Inspired by the handmade fashions of one of my favorite TV shows Mad Men, I went on a quest to find truly modern handmade suit. During my quest I came across San Francisco based clothier Jake Wall, of The Artful Gentleman . Here is a little his unique story -
Justin Howard - Tell me the story of you and your line.
Jake Wall - You know my background, we talked a little bit about this before when we first met. I am among the most untraditional people to be in fashion I would say. I have no formal training in the sense that of the Western side of doing business like going to Parsons or another design school.
That was three years ago now. I keep forgetting that time does fly. So in 2010, I quit my job here in San Francisco and I scheduled an overseas relaxation trip to Thailand. And during a stop off in Hong Kong I decided while I was in Hong Kong I would get a suit made like people do.
When I went to pick up my suit, I chatted with these guys a bit more. So I came back I asked if I could shadow him to see the process, to see all the work that goes into it.
It was really cool to see how much love these guys put into something. It was really about me kind of seeing behind the scenes, behind the curtains on how things were done. One thing led to another and it turned into a very informal apprenticeship that as time went on I have now come to learn is much more an in-depth, intensive apprenticeship then most people ever go through.
For more on my exclusive interview with designer Jake Wall, of The Artful Gentleman - check out my fashion column on About.com
Photo Courtesy of Jake Wall