The style icon of bespoke culture
Crumpled borsalino, winning smile, spring in her step. Clothes always made to measure. And currently 342,000 followers on Instagram. The short description of Luca Rubinacci, style icon of bespoke culture.
He really is as we know him from his Instagram videos: radiant, enthusiastic, dynamic. And full of stories. From his internship at Kilgour on Savile Row, for example, where his name didn’t open any doors and he had to prove himself through performance. His father sent him to London so that he could learn to stand on his own two feet, far away from Italy.
Apprenticeship years on Savile Row
Savile Row was the perfect place for this, because only Savile Row tailoring counts there. However, his wardrobe did impress the tailors a little, says Luca Rubinacci with a grin. His father had provided him with a basic outfit: a dark blue suit, a tweed suit, a jacket and flannel pants. The cut and sewing work earned the Brit’s respect.
Originally, his father wanted him to study at a fashion college. But Luca preferred to get to know bespoke tailoring better. He had grown up with it in Naples, where 45 tailors worked in his father’s workshop. There were also numerous shirtmakers. Luca wanted to know how other tailors worked.
Kilgour: A perfect choice
Kilgour was a perfect choice. Originally called Kilgour, French & Stanbury, it was one of the best addresses on Savile Row. Fred and Louis Stanbury were Hungarians, they brought the European line into the British company when they were bought by Kilgour.
Fred Astaire had tailcoats tailored there in the 1930s. In Luca Rubinacci’s time, Kilgour was still considered the most elegant tailor in London. For example, it was typical of his style that the jackets of his suits had no side slits, as was customary on the continent in the past.
The London connection of the Rubinacci family
There was a second reason why Luca Rubinacci was sent to London: the Rubinaccis have close ties to the British capital. Both privately and in business. The family was well established in the silk trade at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Ships from India arrived at the port of Naples, loaded with silk for fashion and interior design.
The family enjoyed great wealth, living on an estate outside the city. From there, the master of the house made occasional trips to London, for example to buy walking sticks.
Gennaro Rubinacci: From gentleman to tailoring consultant
It would never have occurred to his son Gennaro, born in 1895, to pursue a job. Let alone work in the fashion industry. Gennaro was simply a gentleman. And he had nothing else to do but live well.
Gennaro developed an extremely refined taste and was therefore often asked by friends from the aristocracy to attend their fittings as a consultant. On a purely friendly basis, of course. At that time, there were around 400 tailors in the elegant Chiaia district alone, where the tie maker E. Marinella can be found today. Anyone who was anyone had their clothes made to measure there.
The founding of “London House” in 1932
According to family legend, at some point in the 1920s, Gennaro had the idea of using his experience in dealing with tailors and their customers for business purposes. And so he finally got into fashion when he founded his “London House” in 1932.
At that time, England was still an admired fashion power. If an Italian atelier wanted to make a statement, they gave the name an English sound. However, the tailoring had little to do with what was being sewn in London at the time. Rubinacci’s suits were typically Neapolitan: soft, light and with a silhouette adapted to the natural shape of the body.
The rise to international fame
Word spread among wealthy Capri vacationers that Gennaro’s London House offered incomparably elegant clothing. And so the clothes carried the Neapolitan concept of cut and finish all over the world.
In the 1950s, when more and more Americans discovered Italian elegance for themselves, Rubinacci made-to-measure clothing became a luxury must-have and its makers became internationally renowned ambassadors of the “Sartoria Italiana”.
Mariano and Luca Rubinacci: continuing the tradition
Mariano Rubinacci continued to run the business in the 1970s and became a much-photographed style icon himself. Like his father, Mariano himself is not a trained men’s tailor; he directs the fittings like a director shooting a movie. His son Luca, who is the third generation to run the company, feels the same way.
Expansion to include ready-to-wear and accessories
As Creative Director, Luca Rubinacci has been very successful in adding ready-to-wear and accessories to men’s tailoring. When he first cautiously presented the idea to his father, he immediately agreed.
But under one condition: The materials must be of the highest quality, whatever the cost.
For Luca Rubinacci, ready-to-wear and accessories are like “finger food”. While the customer is waiting for their fitting or after they have chosen their fabric, they can help themselves from the buffet, figuratively speaking. This addition has never harmed the bespoke part of the store because the areas are completely separate. Rubinacci still tailors just as it did in Gennaro’s day.
The characteristic features of the Rubinacci style
Typical features of the Rubinacci style include the “Spalla alla Camicia”, the upper rolled button on the three-button front, the half lining made of real silk, the curved welt pocket on the chest or, as an alternative, the patch pocket (called “Pignata”). The latter is narrower at the top than at the bottom and curves almost like a balloon. This leaves enough room for a silk scarf puffed up to great effect.
Luca Rubinacci shows these details on garments that adorn busts in the bespoke salon in Milan. Some of these pieces come from customers who have provided them, others come from the family. Some are several decades old. What is striking about them is their timelessness. For example, there is a dinner jacket from the 1920s that could be worn today, just as it is.
Timelessness versus zeitgeist
The timelessness that is often invoked in London is often just a legend there. Many Savile Row tailors in the 1930s to 1970s were very much in tune with contemporary tastes. At Rubinacci, on the other hand, you can study how tailored clothing can really last for decades. For Luca Rubinacci, it is normal for customers to bring in pieces for mending after 20 years.
Lightweight finish for all seasons
Rubinacci uses the light finish for both light and heavy fabrics. Because in winter it can be quite chilly in the old houses of Naples, which often have no heating. This is why older men in jackets made of heavy tweed, whipcord, Donegal or Saxony are a common sight in Naples at this time of year.
The linen suit specialty
Linen suits are another of Rubinacci’s specialties. The company’s history tells of a customer who had a dozen new linen suits made for every summer. They were made in such a way that they could be washed. The customer, a count from an old Neapolitan family, was thus able to put on a freshly laundered linen suit every morning that had just been ironed by his valet.
Manufacture of the highest quality
If you don’t have time for tailoring, you can buy off-the-peg at Rubinacci. Everything is made in Italy and the quality of workmanship is of the highest standard. In addition to the classic wardrobe of suits, jackets, coats and pants, the range also includes smart casual pieces.
Most of the fabrics on the shelves are woven exclusively for the house. Preferably in Great Britain. British provenance is also very important to Italians when it comes to luxury fabrics such as cashmere. The international clientele, which makes up a large proportion of Rubinacci’s customers, often prefers Italian goods.
The Vintage Collection
Over the decades, many fabrics have accumulated in the tailoring warehouse – Luca Rubinacci speaks of 60,000 meters that can be called up. They were intended for made-to-measure items, but are also regularly used to make pieces for the ready-to-wear collection, which is marketed as the “Vintage Collection”.
