Do you love the Neapolitan tailored look, but can’t afford the price of full-canvas jackets? Or maybe you know you can get the real deal, but you just don’t have time to scour eBay for second-hand pieces that may or may not fit, in silhouettes that may or may not flatter you, all without the certainty of a return in the worst case scenario. If you can relate to these questions, I’ve got some good news: Spier & Mackay just may be the answer you’ve been waiting for. Read on for my take on this Toronto-based menswear shop.
Rikky Khanna started Spier & Mackay in 2010, but his history in the clothing industry goes back much further than that. “I was born into this business. My father has been in the apparel business since 1971. I grew up around tailors and fabrics since before I could walk. You could say it’s in my blood,” he says.
First offering custom shirts via a factory in India, they’ve expanded into the product categories any menswear shop is known for: suits, sport coats, ties, trousers, chinos, and most recently, dress shoes. “March 4th, 2014 is when we rolled out our first suit collection. 3 core colours. Internally, we really look at having found our footing in 2015 and haven’t looked back. Basically all the big strides and progress have happened in the past 3 years.”
The company caught my eye a little over a year ago in my Instagram discover feed. The Neapolitan-style cut they had developed piqued my interest so I started looking into them. It turns out they had a strong Styleforum presence. I came to learn that this connection is how the Toronto-based shop came to develop such a product.
Over four seasons now, the cut has been tweaked and improved to be the version you can buy now. Rikky (he goes by Rick for short) sent me jackets on loan each season to get my input. The first version had a really high gorge, that, combined with the deep lapel notch that’s a signature design detail of all Spier & Mackay jackets, looked severe and a bit trendy. The next season, the notch was lowered, improving the aesthetic, but aspects of the fit still needed tweaking. The following season (SS2018), Rick made several small changes: he slightly widened the sleeve head, raised the armhole, and altered the pattern to make the jacket wear longer, which had the effect of improving the front-back balance (viewed from the side, the front of a jacket should hang slightly lower than the back lest it look too small). All the changes really brought the cut into its own. At this price point—starting at around $400USD, there is nothing like it.
And that’s the point. Rick tells me his company’s entire purpose is to “make high quality, well fitting menswear more affordable. It’s easy to find trendy, fast fashion items, but not as easy to find investment quality pieces that help build out a proper wardrobe without breaking the bank.” These are half-canvas garments, which is the same general quality level as Suit Supply, or Brooks Brothers’ 1818 line. Where Rick aims to set Spier & Mackay apart is in the details—using Bemberg lining and real horn buttons, and using a soft canvas with no shoulder padding (pick up a Brooks Brothers 1818 jacket, especially in the Regent fit, and you’ll feel what a half-canvas jacket with shoulder pads and a heavier canvas feels like). My closet is filled with full-canvas, made-in-Italy Eidos garments, so I haven’t yet purchased any Spier jackets (though I’m a major fan of their trousers). But if things had been different, and if I were just now building out my wardrobe, I think I’d be buying a lot of Spier & Mackay. (He says they plan to roll out full-canvas tailoring in the future, which unsurprisingly he thinks will be “hands down the best value on the market”).
As of 2024, Rick has continued to iterate the design, lowering the notch position, raising the armholes farther and reshaping them, and slightly straightening out the lapel to give it a less severe look. As of F/W2022, it’s the best it’s ever looked. In comparison to the cut I originally reviewed here, I like it a lot better—it fits better and looks better.
Besides those quality details, it’s his selection of fabrics that makes the difference to me. Rick gets a lot of input from Styleforum members in their official affiliate thread, which helps him keep his pulse on what the tailored menswear community is hyped about. “We’re fortunate to have a really strong community to give us direct feedback. Season after season we pick their collective brain to find out exactly what they want and how we can help them fill the gaps in their wardrobe,” he says. Of course, that can be a two-edged sword, because for every request to make a Polo coat is a one-off request for pleated denim with an elastic waistband. But so far Rick has shown he’s got a keen business sense as well as good taste in making what can be lust-worthy for folks like me, but that will also actually sell to his customers in Toronto. This season, one of my favorites was this brown faux-tweed with teal overcheck, from E.Thomas in a super soft 90/10 wool-cashmere mix. It made me think of something Polo Ralph Lauren would make.
Another thing that sets Spier apart from other makers: almost everything they make is available in two fits, slim and contemporary. Think about Brooks Brothers, for instance: they have four jacket fits to accommodate different body shapes, but each one is aesthetically different, and generally any given cloth is offered in only one fit each season. If you prefer the fit of the Fitzgerald cut, but a Milano fit jacket catches your eye for its killer fabric, you’ve usually got no choice. Not so with Spier & Mackay—their Neapolitan cut is sold in both contemporary and slim fit. The slim fit differs from the contemporary by having a slightly higher armhole, a slightly slimmer sleeve, a slightly shorter overall length, and a slightly narrower waist. Shoulder and chest measurements are otherwise the same. (To be clear, there is some product differentiation going on here—the Neapolitan cut is a niche product for its aesthetic differences from their standard cut, a middle-of-the-road two-button jacket with moderate-width lapels and a natural shoulder, reminiscent of a typical Suit Supply jacket. Their normal cut is what the vast majority of their products are cut in. Only special fabrics that will appeal primarily to the menswear community get made into the Neapolitan cut).
