Sartoria Seminara – “hidden” gem in Florence

sartoria seminara

Last summer, during the summer Pitti Uomo in Florence, I visited renowed Florentine bespoke tailoring house Sartoria Seminara.

Gianni Seminara, the owner, not as famous as the neighboured Liverano or even smaller Corcos (who trained under Seminara before setting up his own atelier), is mostly known amongst local customers and even more so in Asia. Gianni has been featured in Men’s Ex numerous times and has an established reputation as one on of the best bespoke tailors in Florence.

One of his characteristics is that he does not use patterns. Gianni told me that his clients “order suits on average every 2 years. They change quite a bit during this time and I found that every time they order I had to adjust the pattern anyway. So I might just as well draw it directly on the fabric”.

sartoria seminara

After an apprenticeship with master tailors from his native region of Calabria, and experience as a cutter in Florence, Giuseppe Seminara opened his own shop on Via Manzoni in 1957. In 1967 he moved to Via dei Calzaiuoli 10, and since 1997 his son Gianni, who I have met, has been running the business.
The atelier is truly beautiful. Located on the first floor of an apartment building with very high ceilings it features few rooms: office, fitting room with mirror and workshop. Front room is filled with all sorts of fabrics, you can find true gems there.

Second room features huge mirror, almost floor to ceiling high. This is where a rack with all the bespoke garments ready for fittings is placed, and boy I saw some special pieces there.

Sartoria Seminara is one of those remaining bespoke tailors not fully discovered by iGents and bespoke/menswear enthusiasts yet. Popularity of Liverano&Liverano, mostly through partnership with The Armoury is just off the roof nowadays, as are the prices. I have recently decided that I want to focus more on those smaller artisans mostly because of a better service they can provide, they offer more affordable (reasonable) prices and more private atmosphere.
In the end if I want to go bespoke I would like it to be an experience. It is of course much more difficult if they are extremely busy and allow very little time to do the measurements and cloth choice.

Gianni is a lovely gentleman. He was a pleasure to talk to when we met. Before our arrival we have been emailing and he responded to my messages very diligently. His English is also very good which is a big deal if you are going to discuss any details of your order with a tailor without translator.
If only I was in the market for a new suit or jacket Sartoria Seminara is my next choice.

I have seen two bespoke orders finished from Sartoria Seminara: one three-piece suit and one sport coat. Both lovely, Florentine style, seem to be a little softer than Liverano, both with extended shoulders and relatively highly rolled lapels (see below photo of my friend in his Seminara suit). Classic Florentine diagonal side dart as well, especially beneficial on patterned fabrics.

Please see more photos from my visit below. Hope you enjoyed this post on Sartoria Seminara!
Thanks for reading.

Sartoria Seminara
Via de Calzaiuoli, 10
50122 Firenze
Tel. : +39 055 28 94 62
E-mail: info@sartoria-seminara.com
http://www.sartoria-seminara.com/

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