Written by Rakelle Maurici in Interviews on the 13th April 2015

Photography by Craig Landale

Founded in late 2009, the organic process began at atelier Saman Amel. The brand strives on quality over quantity and the founders aim to shape ideas around the backgrounds in which they grew up in. However, there is no doubt about it; breaking into the bespoke tailoring industry is never easy, particularly when you’re young and up against names that have been around for decades.

Menswear Style had the opportunity to speak personally with one of the founders Saman to delve into the ins and outs of creating and maintaining a successful brand.

So could you tell us what a normal day involves for you? 

“I work late nights so a normal day for me starts at around 8am. I have breakfast and my coffee and then I’m off to the atelier to see clients and work. There is a lot going on with the company so my colleague Dag and I really don’t have a standard routine taking place every day. Before, we were constantly solving problems but now we are more structured and try to do everything with a more long-term time horizon.” 

How did your passion and story begin? 

“I think my passion for sartorial clothing and craftsmanship really has been there all my life. It’s not really something that happened in an instant but rather something that developed organically. This organic process is something we try to translate into basically everything we do. Things must take time to grow in a healthy way.”

Where did you learn your skill? In your opinion, is it something that can be taught or does it come naturally? 

“Part of it has been coming naturally I suppose but really it’s a matter of practice. I studied to become a tailor and learnt the craftsmanship and construction of garments for three years. Later on, I worked with made-to-measure for a major Swedish brand for 2.5 years. Learning to know different body-types and constructing garments definitely takes time and I have great respect for bespoke tailors. However, the part that does come naturally is the sense of style or whatever one wishes to call it. Both Dag and I are young guys with our roots in street culture and music.” 

So following that, is there a particular ethos you like to follow in your work? 

“To us I think it has always been about feeling comfortable with what you wear. This is why we emphasize a soft silhouette and casual matching – if I would want to take my skateboard to work my clothes should not restrict me from doing this.”

Without revealing all your secrets what is the most important factor for your creations? 

“The cut and silhouette is everything to me. We work with the best fabric suppliers in the world but a great fabric doesn’t help if the cut is weak. We have a very clear vision of what kind of shape we like our products to have as we think that these specific proportions can help the client to feel comfortable in his piece. If he comes home from work after a long day and does not feel like the first thing he wants to do when he gets home is to get out of his suit, then we are very happy with the result!” 

Your pieces are often described as elegant - for you, how does elegance relate to style? 

“I think that all good examples of elegance contains a certain amount of personal style integrated into it. A person that’s being described merely as elegant might be boring and somewhat empty. A handmade jacket is elegant per se but it’s how you wear it that makes it interesting. That’s where the style aspect comes in I suppose.”

In Italy we sit down with Saman Amel to discuss the difficulties with Breaking into the Tailoring Industry as a young tailor.