Friday, April 28, 2006

Recent News and Views

On Friday, April 28, painter Etienne Zack had an opening reception for his nearly sold-out show at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver. For the big event, Etienne sported the top half of his new reverse denim suit by Modernize. Made for the occasion, we washed and shrunk the material in the dryer and then master tailor Park Wong transformed it into a beautiful jacket.

Bill was so happy with the results, he sewed little zeds into the buttons - for the personal touch.




Bill also attended the vernissage and he found the artist was not the only one bearing the handiwork of Modernize. Chief curator of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Daina Augaitis wore a brown pinstripe pant suit with satin tape that Bill altered. Plus another, Etienne Zack fan approached Bill and opened up his black blazer. There Bill found a 1970s Modernize label stitched into the lining.

Congratulations, Etienne on a great show. Thanks for a fun evening. Up next for Mr. Zack is an opening in London, England, where he will be wearing the entire suit. Red button holes and all.

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Here's what Mark Busse (blogger, designer, and Modernize customer) had to say about his Modernize experience on Industrial Brand Creative's snazzy blog:


I am having a new black suit hand made for me by Modernize Tailors. It's the first tailor-made suit I've ever purchased and as I experience the myriad of choices such as fabric, weight, colour, texture, pattern, lapel style, cuffs, buttons, pockets, pleats, hems, etc it occured to me: This is just like the many choices we make when executing stationery components as part of a client's brand identity...


For more visit, Industrial Brand Creative's blog.

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Recently, a 22-year-old potential customer, who is slender (5ft 7in; 28in waist; 34in chest), asked about alterations. He wanted us to take in or slim down the waist of an existing suit. He also wanted to "add a slit to the bottom half of the backside (for added freedom of movement), as most suits have already."

Here was our answer.

You are the first official inquiry for our site.

Regarding the slimming of a suit, it depends. A big suit thinned out for your slender frame requires a few things sorted out. How big is the original suit? Was it fitted for you and this is just a style adjustment to meet fashion, or is it found vintage (my favourite) and requires an update.

Big suits that were not made for you can be too big and that's bad. It means the pockets will end up in the wrong place. If it's too small we won't be able to take the radical option of creating an entire new lapel with the extra fabric at the breast. However, it must clear the original button holes. If it doesn't, it may limit our options.

If it's your suit, we could nip in the waist very easily. Perhaps looking at the shoulder would be a good idea as well (everything is more narrow and natural these days).

The young gentleman wanted us to put in a centre vent, however, it's a recommended strategy to go without a vent as a way of visually lengthening the back and the wearer's height in general. It also makes for a neat back. If you can pull of tight and neat, we suggest, you go for it.


Click here to if you want to know more about getting your first tailored suit.

Click here if you want to know more about what we can do for you in alterations.