The Contour of Luxury Spring/Summer 2018 | Page 62

Alexis Day Alexis Day How hands on are you in the tailoring process for your brand? Cleverly you mix styles from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s with more modern styles of today. Can you share a snippet of your secret to making the Mark Powell’s crisscrossing of era styles successful? Mark Powell Well still very much, I mean obviously I don’t do none of the work really anymore, I used to cut and everything else, but know a days I’m still very hands on with the whole process. I still measure every individual client, I still set every suit myself, so the whole process is still very much my thing. Obviously I meet the client in the first meeting, decide on the fabric, and obviously the design, what are we going to do for them. In about 3 to 4 weeks later we do the first fitting, which is the suit when it’s half made and basted together, which I’m sure you’re familiar with, and that’s the first thing. Then we do a second fitting, and then the suit is completed, and that normally takes about, you know, 6-8 weeks, the whole process. So, yes, I’m pretty hands-on. Really, that’s really what you’re there for, you’re the creator and you’re there with the client through the whole process of what you’re doing for the client. Alexis Day: The concept is yours. It comes from you. Your vision. Mark Powell: Exactly, exactly. Mark Powell A lot of it comes from knowing certain details that can work on any of your styles, even if they come from a particular era. I think really, the only thing that always changes are the things that are offbeat style, or whether you’re doing a shorter jacket, a longer jacket, a narrow lapel, a bigger lapel, I think all those things sort of things kick in to being significant with proportion. But ultimately the styling that you do gives your thing its identifiable look. And I think as long as you keep your identity of your detailing and styling then I think you always have a little nod to what everybody wants in the moment. The thing for me at the moment, I do get a little annoyed about particularly is that everybody’s doing this very tight, over tailored look, and I think the problem with that is it’s actually very, very easy to do that. The thing is, it’s quite easy to over fit a suit, and almost make it like a second skin, but it isn’t easy to sort of drape fabric over a body so that it rolls over the body. That looks so much more elegant. If you look at a lot of the carbon Italian tailoring and a lot of the American tailoring, American influenced by Italian tailoring at the moment is very much that look. And I nod to it a little bit, you know you have to a little but, but I do think it’s still important that they actually shape and style over the body instead of fits to the body. I think it’s really important to make the cut the thing that defines the suit rather than just something that is very over fitted. Alexis: I agree, and I’ve watched some of your videos and when watching, I’m looking at the movement of the fabric when people walk by and how it flows over their leg, and how it fits their shoulders. So number one, the cut is great, number two your fabrics are amazing so it’s just a great combination. I really, really like the look. Mark Powell: Thank you.