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Consumer discovery in the age of Instagram
Social media platformsDiscovery is an elusive experience even for consumers armed with today’s tools like Instagram. More precisely, it is a highly quixotic and frustrating process for anyone searching...
View ArticleDowngrade Apple? Why Wall Street is missing the boat on AAPL
Right after Apple decided to no longer report unit sales going forward last Friday, investors and analysts have pummeled AAPL by downgrading and selling off the stock. So is this reporting change...
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Sleevehead update
Dear readers, I will be making a holiday visit to Sicily shortly with news and updates on tailors covered in my SGST guidebook and will have information on new artisans as well. In particular, I look...
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Palermo tailor Sartoria Davi
Sartoria Guido DaviLast week I had the pleasure of stopping by Palermo tailor Guido Davi in his atelier near Via della Liberta. As always, we had a thoroughly interesting discussion. We first met more...
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Sicilian shirtmaker Camiceria Medea
Michele Scarantino upstairs next to his pattern printerThe cutting tableI first had the pleasure of meeting the Scarantino brothers and founders of Camiceria Medea through the tailor Guido Davi in...
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Sicilian shirtmaker Lorenzino
Lorenzo Costanzo is one of the few active shirt makers left in Catania. In 2018, I had the pleasure to chat with him a few times and subsequently placed an order for a shirt. His shop Lorenzino is...
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The artisan’s dilemma: a view from Venice
A natural viewfinder formed within the cutouts of the stone facade of the Doge’s Palace. Photo credit: Juhn Maing.Clayton Christensen famously coined the more well-known version of this dilemma from...
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Update: Sartoria Randazzo
Customer’s vest. Photo credit: Sartoria RandazzoFabric cut according to pattern. Photo credit: Sartoria RandazzoPaper pattern. Photo credit: Sartoria RandazzoVito (left), Sleevehead (center) and Vito’s...
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Update: Sicilian Reserve
Palermitan jacket shoulderBeginning in 2019, my other project – Sicilian Reserve – will become more of a platform to help connect Sicilian artisans to US and other customers. Our primary role will be...
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Sartoria Savoca
Post-visit update with Savoca. Video credit: Juhn MaingThanks to the timely assistance of a dedicated reader (special thanks to Otto), I was able to confirm that Catanese tailor Sebastiano Savoca was...
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Sartorial excursion: Bologna
The Two Towers of Bologna: Garisenda (left, partially obscured) and Asinelli (center). Photo credit: Juhn MaingAntipasti plate with local mortadella and equally tasty Bolognese bread puffs at La...
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Update: Sicilian Reserve x Sartoria Italiano
Photo credit: Sartoria ItalianoI’m pleased to announce that the first visiting tailor for Sicilian Reserve this year is Sartoria Italiano. I launched Sicilian Reserve as a platform to help connect...
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Retail apocalypse or renaissance? The battle for two kinds of retail mastery
View of Hudson Yard including the art installation “Vessel”. Source: The Villager.That retailing is being disrupted has become painfully obvious in the last couple of years. In 2017, the phrase “retail...
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Sicilian Reserve x Sartoria Davi (spring 2019)
Close-up of a shoulder on a jacket by Sartoria Davi. Photo credit: Juhn MaingLast week we hosted Claudio Italiano and had a very productive trip to New York and San Francisco. We’re pleased to announce...
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Bespoke shoemaker Calzoleria Pisana
Spring is in the air as the saying goes. That sense of freshness can also be discovered in a pair of shoes made just for you. With bespoke, you could say it’s always spring time. For all these reasons,...
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Launching Sleevehead Patreon page
After some deliberation and planning, I have decided to create my own Patreon page for Sleevehead. The timing seems right to join a popular platform connecting creators and their supporters. Patreon is...
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Sleevehead Forum x Sartoria Arrigo
Both Sicilian Reserve (SR) & Sleevehead’s Guide to Sicilian Tailors (SGST) are platforms to help connect Sicilian artisans to new customers. They make it possible for a Sicilian tailor or artisan...
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Sicilian tiemaker Silvio Fiorello
Silvio Fiorello and Gregory Colaco. Photo credit: Juhn Maing.I first came across Silvio Fiorello at last year’s winter Mrket menswear trade show in NYC thanks to the deft introduction by Gigliola at...
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An afternoon with shirtmaker Freddy Vandecasteele
Freddy enjoying a Belgian beer at a pub in Brussels. Photo credit: Juhn Maing.Last month I had the great pleasure of reconnecting with shirtmaker Freddy Vandecasteele who recently retired from a 40+...
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An American in Sicily – what I did after discovering Sicilian tailoring
“For me, clothing is more cultural. It’s about how these things came to be used, designed and created. I’m basically an anthropologist in the supply chain of menswear.”Quoted in Deni Bechard, “The...
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