A Day in NYC
I have several clients in NYC. I love NYC. I truly miss traveling and showing our fabrics in person. I recently came across these pics from my old archive that were shot by my friend & photographer Jonas Arequipa.
This trip made for a story that I had to share. Sitting in my office I had a few interesting new ideas and fabric samples with me so we hit the road.
The first Shop we visited was “Tiefenbrun NYC” which is owned by none other than Yosel Tifenbrun aka the Rabbi Tailor. Located in WIlliamsburg, Brooklyn this was my first trip to his storefront. We first met in Singapore when he was working as an intern with Kevin Seah Bespoke. So it was very exciting to meet with him again, but this time in his own shop.
This was my first trip marketing the latest lining collection called the Civilization Suit Lining Series. The idea of the Civilization Series was to share the incredible stories and positively portray the rise to greatness of different empires. We showcased this by taking our inspirations to make their art and patterns into suitlining . I won’t lie, I was nervous to share this with my friend the Rabbi because the Hebrew chapter did not particularly have as many patterns as I would have liked.
Luckily, he loved it and his wife stepped in to help with several ideas. Yosel even suggested that we use larger artwork that could cover the full back of the jacket rather than just a smaller seamless art pattern in order to bring about a meaningful statement.
After discussing fabrics and patterns, he then walked me through his workshop which was quite surreal. I got to see an actual real workshop in NYC rather than a clothier outsourcing production elsewhere. He expressed the potential downside of in house production being very limited. This could be bad for business because everything has to be made in house, but luckily his business has been growing his clientele and his passionate workforce steadily.
My next stop was to 18th Amendment to visit a good friend of mine, Angel Ramos, whom I met at The Rake dinner during pitti uomo. At that dinner I told everyone that NYC was not really my thing. Angel being the great guy that he is offered to show me around the city during my next visit. He made me love NYC. We had a blast visiting cigar bars and seeing the essential sites of the city.
When it was time to do business, I first started my presentation by showing off the scarves and fancy linings that I had initially prepared. To my surprise, he straight up said ‘that's not my thing bro’. Angel is strictly a classic menswear guy that wants to see just the premium quality items and nothing that’s gimmicky. This became something that I love about New Yorkers, they get straight to the point.
With that, we then went on to explore truly classic luxury fabrics. Cloths like the classic Huddersfield English Mohair fabrics and several new wool-silk-linen blends. This meeting blossomed into a very mutually beneficial business exchange for both companies.
My 3rd and final stop was in Soho to meet my friends from Articles of Style. We had visited before on a previous trip, but this time I had more time to walk around this very interesting part of the city and it has become one of my fav areas to spend time in.
Jake has two showrooms, one is on the street where he would sell Made to measure (m2m) suits & ready- to wear suits. Across the street is another beautiful building located in the same building with our friend’s Matt Hranek from WM BRown magazine’s office. The man who invented the famous Negroni Tweed. Jake was very kind and expressed interest in several Kapra lines and Huddersfield’s English wool. We then discussed at great length several collaboration ideas for the future.
These meetings and collaborations are what selling fabric is all about for me. I live for meeting with tailors and industry professionals in person. There is nothing better than sharing fabric and brainstorming new collaborations with newfound friends. It is a special moment when you realize that they come to understand that your product is the best available at the best prices. Being there to meet face to face, make a connection and see the shops our fabrics will be sold in is what drives me as a salesman.