Of Artisans and The Armoury

As many of you will have seen by now, The Armoury is taking its show on the road for the first time.  But even more than the tantalizing idea of Nackymade and Liverano in London is what this demonstrates about The Armoury – Artisans always come first.

No one who is familiar with The Armoury will be surprised to hear that the focus of this inaugural trunk show is the artisans who make the wears peddled in the Hong Kong shop.  It’s not a matter of the dapper gents packing a few Globetrotters full of scarves and sport coats, hitting the town, and cashing in.  It’s about connecting people with who, not just what, they have to offer.

Mr. Antonio Liverano will be coming to measure customers for his uniquely-Florentine tailoring.  Strong shoulders, sweeping lines, and a nearly-obstinate love of tradition will be the order of the day.  He will be joined by Naoki Nakagawa (Nacky) of Nackymade eyewear.  Nacky’s specs mix traditional shapes with tongue-in-cheek details like dinosaurs on the arms.  Some of the acetates he works with are really stunning and in colors I’ve never seen anywhere else.  Both gents are very representative of the sartorial cultures they represent.

Clothing has always been locally idiosyncratic.  The Neapolitans have their spalla camicia, the British their hairy tweeds, and we Americans our tasseled loafers.  Your clothing tells an intricate, international story.  It can be about where you’ve been, who you know, or to where you aspire.

The Armoury has excelled since day one at making their story as interesting as possible.  You can’t really call anything they do Italian, British, Japanese, etc.  It’s something all its own, unique to the sensibilities developed by the gents who run the show and the customers they connect with.

They’ve quite literally traveled the world, taken what excited them, and brought it all into once harmonious space.  And I applaud them for now trying to take it to others, and to help men the world over travel a little sartorially.  Well done yet again gentlemen.

Images Courtesy of The Armoury