Mike Cohen, the company CEO loves what he is doing, he loves the company and it shows. He holds a piece of Cashmere and speaks of the cloth with a love that can’t be faked. And while business is still business, “this is where business meets art” is Mike’s take on Oxxford.
Oxxford occupies a building that is about 100 years old, although not the first home of Oxxford, the location and style of building fits the company well.
It has a really old school factory feel. There are very few modern machines to be found on the production floor (one is the exact count of modern machines) but the clanking and noise of a large factory is surprisingly absent, as we walk the cutter’s tables, the radio plays softly and the talk is minimal, it has the feel of a smaller shop that it is. The long cutter’s tables are laid out with one cutter per side and as the patterns are laid down, care is taken to cut in one direction, costing Oxxford extra fabric yardage but giving, as Cohen describes, the perfect flow and look regardless of how the light may reflect on the fabric.
On the few visits I have had to the Oxxford store in New York, the bulk of the work shown was in 100s and 120s. The fabric room is not stocked to the same degree as the vault at Kiton and I wonder about the finer fabrics but Cohen explains how the full gamut is there and available depending on tastes, he expresses a liking for heavier wools and tweeds, Scott Ruerup is drawn to the finer wools and cashmeres. Ruerup is a tall slender, good looking high energy man with what appears at first glance to a be sleek sheek preferences, not the over the top fashion nature, but refined sleek.
Later when flipping through books, there are some gorgeous fabrics to be found, one cashmere jacket just jumps out, I ask who was behind the fabric buy, Cohen credits Ruerup for the choice. Cohen checks the books, the fabrics is sold out.
Cohen knows every worker in the shop, the staff numbers 250 including office staff, as we walk from station to station he says hello to each, by name. The workers are proud of what they are doing, and while some were shy, they we all happy that someone shows so much interest in their work.
A slow walk through production reveals many sewing machines, mostly old time Singers that fit the style of the shop well. The hand made discussion begins here, why machines on this seam and hand sewn on that seam?
Cohen flips a jacket inside and goes over every stitch of the lining, highlighting what has been done by hand and what has been done with a machine and why.
Cohen echoes some of the comments Manton has made many times. What adds value to the suit? What stitch makes the suit a better suit?
The liner is divided, with the two long seams done by machine, the vents, pockets, arm holes collar and all the finer work done by hand.
Has the choice be made to cut a corner?
No, the labour has been shifted into other directions, directions where Oxxford sees tangable gains that transfer to the client.
One woman is charged with the task of treating all the silk thread before it is given to a tailor. Slowly, working with small batches, one color at a time, she conditions the thread to remove excess wax, this step, says Cohen, makes the thread handle better for the tailors to perform finer, cleaner stitching.
Another reinforces the corners of the jacket pockets in a manner that allows them to be stronger and never tear or sag when and if you decide to play Prince Charles and place your hand in your jacket pocket or heavily load it with blackberries and the like. The bellows pocket which requires extra time and extra fabric.
Master tailors float around between seamstresses checking and helping as they go, some seamstresses, as happened twice during my visit, will call the master tailors to their station, and together go over a point before sewing. These requests generally come up from special orders that venture farther from the standard suit body styles.
But the single most important item I want to see and discuss is the hand sewn lapels and why. Without revelling what I was shown in other factories, I explain the point of view taken by others and presented to me for a machine sewn lapel. Cohen clearly disagrees and calls over a master tailor. It can take over 1.5 man hours to pad a lapel, where a machine can perform the task in 30 seconds. The tailor explains the way the lapel is rolled and held as it is stitched. A jacket is help up and the natural roll is beautiful. Cohen flicks the lapel in different directions and it returns to its form every time, Cohen smiles wide, this pleases him!
This challenges much of what I have seen and been told by others. Given the estimated time to produce a suit, almost 10 percent of the work is being placed into the lapels. The man hours that go into an Oxxford are almost identical to those of a Kiton, about 24 man hours, the production run is just a few thousand pieces larger than Kiton’s at an estimated 20,000 units per year.
