Sartoria Dei Solari was the most exciting bespoke tailoring house in 2022, as founder Riccardo Zhang returns from Italy and brings back the purest taste of Milan from master Yuki Inoue.
Italian-style classic menswear is the most mesmerizing place, and today, extraordinary tailors still shine like a river of stars, and some of the Italian tailors who don’t get much attention on Instagram have quite the credentials.
It has to do with the fact that suits are the regular clothing of almost everyone in Italy, and also with the inculcation of art like the Renaissance. Beauty is integrated into life without artifice.
Chengdu, the most cozy big city in China, a short stay did not allow me to experience the most leisurely and restful rhythm, but it gave me a completely different style of bespoke tailoring house. Not the clothes, but the house.
Solari’s front door, if it wasn’t for some coats on display in the window, I would have preferred to think it was a home. The dappled shade of the trees, the drooping plants, the smell of life coming through.
Two chairs and a leather bar stool on the brick, red and white tiled steps in front of the entrance will seem like mere decoration when you first come, but when you come again, you’ll be more than willing to sit paralyzed in your suit, smoking a cigarette, chatting, and watching the flow of people going back and forth.
Even in midsummer, when I was there, I sat here and felt the heat peacefully because I was relaxed and happy.
Push the door in, with a more comfortable fabric sofa, a few fashion books on it. If it was in the winter, embraced by the warmth of the sun, breathing in the plants just photosynthesized oxygen, you will be comfortable to sleep, if you want to refresh, you do not have to get up, there is a book underneath, within easy reach, should be able to help you.
Walk down the steps, step into the hall, the corner of a phonograph and some vinyl records, grunge is slowly, but I can tell you, Riccardo in fact uses Bluetooth connected to a cell phone in the playback of the song. The combination of classical and rock and roll, but also in the two young people’s restlessness.
This is not so much a place to try out your body as it is a place of self-appreciation. The round table across from the mirror is the place for Espresso. This is the living room, and while there are quite a few cloth swatches over there, and while you do get to pick fabrics at this table, its best use is for a little sip and gossip.
Through the archway, from the parlor into the workroom, where Riccardo likes to listen to music, reminisce about Milan, and draw the client’s pattern.
The workspace is brightly lit and there is not a lot of conversation, as two girls apprentice to the sewing process.
A young team, classical and restless music in the background, but also a gentle and quiet stitching, this image cannot be a painting, because a painting is too thin to contain so many layers of meaning.
LV Wuren, formerly worked in W.W.Chan Chengdu, is currently at Solari where he and Riccardo hit it off.
The wall behind the workbench is covered with fabric labels, which can be treated as a philatelic wall, and if you have the time, it should be quite fun to discover fabric brands you haven’t seen before.
The real place to take your measurements and try on your body is actually in a small room further in, through yet another archway into this medieval Mediterranean style room, spacious and private, where you can admire your beautiful flesh.
I would call Solari a family-run workshop, not so much in terms of size, but in terms of the atmosphere that welcomes friends to come and have a little get-together.
I know bespoke clothing is expensive, but as an experience, it’s not bad value for money.
Chengdu and Italy meet at Solari.