Made-to-Measure Reimagined

SARTORIA STUDIO, conceived and brought to life by longtime associates and collaborators Jack Menashe and James Mansour, was founded as a modern haberdashery and New York City-style laboratory. The store’s unique offering is its uncompromising sartorial outlook: A blend of Italian old-world craft, Savile Row sophistication and a hint of downtown rock and roll.

Mansour was first introduced to Menashe and his father Marty in the late ’90s by one of his retail clients. The younger Menashe was beginning to elevate the merchandise offering of their fast-fashion chain and Mansour was called upon to develop flagship locations that completely redefined their brand.

In 2006 Menashe and Mansour created a new brand-named Lounge Soho that became an innovative, international lifestyle sensation for men’s fashion in SoHo. Limelight Marketplace was their next collaboration: Located in a historic church (and notorious nightclub) it was a first of its kind, multi-brand, lifestyle playground with more than 60 boutiques, as varied as Petrossian Caviar, Hunter Boots and Mariebelle Chocolates, independent jewelry and apparel designers, a spa and dining on three levels.

For their latest design collaboration, the duo worked on Sartoria Studio. Opening this past February in New York’s SoHo district, Sartoria Studio was founded with the mission to create elegant, yet edgy, made-to-measure garments crafted to the highest standards. Toward that end, the retailer’s staff consists of both stylists and on-site tailors who work together with clients to help them discover, define and develop their own unique fashion identities.

The Studio offers an unparalleled range of fabrics from the likes of Scabal to Ermenegildo Zegna to Piacenza to Holland & Sherry, and many more. Sartoria Studio is also one of the only Scabal tailoring partners in North America and offers a full range of premier English-milled Scabal cloth, bringing a taste of Savile Row to SoHo.

“It is designed for a knowing cognoscenti unafraid to take risks – the opposite of the usually conservative atmosphere found in made-to-measure suit stores,” says Mansour. “I designed the Sartoria experience to feel like a highly curated lounge in an exclusive nightclub, with a constantly evolving selection of limited-edition collectibles, artworks, design objects and furnishings.”

The environment is embellished with a Hollywood Regency center table and an over-scaled zebra carpet, leading to wall art adorning its claret red crocodile walls. 

“This serves as an evocative backdrop that conjures 1970s SoHo, jet-set glamour and a worldly Milanese sophistication – a perfect fit for the exclusive merchandise,” says Mansour. “I imagined quintessential men’s lifestyle icons like Gianni Agnelli and legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans who defined the ‘jet-set’ style in the ’60s and ’70s. I hung photos of them alongside art world icons like Warhol and Basquiat.” (All of the associated props, furnishings and artwork in the store are available for sale.)

“Jack found a unique space that had nearly 100 feet of storefront windows, a rarity in Soho,” continues Mansour. “I leveraged this by filling the walls with photography and art, visible from outside, that spoke to SoHo’s art scene. We branded the claret red color of the crocodile embossed walls to carry through on the business cards, labels and shopping bags.”

The two visionaries behind the project’s design, Mansour and Menashe, have a lasting mutual respect for one another; a vital ingredient for the success of all of their collaborations.

“I designed a daringly sophisticated space meant to inspire the style of adventurous dressing Jack is known for,” says Mansour.  

Menashe was quick to add, “James and I share a bond of trust and admiration for each other’s talents that has grown project by project over our many years of collaboration.”

PHOTO GALLERY (10 IMAGES)
? Courtesy of Sartoria Studio