Do you love Italian style but sometimes feel it can be a little too much to work in your day to day life here in the States? Do you miss the way Antonio Ciongoli mixed Italian style with other influences in his tailored collections at Eidos, and can’t find anything that you like nearly as much? If so, I’m excited to share that Anglo-Italian just might be the brand you’re looking for. Read on to read my take of this London shop.
Anglo-Italian is a young company, but its founders Jake Grantham and Alex Pirounis both have a long history in menswear. Both worked for the Armoury—the contemporary high water mark of men’s stores—making a name for themselves in the industry (and on many a Tumblr) before forging their new vision together in London in 2016. Located at 57 Weymouth St. in the Marylebone district in London, the shop is a little gem of a place. My wife and I had the chance to stop in at the end of 2017, and it was a breath of fresh air for us. Our day in London had been full of unfortunate mishaps that made it difficult to keep a cheerful mood, and Alex and Jake absolutely lifted our spirits. In the short time they’ve been open, they’ve been getting a lot of attention, with features at Permanent Style, Die, Workwear!, The Rake, and on Blamo!.
Jake graciously sent me a jacket from their Fall-Winter 2018 collection to try on, photograph and write about. It’s a wool-cashmere jacket in a warm, honey color with off-white windowpane. Their house cut is exactly the type of jacket I’d love: two open hip patch pockets, barchetta chest pocket, spalla camicia shoulder construction with a bit of grinze in the expression, a lightweight canvas, with a high gorge and wide lapels, lined only in the shoulders and sleeves, a high armhole, and with only the canvas layers to give the shoulder line some structure. In other words, it’s a very Neapolitan garment in construction. It reminds me of Eidos when it was at its best, with a little better execution.
But as they like to put it, they marry that “ease of soft Italian construction with the gravity of the English palette.” At the time of my visit in 2017, Alex said their biggest focus is made to measure, so their ready to wear options in tailoring are somewhat small, with only a handful of different cloths. Dark tweeds, gray and navy twill suits, and warm brown country checks make up their offerings this season. It’s reminiscent to me of how Antonio combined his Ivy family background with Italian attitude to create a comfortable jacket that was Italian-cool, but restrained enough for an American market because of those Ivy references.
Image via AngloItalianCompany on InstagramI think that’s what appeals to me so much about not just their tailored product, but almost everything they make: it’s got that great Italian cool factor, but it’s very wearable for someone who likes to look good without calling too much attention to himself. And because their focus is so small, it’s easy to imagine putting everything together into outfits I’d be excited to put on everyday. Everything I’ve seen, and everything I got to try on when I was there, just hit the perfect notes in this regard. Tall, spread collars that aren’t too cutaway; rustic wool ties that aren’t too busy or rough; slim-straight jeans and long-sleeve Gianni Agnelli-inspired polos that pair well with tailoring.
The quality is excellent. Jake was quick to point out, “Our jacket features a handmade armhole, collar, lapel, buttonholes, linings and pick-stitching. For our price range, that is unique to the market.” Something like a hand-padded lapel doesn’t sound like much until you put it on and see an immediate effect in how beautifully it rolls, which takes a lot of time ironing and shaping by a trained professional to get it just right. All the details add up to make something that feels perfect and drapes beautifully.
The starting price for their ready to wear jackets is £1,000 for non-UK residents (about $1250USD with the Pound Sterling hovering fairly low with uncertainty about Brexit). So it’s a great time to buy if you can. The only kicker for us in the States will be import duties. While we benefit from not having to pay UK’s VAT, the 17.5% rate for duty almost makes it back up again.
A note on sizing: I took my normal jacket size of 52. This fit similarly to the No Man Walks Alone cut from Eidos, though with a bit more room in the upper back and chest than the Eidos garments being produced the last 2-3 seasons.
What I love about Anglo Italian that makes it a worthy successor to Eidos for me: just about everything. It’s the most Eidos-like of all the brands I’ve surveyed, specifically in how it’s constructed and the shoulder expression. On the expression, it’s actually better than even the best of my Eidos jackets. It’s cut comfortably, with high armholes; a contemporary length that isn’t too short; a wide lapel with a high gorge; always with a restrained, but tasteful selection of fabric choices each season. The rest of the products from the brand form a cool, cohesive, attractive whole.
Huge thank you to Jake and Alex at Anglo-Italian for sending me a jacket on loan to use for this article (and for lifting our spirits on our bad day in London back in 2017)!
