leather trim on a coat

[Guest]

I asked Centofanti to make a leather collar and piping for the pockets on the walking coat I am asking him to make. He said that he cannot use leather because it cannot resist the heat they use to make the garment. He proposed ultrasuede. I am okay with ultrasuede, but isn't there something called alcantara that is used in clothing?

[TVD]

Is it not pretty much the same thing, just different brandname?

I do not know what exactly you asked Mr Centofanti to do, but I have frequently seen leather used to cover worn edges and sleeves on tweed sports coats. This treatment will obviously preclude any further pressing with a hot iron.

[Guest]

That is the issue exactly. I asked him for something that resembled leather, he thinks ultrasuede looks good but that imitation leather will look cheap. Real leather cannot be treated with the iron, and they obviously use an iron when making the garment.

[TVD]

Can the leather be applied after the coat is finished, just to protect the edges?

Leatherette is dreary, you are so right, but suede (real or fake) looks fragile (only the real stuff is). The fake suede may be washable, but then the rest of the coat will not benefit from washing or dry cleaning. And even the suede imitate gets grubby rather quickly if pale coloured.

I think if you wish to persevere with this idea, you need to design it so as to apply leather (not suede) afterwards. Dunhill has a motoring coat in the current collection that has leather sleeve edges and leather instead of melton underneath the collar. I saw a Zegna sports jacket last week that had leather underneath the collar as well. It may be difficult but possible.

[bengal-stripe]

I’ve seen hundreds of garments that got leather trim somewhere. Traditionally leather is applied to cover up wear, or to prevent excessive wear. You might want to put elbow patches on your favourite sport coat or cardigan once the elbows have worn, but equally, for the casual look, patches are applied to brand new garments. Tweed jackets (for shooting) can have a large leather patch on the right chest.

Hermes (of course a saddler ‘by trade’) applies leather bit and pieces to many fabric garments. I have seen the fabric edges of unlined coats bound in leather strips.

Maybe your tailor hasn’t been quite honest with you. It is difficult to sew leather on a conventional fabric sewing machine. The presser foot does not slide along and sticks. That’s why dedicated leather sewing machines employ a wheel to transport the leather. Maybe he is worried about that. He could avail himself of the services of someone with a dedicated leather sewing machine; equally he could apply the trimming by hand and give even a brand new garment the look of something loved, worn and mended.

Rolf

[Guest]

Given the amount of handwork in his coats, I am sure that were the machine the issue, he would just sew it by hand. By the way, when I have walked in his shop, I have never actually heard anything but the hiss of steam, no machines. And his attelier workers (three of them) busy busy busy. I think the issue is not trim, but the leather collar I requested. I am sure he would add the piping (or could) but the collar needs to be formed and pressed, and he does not know how to work leather in another way.

[tteplitzmd]

David,

I have a Sulka short coat, of covert cloth, trimmed under the collar, piped along the pockets, and lined inside the cuffs, and piped there as well, made in Italy, with suede. It is clearly machine stitched. I think it is quite handsome. I will try to email you a photo if I get a spare moment.

[tteplitzmd]

Per discussion:

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[tteplitzmd]

[tteplitzmd]

several requests for a better composed photo: here goes:

[img]URL=http://img233.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 3390tj.jpg][img]http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7058 ... 0tj.th.jpg[/img][/URL][/img]

[zjpj]

Alcantara is the "in" thing to use on sporty car interiors at the moment.

[zjpj]

Alcantara is the "in" thing to use on sporty car interiors at the moment.

And, by the way, a friend of mine just had the interior of his 512M redone in Alcanatara. It's basically high quality faux suede from Italy. They a have a retalier in FL. It costs about $100 per yard.