On a surprisingly heat, sunny day final January we visited the Artwork Deco villa that’s Alfredo Rifugio‘s headquarters in Naples.
It’s not what you count on for an Italian workshop. Whereas there are many stunning little tailors and cordwainers round Italy, most massive ateliers and factories are comparatively new, in industrial estates or in any other case extremely purposeful.
They’re extra like Paolo Scafora or Enzo Bonafé, or the Kiton complicated not distant from right here: post-war institutions with out the centuries-old buildings which are extra frequent within the UK.
It appeared like Rifugio was going to be comparable, as we approached alongside a motorway offshoot, previous Pompeii after which stopping outdoors a newsagent to look at Google Maps.
Shirtmaker Luca Avitabile was driving us, which was good of him, and he peered at his cellphone as he tried to search out the doorway. It was down a cobbled aspect avenue, apparently, between low brick partitions hung with foliage.
The explanation for the bizarre location is that the Rifugio headquarters is definitely an outdated villa – two individuals unconnected with the corporate nonetheless stay there in flats.
Surrounded by tall palms, it has a fountain, a small backyard and murals. Seagulls from the Mediterranean wheel overhead.
The placement was chosen partly for its comfort: Alfredo Rifugio lives 5 minutes in a single path, Alfonso Rifugio 5 within the different. The remainder of the corporate has progressively stuffed it up over time.
That staff continues to be comparatively small although: 25 staff, 5 of that are family members.
There’s a slicing room, a stitching room, a storage room and a showroom, plus a few places of work. The stitching room is largest, with maybe a dozen work stations, however all the pieces else feels very residential in scale.
That is maybe shocking, given Rifugio’s fame. They’re most likely the most important identify for luxurious leather-based and suede within the south of Italy, and although leather-based is a small trade right here in comparison with the north, they do make for a lot of luxurious manufacturers.
That stated, not as many as they used to. Not as a result of the corporate has shrunk, however as a result of – like many producers we’ve lined prior to now 15 years – it is switched enterprise mannequin.
A couple of years earlier than Covid, all Rifugio did was white label work, making jackets for others to place their identify on. There’s nonetheless a few of that, but it surely’s a tiny proportion – we solely noticed one different model on our tour.
For customers such as you, the good factor is that this creates a direct connection between the workshop – as described and illustrated right here – and the Rifugio product, whether or not at stockists or throughout a trunk present. There’s a transparent hyperlink between maker and buyer.
There’s a listing of present stockists on the backside of this text, by the best way, as on our unique article on Rifugio in 2019 (which incorporates extra background on the corporate). Rifugio are about to re-start MTM trunk reveals below their identify too.
I usually get questions from readers asking to check the standard of leather-jacket makers: Rifugio for instance with Cromford, The Actual McCoy’s or Chapal.
I perceive the place that is coming from, but it surely’s a bit of like evaluating a bespoke blazer with a melton pea coat: the most important distinction between these two is kind and magnificence, not high quality.
The Actual McCoy’s and Seraphin in Paris, for instance, make very several types of jacket, with very completely different leathers. Somebody like Cromford sits within the center, pushing to neither the extremes of hardiness or light-weight luxurious.
Rifugio is firmly on the mild, luxurious finish of the spectrum. The suedes are the softest and lightest you should buy; the shearlings really feel simply as comfortable. These should not jackets constructed for any type of onerous put on, however they’re stunning and greater than a bit of luxe.
Exhibit A: the riotously orange suede proven above; you’re not going to see that anyplace close to Cromford or Actual McCoy’s.
Exhibit B: the seen decide stitching on the sides and seams of Rifugio jackets, which I’ve to say I like solely when it’s refined.
And final, Exhibit C: my responsible pleasure, the factor I might by no means put on however secretly lengthy to be the type of individual, within the type of place, that may: matte-finish alligator.
My God that jacket was stunning. The textural variation within the completely different sizes and forms of the scales; the enveloping heat of the beaver lining, like your higher physique has been wrapped in its personal radiator-cum-cocoon. However I’d by no means put on it, and I’d probably be mugged anyplace outdoors of Mayfair if I did.
With regards to hand ending (from a few paragraphs in the past), I didn’t realise how a lot of the inner components of a Rifugio jacket are additionally put collectively by hand: attaching the sleeve, stitching the liner of the armhole and the cuff.
That is spectacular given it’s so hidden – the alternative of the decide stitching. It’s the type of handwork you get on a top-level ready-made swimsuit, like hand-attaching a collar.
Amongst different fashions, Rifugio do some good blazers, although largely within the quick/slim model of latest Naples; the tackle a Harrington was terribly mild. And there was a beautiful white calf. Extremely impractical, however then there may be historical past to white leather-based at Rifugio: they as soon as made a bit on request for Pope John Paul II. He used it for snowboarding and climbing.
Predominant stockists are listed under, most of whom additionally supply MTM. Rifugio shall be restarting their very own trunk reveals for MTM this yr, in London, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Geneva, with jackets beginning at €2800. You possibly can see ready-made costs on alfredorifugio.com
- Michael Jondral – Hannover
- Oger – Amsterdam/Rotterdam/The Hague
- Simply One – Madrid
- L’Officine – Paris
- Dantendorfer – Wien/Innsbruck/Salzburg
- Lutz – Vinkeveen
- Sobs – Koln
- HS Vogue – Eindhoven
- Sovrano – Dusseldorf
- De Filippo Uomo – Koblenz
- Joris Lammers – Hertogenbosch
- Hartung – Copenaghen
- Schito Retailer – Zurich
- Montulet – Maastricht
- Degand – Bruxelles
- Runggaldier – Merano
- Donati – Perugia
- Guarini – Pescara
- Direct Tailoring – Bruxelles
- Cellini Signature – Doha
- Mario Zell – Baghdad
- Medallion – Beijin/Shanghai
- Isetan Males – Tokyo
- Mitsukoshi – Tokyo
- Takashimaya – Tokyo/Osaka
- Wako – Tokyo
- Marco Cimmino – Palm Seashore
- Sartoria Pardi – Mexico Metropolis
- Solito -Mexico Metropolis
- Senator – Tajikistan
