Originally hailing from Reggio Calabria, master tailor Domenicantonio Carbone has lived in Rome since 1957. He runs the atelier with his son Giuseppe, and it is there that I meet them in their shop in Via Leone IX, 65/67 on front of Musei Vaticani. The father is very proud to show me around, as he describes how he was one of the first tailors to put on a show on the streets of Rome in the 1980s, when their business was feeling the sting of increasing competition in the ready-to-wear industry. Aware of the absolute need to pass the art of tailoring down to the younger generations, the master tailor is behind a project to encourage youngsters to become tailors’ apprentices, with the backing – sometimes rather half-hearted – of institutions and trade associations.
During my visit, I notice a few aesthetic minutiae that are not to my personal taste: one example is the single-breasted jacket with buttonholes on both of the lapels, embroidered with the colours of the Italian flag, the result of research carried out by Carbone to innovate his style content. Giuseppe, his son, tells me about his studies of the vintage Roman jacket, the peak of which was reached in the 1950s, with rounded forms, thin shoulder padding and the second “cuneo” (their name for the frontal darts) which tapered off at the same level as the pockets. Today, the second frontal dart ends at the bottom of the jacket and their trademark is a “revised” barchetta pocket, as it curves only at the top end, going from 2.7 to 3.6cm. The rounded shoulders have been consigned to history, as they prefer them to be “the perfect shape”, and they generally have a closed armhole. There is no doubt that the starting prices whet the appetite: they are set at €1500.
Bespoke hugs,
Fabio
