A MEETING WITH LUIGI (MESCIU GIGI)
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Some time ago, we visited our inspiration master Luigi, in our homeland Lecce (Italy).
He welcomed our team into his home, where he recounted some of his fondest memories and shared his experiences with us in this interview guided by Luca Giusto (Head of Production).
Luca: Where are you from?
Luigi: I am from a small town near Lecce called Salve.
Luca: When did you realize that you wanted to become a tailor?
Luigi: When I was little. During my elementary school days my parents would drop me off at our local tailor in the afternoon after school. In our little town, I cleaned the floors, supplied the fuel for the iron, I threaded the needle, and while I was there, I watched how they cut and I would learn with my eyes the secrets of this amazing master tailor. At Christmas my parents would offer a beautiful gift to the master tailor as a present for my apprenticeship.
Luca: In which city would you like to have been a tailor full-time?
Luigi: For a time I badly wanted to go to Rome to become a tailor but eventually I preferred to remain in Lecce, the land of my ancestors, and to teach the youth. I am very happy with my decision.
Luca: Did you only have clients from Lecce or did you have any other clients from around Italy?
Luigi: The majority of my clients were from Apulia but I had clients from Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna. My clients were teachers, police officers, and doctors.
Luca: Did your suit coat have anything particular that made it different from all the others?
Luigi: Everything was hand stitched, done only by hand. Everything by hand. Regarding the designs of my handiwork, I often catered to the needs of my clients. I became quite adept in many different styles. But I did have my own preferred style. I liked to make a suit jacket with darting similar to a Neapolitan jacket and the shoulders similar to a Florentine jacket. I liked to include two vents in the back for more comfort while sitting and a two button jacket. My favorite item to add to a jacket was a long and rounded notch lapel, a bit like a tuxedo shawl but with my own touch. It made for a very unique and distinct look.
Luca: How was the work organized in your tailor shop?
Luigi: My wife helped me greatly, she was the manager of the tailor shop, she organized all the work, and at times she would even help me cut. She was always very attentive and patient. My wife was an expert of embroidery, particularly of bobbin embroidery, a style typical of Salento.
Everything was hand stitched, done only by hand. Everything by hand. Regarding the designs of my handiwork, I often catered to the needs of my clients. I became quite adept in many different styles. But I did have my own preferred style. I liked to make a suit jacket with darting similar to a Neapolitan jacket and the shoulders similar to a Florentine jacket. I liked to include two vents in the back for more comfort while sitting and a two button jacket. My favorite item to add to a jacket was a long and rounded notch lapel, a bit like a tuxedo shawl but with my own touch. It made for a very unique and distinct look.
Luigi working, many years ago
Luca: Do you enjoy traveling?
Luigi: Yes, I liked traveling a lot, especially going to Rome and Florence for art, and after that I would go to the theater to watch the opera.
Luca: What thing did you enjoy cutting the most?
Luigi: I enjoyed cutting all kinds of fabrics. But if pressed to give an opinion, I would say I preferred the more peculiar and difficult fabrics to work with. And when I finished my job, I knew I could leave satisfied after having completed something challenging.
Luca: How was your relationship with your clients?
Luigi: With all my clients we slowly but surely became friends, often they would come to my shop and we would talk about everything, especially politics, and local happenings of our town. I'll never forget my son’s school teacher assigned my son to read the “Divine Comedy” and he used to come into my shop where he would study Dante as I would cut fabrics and quiz him along the way.
Luca: What advice would you give to younger gentlemen today with respect to how to dress stylishly?
Luigi: I have always loved the classical and elegant, using beautiful and valuable fabrics. Today many things have changed but it would be nice to see a collection created out of the classic experience but with a new scent attractive to the gentlemen of today. A classic but also sporty look, with beautiful fabrics, like pure cashmere, wool, or silk.
My favorite colors have always been greens, browns, and blues, the colors of my region.
More than a conversation
That day, in a display of magnanimity, Luigi officially passed his “forbici” (the scissors with which he had cut fabrics for over fifty years) to our President Nicolas Segura, as part of a careful but improvised investiture. Thus begins a new era at Mesciu Gigi, an age nourished by the collective wisdom of artisans and craftsmen.
