suits, Michael Andrews also sells bespoke shirts that are custom-made for clients.
Michael Andrews Bespoke also sells matching suiting accessories.
Though all the suits are made at the company's workshop in China, alterations are done in New York.
A team of four full-time tailors work in New York making minor adjustments to completed suits after the second or third fittings.
Suits just in from China and waiting to be altered line the back room, all tagged "bespoken for."
This year, Michael Andrews brought on a creative director. Charles Dean will oversee a new fashion-forward collection titled simply "The Collection."
The collection is the company's first, and the first time it's suggesting combinations of custom suit features for its clients.
"Our styling was always driven by our clients," Andrews said. "We're in the service business. We tended to give our clients what they were asking for without necessarily always putting forward the vision that a designer would each season creating a runway collection that actually moves fashion forward."
The new collection is a chance to change that, dovetailing with the company opening up an ecommerce business. The ecommerce offerings will not be truly bespoke, but will be as close as is possible through an online store.
As the online made-to-order collection is not truly bespoke, it presents a challenge for the company.
"Unlike a lot of folks who sell online custom, we're leveraging our bespoke heritage and everything that we've learned in fitting our 7,000 clients," Andrews said.
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