VR: Your age and occupation?

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

GA: I am 54 y.o. and I am a tailor.

VR: Your educational background?

GA: High school in Crotone, the city of Calabria, my birth region, and studies in tailoring.

VR: Have you any children or spouse (and how do they relate to your tailoring enthusiasm)?
GA: My wife is the General Manager of our company. We have an 8-year-old-son. My wife is very proud of what I do. She not only sees the finished result of my work but also lives it from within. And when she talks about my work with admiration and enthusiasm, it’s the best compliment for me. My son grows up in the Atelier. He’s very curious about every step and detail. But sometimes he asks me to change my occupation because he sees me very little when I travel

A Golden Shears-award from his younger days

VR: …and your parent’s and siblings’ reactions back in the days when you began?

GA: My father followed me, step by step, from the beginning of my professional growth. He has always been proud of my choices and me. There is no other tailors in my family. I hope one day that my son becomes a tailor but I will let him choose. Any profession he will choose, he will have my maximum support.

VR: What other hobbies or passions do you have besides apparel?

GA: I am a sailor, a lover of the sea, of good cooking and traveling.

VR: How did you first become interested in clothing, and when did you turn your eyes towards learning tailoring?

GA: At the age of 11 I started to be interested in tailoring, after school I used to go to the “bottega”, the tailoring shop, to learn cutting and sewing. It was just a small tailoring shop in our village in Calabria, with no specific name.

VR: How have you gathered your knowledge of the craft — from books, in-house training, workshops or somewhere else?

GA: I learned my first notions in ateliers where I worked at the beginning of my career, first in Milan and then in Rome. In Milan I worked with Cesare Tosi, one of greatest tailors ever, who was called the “human architect”. He made suits for Umberto II of Savoy, the last King of Italy, and many other celebrities. Later I moved to Rome where I attended a tailoring school and at the same time worked at one of the tailoring shops.

VR: How would you describe your own dress? How about your “house cut”?

GA: I would say that I am a tailor who creates elegance. My suit is principally an elegant suit. Although my garments are recognisable, I try to give to each Customer something unique created specifically for his body. So, if you talk about my “house style”, I would say that I create one style for each Customer, and it’s always an exclusive style, which improves the possible defects of the body and makes the man feel always at ease and unique.

VR: Please tell us when you decided to set up your own store, and what goals you set for yourself in the beginning. How have you been received so far?

GA: When I started my career in Milan, I wished to become a great Master tailor and open up my own atelier. I set up my own company in 1991, in a couple of years I will celebrate 30 years of my business. Today I am considered one of the best tailors and my Sartoria is one of the biggest and the most important ones in the world. I would say my dreams have come true but now I have many other projects.

VR: Why should my readers visit Gaetano Aloisio over other Italian tailors?

The gentlemen who are looking for quality, uniqueness and elegance must come to visit my Sartoria. Every detail is important, nothing is left to chance. In my tailoring the garments are made with the oldest traditions of craftsmanship but in the same time with the continuous and constant search for modernity, and the highest quality and with the most refined fabrics.

VR: Who or what inspires you?

GA: I am continually inspired by my customers. I observe them a lot trying to understand their characters, the style of life and the tastes. From there comes my inspiration in creating the personal distinctive style for each client.

VR: What’s your definition of style?

GA: If I think of style, surely I do not stop only at the way of dressing. It is a combination of choices in the way of living, the choice of savors, even the rhythms of a person are important to define his or her style. Those who follow fashion can have a certain style but most of the time it is plain and common with many others. Not many people have the courage to have their own unique style that fully expresses their personality and makes them feel at ease in every occasion.

VR: Finally, in your view, how does Roman tailoring differ from the styles in other Italian cities?

GA: Roman tailoring is like the people of Rome. The people of the southern Italian cities are more creative and imaginative, they have a kind of fanciful way of dressing. The men love a soft-tailored jacket with very light structure. The people of the northern cities are more rigorous and have more rules in the way of dressing, therefore they prefer more defined jackets. Rome is located between these two realities. I would define the Roman tailoring as balanced.

www.gaetanoaloisio.com