The London Lounge

Venanzi along with Savile Row bespoke tailor, James & James, has opened in NYC on 3 East 56th Street off Fifth Avenue (212-757-1054).

The man behind Venanzi's is Gene Venanzi who has been in the wholesale end of fine mens clothes. (You have probably bought his neckwear at Jay Kos and Len Logsdail.) He took the plunge and opened his own store which is being managed by bespoke clothing veteran Robert Gillotte (formerly of Turnbull & Asser, Oxford, Kiton, Sulka, etc.)

Initially, Venanzi will offer the finest in RTW in clothing and accessories. The clothes are made to Venanzi's order by Belvest and another quality maker in Italy (this is its more expensive, handmade suit). The cloths are English with an English sensibility. E.g., every trouser in the store has side straps. There isn't one belt for sale in the store.

The store also has a limited selection of Edward Green shoes.

Venanzi is unique in that it will have bespoke tailoring by the Savile Row firm of James & James, the Duke's last tailors and the successors to Scholte. The bespoke room has one of the Duke's day suits on display along with a special cloth that the Duke had ordered.

A footnote on the bespoke tailoring: The store plans to have a tailor in residence, and it plans to have the suits made by Davies & Son which acquired James & James. The suits will be made in London. The store's bespoke will carry the James label.

The decor is very luxe. The store is very wide and light with light colors in its wood paneling (painted light grey), wood flooring, and carpeting. The decor is neo-classical Swedish. It has a palatial feel to it and would be an excellent setting for a royal reception.

They have a jewelry box by Princess Margaret's son, Lord (?) Lindley, who is a very celebrated cabinet maker. This is no ordinary jewely box that you slip into a dress drawer. It is a model of a Palladian villa. It is a centerpiece for a dressing room. Price: $40,000.

In sum, the clothes have a sophistication and elegance to match the surroundings, and this will be an interesting addition to the retail scene. You should feel free to call upon Mr. Gillotte, and mention your connection to me and the Lounge.

The store opened yesterday and has not had an "official" opening for the industry and trade press. Therefore, they are working out the "kinks", and the details of the tailoring arrangement are stil being worked-out.

Cheers.

Thank you for the report. Viscount Linley's cabinet work is sublime. Your post inspired me to pull down his book, "Design and Decoration in the Home." His father is the photographer Lord Snowdon.

Great, that's just a block away from home. I'll definitely stop by to check it out sometime. Thanks for the notice

What will the bespoke pricing be like?

They haven't set the bespoke pricing yet, but it seems that the prices will be in the area of the going rate of midtown of about $3,500.

Side Straps and no belts, my kind of store.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

I made a return visit.

I had the opportunity to try-on one of its hand made sportscoats. Superb. It would require only a minor alteration. It's a soft shouldered coat wth high armholes and high button stance (3B). It is as light as a feather.

I mis-spoke about the origin of one of its suit lines. Both lines are made in Italy in small workshops/factories.. They are made to the store's own patterns and cloth selections.

The Duke's blue suit has been placed in the front window along with a placard explaining its origin. There is also some of the Duke's "exclusive" navy blue glen plaid in the bespoke area in the back.

I was very favorably impressed.

This website may be of interest to members:

http://www.davidlinley.com/

Leon

Leon wrote:This website may be of interest to members:

http://www.davidlinley.com/

Leon

I'm confused, what does David Linley have to do with Venanzi?

Excellent summary Mark.

I have carried the Venanzi shirts and ties in my store. The taste level is terrific and the quality is good. The shirts ran a bit short in the sleeve and body length.

The store sounds terrific, I look forward to visiting this winter.

[quote="zjpj"
I'm confused, what does David Linley have to do with Venanzi?[/quote]

His work is mentioned in the opening post in this thread. Wonder if he does shoe trees?

JMurphy wrote:[quote="zjpj"
I'm confused, what does David Linley have to do with Venanzi?