This season, the jacket Rick sent me was in contemporary fit (so far, I’d only tried slim fit). For my build, I prefer the slim fit, despite the slightly shorter length. The lower armholes and wider sleeves on the contemporary fit felt a bit sloppy to me in comparison to the Eidos jackets I’m used to wearing. But of course, every body is different, so try them both to determine what works best for you (they give free returns on your first purchase of a tailored garment). The differences between them are small enough, however, that if there were a jacket I couldn’t live without only available in contemporary fit, I’d probably just get it and have it tailored in the sleeves and waist, and live with the slightly lower armholes.
What I love about Spier & Mackay that makes it a worthy successor to Eidos: the Neapolitan cut, particularly its arc lapel (curving inward rather than being cut straight or having a belly); the appealing cloths Rick chooses, which help the jacket punch above its weight; the accessible price point with an acceptable level of quality; and the availability of two consistent fits.
I sent Rick some questions (the same I’m asking of all the makers in this article series). I’ve produced his responses in full below. Read what he has to say about Spier & Mackay, and check out the articles I’ve written about them in the past. Their end-of-year sale is going on until January 3—everything is 25% off with code BOXING18. Besides the Neapolitan jacket, be sure to check out their trousers—they’re my favorite product of theirs. I intend to give their OCBDs a try soon, and will post my thoughts once I do.
(Help support this site by buying stuff through my links; your clicks and purchases earn me a commission from many of the retailers I feature, and it helps me sustain this site—as well as my menswear habit! Thanks!)
Menswear Musings: What is your raison d’etre?
Rikky Khanna: Quite simply, to make high quality, well fitting menswear more affordable. More specifically, Classic Menswear made with high quality materials and construction that is both stylish and timeless. It’s easy to find trendy, fast fashion items, but not as easy to find investment quality pieces that help build out a proper wardrobe without breaking the bank.
MM: How would you describe the style of your garment?
RK: A hybrid of English and Italian sensibilities. We take a lot of our fabric Inspiration from traditional English menswear. For example, tweeds, donegals and flannels are strong in the cooler months. Linen and Fresco are highlights for warmer weather. But it’s the Italian style and silhouette that we borrow from that most resonates with our customers. Our take on the Neapolitan sportcoat has been a huge success for us. Generous lapels, natural shoulders, round open quarters are unheard of at the price points we offer and is something we’re very proud to have achieved.
MM: Who do you think of as your customer? And how do you meet his needs and wants?
RK: Our customer is someone who appreciates quality, appreciates classic menswear and most importantly appreciates that we’ve made it affordable for them. A lot of the brands that our customers admire and respect make beautiful pieces, but for the most part are generally out of budget. We consider ourselves a stepping stone into the better menswear world. A place where you can get your feet wet before you really jump down the rabbit hole. lol.
We’re fortunate to have a really strong community to give us direct feedback. Season after season we pick their collective brain to find out exactly what they want and how we can help them fill the gaps in their wardrobe. We encourage open feedback. Good or bad, to help us improve. We get to improve our business and our customers get the items they want at an affordable price. This is how the Neapolitan jacket came about. It’s also how the high rise trouser and super successful Polo coat came about recently.
MM: What kind of quality are you producing? What sets your garment apart?
RK: Currently we produce a half-canvas jacket with a soft canvas. That said, we feel, and our customers would agree, that it’s very well executed. This is especially true on our most recent FW18 season. We also finish our jackets with Bemberg Cupro lining and genuine horn buttons to take them a step up. We are working on bringing a Full Canvas jacket/suit to the market in the near future that we feel, will be hands down, the best value on the market.
Currently, I would say we slot in somewhere between Suitsupply purple Line suits/jackets and Ring Jacket to give an idea.
What we feel sets us apart is the value. The price/quality ratio is unmatched. We are generally better priced than similar Suitsupply items, but often with a slightly more desirable silhouette and fabrics.
MM: Are there any other special things about your clothing you want to say?
RK: Having well fitting, well made clothing is worth the investment. We know that a lot of our customers are young men just starting out in their careers, or just starting out into the wider world of menswear and more commonly, men who have young families and financially, splurging on expensive clothing is not the priority but dressing well is. This is where we feel we can help. A lot of first time customers are genuinely surprised at the fit and quality and even more pleased that they found something the ticks all the boxes and fits within their budget.
Thank you so much to Rick for his time and for sending me a jacket on loan to photograph for this article!
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.
