Shops offering selected items from many high-quality brands at one stop are steadily gaining ground. Those that feature casual clothes for men and women like 10 Corso Como, Daily Projects and Boon The Shop are already well-known among the fashion savvy.
What might be a bit less familiar is a multi-brand shop exclusively for men, featuring classic suits. Lansmere, Korea’s first multi-brand street shop for suits in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, offers hand-made suits and accessories by some 50 British and Italian premium brands.
Meaning “the lake where the best wool grows” in Italian, Lansmere is actually the name of a high quality fabric -- Lansmere 220, the world’s first 170-yarn-count fabric, and Lansmere 230, a 230-yarn-count fabric -- produced by Cheil Industries.
Cheil Industries later launched Lansmere, a high-priced ready-made men’s suit brand in 2005 but two years later shifted to custom-made suits and renovated the shop into a multi-brand shop. Now, visitors can either choose their pick from the wide array of brands or order a Lansmere tailor-made suit at the shop.
“Lansmere is a very high-end brand, so it had its limits when it produced ready-made suits. You see, women have bags and jewellery to complete their fashion, but men’s only jewellery is watches. So fashion-savvy men focus on bespoke suits which are uniquely made for them. That is why we turned to custom-made suits,” said Alan Nam, brand manager at Lansmere.
“Korean men tend to wear suits that are too big for them and think it is comfortable because it is big. That is not right. Suits that really fit you perfectly are those that are comfortable even if they are slim and tight around your body. Men who really know how to dress wear tailor-made suits. In Britain, about 10 to 15 per cent of the men wear tailor-made suits but in Korea, only 3 to 4 per cent do.”
Nam explained that classic, however, does not mean conservative.
“A classic suit means that it has tradition and value because it is of very high quality, made by master tailors. It stays the same for decades and it is something that a father and son can share. It makes the wearer look more attractive, younger and even sexier all the while being very comfortable,” said Nam.
Brands featured at the shop include suit brands Cesare Attolini, Isaia, Sartoria Partenopea and Boglioli; shirt brands Orian and Fray; outerwear brands such as Herno, knitwear brands Paolo Pecola and Luciano Barberra, necktie brands Drake’s and Eredi Chiarini, sock brands like Sozzi Calze, shoe brands Tanino Crisci, Cordwainer, Enzo Bonafe, Sutor Mantellassi and Magnanni and accessory brands Bill Amberg and Pineider.
Whether the brands’ names are well-known among the Korean customers or not is not at all an issue when selecting the brands. Lansmere’s staff focus on finding handmade items of the best quality.
“That is probably why our major customers are classic suit enthusiasts or self-employed men that know fashion and are financially well off. Executives or CEOs of large companies prefer to wear famous brands that are popular within their circles but our customers do not like logos that stand out too much and rather go for the real classic looks,” said Nam.
“I try on all the suits before contracting them, to see if they are really what we are looking for. Unlike machine-made suits which uncomfortably bind your body, handmade suits better adjust to your body with time.”
Nam emphasised that the shop does not sell “brands” but sells a “way of dressing”.
“I give tips to our customers on how to dress and how to organise their wardrobe. This jacket, for example, looks like it is a two-button jacket but is actually a three-button jacket. You are supposed to fasten only the middle button and let the top button naturally disappear from sight below the collars. You should never leave it at some random dry cleaners because they will iron it all wrong,” said Nam.
Nam added that a nice jacket, maybe brown or navy, is a must-have item in every men’s wardrobe.
“It can be matched with any shirts or pants. If you want a formal look, match it with gray pants and if you want a brighter look, match it with light colors like sky blue, pink, orange or ivory. It is an economical and practical but a stylish way of dressing. But the jacket should be of really good quality.”