His work is mentioned in the opening post in this thread. Wonder if he does shoe trees?[/quote]
Yeah, for $750 probably

I visited the Venanzi store yesterday with another member. The decor is as described above -- absolutely stunning. Unlike many other stores, the staff is knowledgeable and very courteous. The clothes and accessories are truly first rate. The bespoke suits start at $5,500 and go up from there (which is a significant step up from 510 Madison Avenue). The RTW is more in line with RLPL pricing and the fabrics seem to be predominantly British with some Italian. RTW shirts are $275-325. The gloves are absolutely gorgeous and made by some small maker in Milan. The pocket squares are the same as available at any of the top stores in Manhattan. Sweaters, shoes and other men's accessories are quite nice too. They had some really nice casual coats and jackets which were quite unique. Overall, it a very high-end store in a high rent district that will need some deep-pocketed patrons to do well.

smoothjazzone wrote:I visited the Venanzi store yesterday with another member. The decor is as described above -- absolutely stunning. Unlike many other stores, the staff is knowledgeable and very courteous. The clothes and accessories are truly first rate. The bespoke suits start at $5,500 and go up from there (which is a significant step up from 510 Madison Avenue). The RTW is more in line with RLPL pricing and the fabrics seem to be predominantly British with some Italian. RTW shirts are $275-325. The gloves are absolutely gorgeous and made by some small maker in Milan. The pocket squares are the same as available at any of the top stores in Manhattan. Sweaters, shoes and other men's accessories are quite nice too. They had some really nice casual coats and jackets which were quite unique. Overall, it a very high-end store in a high rent district that will need some deep-pocketed patrons to do well.

I stopped in Friday morning, myself. I mentioned to Robert Gillotte that we had met at the first LL NY Chapter meeting and had read about the shop on the LL as well. He was most gracious and offered me a little tour. Since my interest was in the bespoke section, we spent most of our time there. One notable thing he told me was that the James & James/Davies tailors would be visiting once or twice a month. I don’t think either of us believed that, and Mr. Gillotte conceded that such a schedule was a bit ambitious and quite a lot of business would be needed to justify it. They also have a “Master Tailor” upstairs. The shop is quite beautiful, and while the bespoke prices blow away Savile Row and 510 Madison, perhaps some customers would be willing to pay for the Savile Row atmosphere and decor that is quite obviously missing at 510 and in the traveling SR tailor suites. That isn’t worth much to me, but it certainly might be to others. Apart from the decor that must be paid for, there is also the extra layer of intermediation (Venanzi and Gillotte, each of whom add to the price). I imagine that Mr. Gillotte’s services and knowledge would be worth quite a bit to some customers, making the extra cost somewhat reasonable. One thing that SR (on the row) has over 510 and, and perhaps Venanzi will develop over time, is a large of inventory of cloth and a good place to look through bolts. I am not the best at extrapolating a square swatch into a full size bolt and then from there to a suit. I would prefer if I could look at more cloths, in bolt form at 510 or with the visiting tailors (Raphael has many, but they are in piles and cabinets in many places, in no obvious order, and there is only the one cutting table to spread them on - I am not sure any of the others offer a much better option in that regard). Venanzi has the space, and while their initial inventory is “select”, over time they might build something nice. That alone wouldn’t justify the tremendous price differential, but at least they could offer something practical that 510 does not.

All in all, a really beautiful place and a great addition to the neighborhood. The RTW lines were also quite nice, as were the other furnishings. I would like to wish them well, but I would hate to see anyone in 510 start to draft behind their price structure.

I have a question, which is not meant to be mischevious.

Davies is not crazy expensive by Savile Row standards. I think the price minus VAT for a two-piece is less than 2,000 GPB, which means around $3,500, give or take depending on the exchange rate. So what if one is an existing customer, accustomed to meeting Davies representatives in a midtown hotel and paying the old price? Are all the meetings now going to take place at Venanzi, and suits will start at the new price of $5,500?