Very few cities besides Naples can boast having residents that can genuinely be defined as true gents. But amongst these, Palermo can undoubtedly make a claim; the delightful Sicilian capital city, which gets its name from the Greek word meaning “all port”, has a past peppered with foreign domination and is the birthplace of the saying “things have to change in order for them to stay the same”, perfectly portraying the ancestral indolence of the Sicilian people who, like their fellow Neapolitan countrymen, are loathe to experience any kind of variation. Mauro Crimi, born in 1975, is a tailor that I would not hesitate to define as enlightened, not only due to his character being somewhat similar to the writer whose words you are reading, but mainly because he has well-defined taste, almost palpable talent and an elegance to his way of thinking. He draws his inspiration from the masters La Parola and Bevilacqua, and does not hide the fact that the finest teacher he could have had was his own father, Carmelo. He protectively archives past publications of the Accademia dei Sartori and constantly studies sources stretching back to the past to be reinterpreted with new and innovative lines. Mauro has also been a teacher at the Accademia for around seven years, and his undeniable enthusiasm for the subject goes hand-in-hand with the obsession for detail that defines his creations.
My in-depth research into the Sicilian jacket takes me to his atelier in Via Civiletti 11. The first characteristic that bowls me over is the shape of the second “chiave” (this is how the folks from Palermo refer to the frontal darts), which is curved rather than straight (see photo), and which generally ends at the pocket, without extending down to the bottom. The under-collar here is positioned upright, without giving it the classic horseshoe curve when ironed. “In this way, the collar brushes delicately against the neck, without weighing on the wearer,” explains Mauro. The interlining of the under-collar is inserted back to front, and the tips are cut. Crimi jackets tend to have light piping behind the armhole and a barchetta pocket on the breast, a touch of Neapolitan flavor. The seam between the collar and the lapel is concave, a trait inherited from his father Carmelo, who as a youth worked for some years under Domenico Caraceni in Piazza San Babila, during the era of Caraceni & Donnini. The hip line is clean-cut, almost suit-like, of British inspiration, like the padded shoulders always present in his jackets, although with Italian restraint. He never has a dart under the collar, and only when in the presence of a robust chest does he bring the fianchino (second frontal dart) down to the bottom, but never the first dart, Neapolitan-style. Finally on to the armhole: in the pattern, it is egg-shaped, but during construction it becomes round. And alongside the waistcoat and the double-breasted jacket - four buttons with visible buttonholes on the lapel (as worn by the Duke of Windsor) – there is also the “Baronetto” interpretation, a duster coat in wool and Drapers cashmere, weighing in at no more than 350 grams, with three buttons on the front, patch pockets and peak lapels, unlined and knee-length. “This is the heaviest fabric we can sell here in Palermo,” smiles Mauro, alluding to the obvious lightness of the coat due to the mild climate of Sicily.
Bespoke hugs,
Fabio