Below are a few questions I sent to Jake, which he took some time to answer for me. And below that, as a bonus, my favorite twist on the classic gin + tonic recipe. For more on Anglo-Italian, be sure and listen to Jeremy Kirkland’s interview with Jake on Blamo!
Menswear Musings: What is your raison d’etre?
Jake Grantham: We believe in handmade, Italian tailoring, that is made with integrity and relevance.
MM: How would you describe the style of your garment?
JG: We like a soft yet clean jacket. A natural shoulder paired with classic proportions, a draped chest, nipped waist, broad shoulder and low button position. In regards to fabric, we like muted colours, textured and matte.
MM: Who do you think of as your customer and how do you meet his needs and wants?
JG: Our customer is driven by wearable and relevant tailoring, that is both well made and well priced.
MM: What kind of quality are you producing, and what sets your garment apart?
JG: Our jacket features a handmade, armhole, collar, lapel, buttonholes, linings and pick-stitching. For our price range that is unique to the market. For those unaccustomed to handmade tailoring, it is what gives your garment comfort, durability and character. We develop entirely our own fabrics ensuring our aesthetic is consistent across collections and categories.
MM: Are there any other special things about your clothing you want to say?
JG: We are a young company and pride ourselves on accessibility and relevance whilst purveying product that is timeless, wearable and produced to the utmost standard.
Shop the Post
Sport jacket: Anglo-Italian Honey Windowpane Wool Cashmere Sport Jacket
Shirt: Pale blue Eidos shirt (similar from Anglo-Italian; similar from Canali; Isaia; Brooks Brothers; Drake’s)
Tie: Green textured grenadine Eidos (similar from Brooks Brothers; Drake’s)
Tailored trousers: Spier & Mackay Mid-gray VBC flannels
White denim: J.Crew Slim-straight (now called 770, similar here; similar from Anglo-Italian in 30-inseam and 32-inseam)
Shoes: Peal & Co. pebble-grain wingtips (similar from Meermin; Allen Edmonds)
Boots: Meermin snuff suede chukkas
My favorite twist on the gin + tonic. I’m calling it the Anglo-Italian G+T.
1 part gin (My fave: Tanqueray No. 10)
1 part tonic (I usually use Fever Tree’s naturally light tonic)
Splash of Aperol to taste
This is a post in a series about tailoring brands I’m excited about post-Eidos. They are posted in no particular order. Find the other posts here.
Really a great read. The fit of the jacket works really well for you, and you perfectly summed up the best details about the jacket. Really enjoying this series of post-Eidos menswear musings.
Thank you Colin. Glad you enjoyed it. And yes, I love the way it fits me. I’d slim the waist a bit but otherwise, it’s really great straight out of the box.
Great piece! How do you compare Anglo-Italian with Ring? Particularly in regards to the shoulder. waist curvature and quarters? Trying to figure out which of the two to pursue.
I wrote about Ring Jacket earlier, actually, though I specifically avoided comparing them directly.
Anglo is more Italian than Ring. It’s far more stripped down in construction than Ring. Ring has a very soft silhouette, too, but it’s got wider shoulders and just a bit more stuff in the shoulder—still very soft, but it makes the shoulder more round. The quarters on the 256 model (and the Taj model they’re pushing more) are similar in shape/opennes to Anglo, I’d say. The Armoury’s Model 3 has more conservative, closed quarters in my experience.
Anglo’s big downfall: shipping to/from UK if you don’t life there is just awful. They charge like $30 for shipping to you, and if you need to return, expect to pay about that much in return. Then there’s customs—since it’ll cost over $800, expect to pay about 17.5%. So all in, you’re looking at around $1500 (though with Brexit chaos, it’s a great exchange rate currently so it might be a little lower).
Where as Ring, you can get for $1300 shipped depending on fabric and retailer (there’s Supply & Advise, Khaki’s Carmel, H. Stockton in Atlanta, etc.).
If I were in the position to spend $1300, I’d probably pony up the extra $150-200 for Anglo because I prefer it, fabric choices being somewhat equal. But, I’ve tried them both on and know how they fit better.
Hope that helps.
Are you able to say what changes are possible with MTM? I know you like a more contemporary look so this works for you but if I wanted to lengthen the coat would they be able to move button position and so on as well?
For MTM they can adjust quite a lot. Length and button position would be no trouble at all. They’d definitely want to see and measure you in person for MTM, however. As of now I don’t think they’re doing trunk shows, which means you’d have to see them in London.