I ask about the sales network, Made in the USA,
sold in the USA. Only once has Oxxford ventured into Europe for a short stint. They are currently establishing a relationship with one shop in London and would like to place itself in Canada in the near future. But Cohen says they can not grow the company by leaps and bounds, perhaps 15 to 20 percent at the very most.
Later as we end our visit, I try on a few jackets, most notably, the Mason. This is what I have come to see, the cut some say will draw the younger audience. This was the first Oxxford I have tried on that I could like, really like. It is soft and light, this jacket is a beautiful cashmere fabric that rivals just about anything. I switch to the Radcliffe, I just can’t live with the shoulder structure of the Radcliffe, back to the Mason. This is not my father’s suit. This is my suit!
It is a very young team that is driving Oxxford, most of the top row management I met where 40 or less. Cohen himself is just 40 and the youngest to head Oxxford. If they are driving towards reeling in the 40 year old buyer, they are on the right path with this team and the Mason. I am handed another jacket, 1/4 lined and even lighter than the Mason. It is very nice, but the shoulders are not quite right yet, and I go back to the Mason for the fourth or fifth try. A three button rolled to two, I ask about the button stance and the roll, of all the jackets I have tried, I find one of my Borrelli 3 to 2 rolls to be the perfect roll for my size and shape, the Oxxford rolls further down by an inch or so, but this jacket is gorgeous just the same.
Conclusions:
One can not sugar coat the fact that there are more sewing machines on the floor of Oxxford than Kiton. But Oxxford takes many other steps that Kiton does not. I come to the conclusion that I can not compare the two, they are different beast in different classes and each are doing what they do well, very well.
The fabric room at Kiton is far more impressive to stand before, filled with stunning cloth. But Oxxford seems to have every fabric one could wish for too.
The cashmere swatch books I flipped through did not leave you feeling empty.
I ask Cohen who is Oxxford’s closest competitor, he ponders the question and I wait to hear Kiton, but I don’t. Brioni is our closest competitor he says with hesitation. Today’s shopper is more likely to have visited new stores and tried new things and have order or researched on the internet than at any time in the past he says. A Brioni shopper is more likely to consider and Oxxford than day a Zegna shopper or a Kiton shopper. Cohen makes it clear that he knows and sees the buyers and staff of the top houses and it being the small world that it is, everyone gets along well.
I am not a retailer and the dynamic of the retail environment is tough one, but I certainly don’t see the line between the two as being that close, Oxxford falls below Brioni cost, and given the feel, fabric and fit of the Mason I have just tried on, Oxxford would get the nod hands down.
Lapel Roll,
I think by anyone’s standards,
that is really beautiful roll.
Mike and Rocco debate a custom order.
As we wlaked the shop floor, this jacket caught Mike’s eye and he pulled it from a pile to inspect it. Mike is hands on, for a CEO to be able to walk through the shop and pick out a client special order from a pile, and know the order by name is rather hands on!
Mike Cohen:
Pick stitching:
Hand sewing the lining:
Explaining the work behind the roll:
The hand sewing of a lapel:
The chain link stitching in the shoulder that provides the flexibility in the shoulder area. Laborious and hand sewn.
Collar being readied:
The collar is designed and sewn to have a natural spring that helps keep the collar flat against the suit body. This is done by holding the collar piece in a certain manner while stitching by hand.
Rocco explians the Oxxford view of how a shoulder should be shaped:
The cutter cuts "one way" to ensure a better flow of the suit. Cohen explained how the light reactsto and reflects from different materials in different ways, even though it costs Oxxford extra fabric, they continue to cut one way.
Shears:
Some of the shears are older than I am.
And the tailors are very clear that they love their shears dearly. Note the padding to protect the hand when cutting.
Master Tailors:
The jacket being sewn is a special order. I did not ask what modifications were requested,
but they were substantial enough that the seamstress checked with the master tailor before sewing.
The tailor went over not only what was to be done, but how best to do it.
Threaded needles ready for a morning of work:
Mike Cohen and pant shop manager Stephane (spelling?) show some of the small hand performed steps that make a big difference. In this case, it is the preparation of the waist band before sewing the pant together with a technique that goes back longer than anyone can remember.
Yes, One of of customers was also on the tour his name was Chris B. He said he had a great time.