MY NAME IS SIMÓN MARTELO.
I’M THE CUTTER HERE AT MARTELO BESPOKE (BESPOKE IS A TWO STEP PROCESS: CUTTING AND BUILDING. I CUT) I LEARNED THE CRAFT AS THE LAST APPRENTICE OF COLOMBIAN TAILOR ENRIQUE ROJAS.
At our tailor shop I measure, cut and fit everything personally, this is important because it helps deliver my vision to each piece and allows me to guide you through the entire process. Finding a tailor, much like finding a doctor or a lawyer, is about building a relationship out of trust, communication, and mutual understanding.
For the building of our garments I've put together a team of talented and experienced tailors, trouser makers and shirt makers. We follow a method of construction that stays true to the original, time tested techniques of making bespoke menswear while at the same time having our own way of going about it. We choose stay true to these practices not out of stubbornness or nostalgia, but rather because even as technology advances, to us, these artisanal methods still deliver the best possible fit and beauty to men's garments.
It’s our particular method of making clothes, paired with my aesthetic vision and sense of proportion that makes our garments uniquely ours.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DEFINITION OF WORK I HAVE ENCOUNTERED IS: “WORK IS HOW WE GIVE OURSELVES TO THE WORLD”.
The most beautiful definition of work I have encountered is: “work is how we give ourselves to the world”. In that sense, it’s through tailoring that we, as a team, share ourselves - everything that we are and everything that we’ve learned - with the world. Through this work we are allowed to create something that we believe in and that represents who we are. It's a product and an experience that we see as our contribution to the world - a contribution that we like to think helps build a world in greater harmony.
Other than that, with time, I’ve found that the search for personal style in a man's life is an amazing opportunity for him to become more self-aware of his emotions, his motivations, of who he is, and of where he stands in the universe. The biggest gift I could ever hope to offer a person who chooses to have a garment cut by me is for him to take this opportunity to question himself. That at the end of our encounter not only does he have a beautiful garment to wear but a broader sense of who he is.
On a personal level tailoring is very important to me, cutting and the development of my tailor shop are a space where I can express and release a lot of my creative energy and connect to people - both things I believe to be crucial in my life. Another important aspect of my work is that I use tailoring as an exercise in active meditation that connects me to the present moment: the space where all wisdom resides.
1–ONE
HOW LONG DOES THE PROCESS TAKE?
4 to 6 weeks. (Sometimes 8 weeks for fabrics I have to import directly.)
There will be an initial consultation where you will decide all the details of your garment and I’ll take your measurements, followed by one or two fittings before final delivery. The number of fittings depends on each individual process.
After we have finished your first garment and made a paper pattern that we’re happy with, we can reduce the number of fittings.
2–TWO
WHAT FABRICS DO YOU HAVE AVAILABLE ?
Wool, cotton, linen, and exotics like: camel hair, cashmere, vicuña, silk and mink blends. Always natural fibers.
I try to focus on my two favorite merchants: Harrisons of Edinburgh (mostly british fabrics) and Caccioppoli (mostly italian fabrics), though we do carry other mills and merchants.
My favorite fabrics to work with are Frontier (rugged hopsack made by Harrisons of Edinburgh) for suits and Harris Tweed for jackets.
3–THREE
NOT SO FAQ, BUT STILL GOOD TO KNOW
What is Bespoke?
Fused vs. Hand Canvased
What is our house style?
