May 12, 2023 |
An atelier rooted in the art of handmade tailoring, Atelier Saman Amel’s clientele had remained on the more senior side at its start, but recently, it’s been seeing a shift, with dapper youngins buying in and experimenting with the ways that tailoring can fit into a more “fashion forward” ensemble and be used to express aesthetic identity. In line with this shift, the Scandi brand has undertaken a collaborative project with leading luxury online retailer MatchesFashion, which launched earlier this week. It’s a refined edit, revering in gentle sophistication “Matches is an optimal partner for us in terms of catering to that [youthful] client in a way that is lustful,” says co-founder Dag Granath.
17 everyday pieces are on offer: think notch lapel jackets in silk canvas, linen and bamboo, zipped technical jackets, pleated linen trousers, light wash denim jeans and “featherlight” – according to Granath – cashmere-blend crew-neck sweaters, polos and t-shirts. “We always start with fabrics and the tactile sensation you get from them on your body,” he explains. “Jackets in slubby raw silk or smooth bamboo, suits in washed linen, knitwear in cashmere and silk…”
It’s an edited, total-wardrobe curation, so silhouettes are classic, subtly elegant, softly understated and able to be mixed and matched with additional collection items or whatever else lives deep in your chaotic closet. “The concept of being able to wear the capsule either as a full suit or mixing the denim with the jacket, we know it will instantly resonate with tailoring fans from Matches and we are delighted to offer this exclusively for our customers,” says Damien Paul, the head of menswear at MatchesFashion, in the collection release.
With MatchesFashion, the atelier was able to dig deeper into the playful and festive side of design for the first time, focussing on building a small capsule for “someone who has an exciting summer ahead of them”. Granath describes its contents as “lighter, brighter and more playful,” than any of the label’s earlier ready to wear concepts. Providing a somewhat surprising answer when asked what kind of man he envisions wearing the collection, Granath says: “As far as we are concerned it might be a woman. In one day, we can meet a young graffiti artist, a senior art advisor and a partner at a major lawyer firm. We are very proud of that mix.”
Maintaining the atelier’s consistently monochrome palette, the clobber comes in white, ivory, black, baby blue and chocolate brown colourways – its simplicity inspired by the design duo’s Scandinavian heritage. With an emphasis on individuality, the partnership invites in garments that age gracefully alongside their owners.
Founded in 2015 by childhood friends Dag Granath and Saman Amel out of Stockholm after years of personally creating bespoke and haute couture garments for themselves, friends and family members, Atelier Saman Amel revels in a simple approach to designing. Granath and Amel always find their starting point in what they like to wear themselves, before instigating a dialogue with clients and tailors about those same pieces. “I think there is an idea about the designer as an autonomous “creative genius” sitting in his/her messy studio and coming up with exceptional designs,” Granath says. “[But] for us, the process is much more about the dialogue we continuously have with our community is this is where we draw our inspiration from.”
Operating primarily on a bespoke basis – with ready-to-wear cached in its back pocket – the brand usually works with an evolving permanent collection rather than with rapid seasonal shifts, applying a single unit production approach (producing single pieces for unique clients or exclusive ready-to-wear capsules) as opposed to one in mass. Plus, its ready-to-wear offerings are all produced to the same standard as its bespoke clothing, and in the same Italian facilities to boot. “The work that we do at Saman Amel is focused around the bespoke experience – meeting clients in private and helping them build their wardrobes over time,” says Granath. “It is about using traditional craft to create garments that can live in the client’s wardrobe for years and years.”
“Clothes are like music in the sense that a single garment or a single note only starts to make sense in the context of a greater whole like an outfit or a melody,” the co-creative director articulates. “When we work with private clients, we always think about how the things we are making today will make sense in their wardrobes five years from now. Sometimes, an existing client wants to come in and buy a few new jackets, but we might then say: “no, this is not what you need. We have already made a great deal of jackets for you that we have not seen you use. The problem is that you do not have the knitwear or shirts to make your existing jackets work for you”. In the short term we might be selling less, but in the longer term the client will gain trust and feel more comfort in the pieces they buy from us.”
Aligning itself with the conviction that craftsmanship sits at the very centre of modernity, every Atelier Saman amel garment is produced by skilled craftspeople with meticulous attention to detail and nuanced elegance. “I think that elegance relates to taste and having confidence in your taste,” Granath asserts. “Taste is, per definition, eclectic, and I cannot think of a person with great taste that is not also of a very curious nature and who is open to get his/her taste questioned. I think it is about identifying what’s best for you and eliminating the rest. For us, we really try to get to the core of the things that we do; every choice we make as designers needs to be an active one. I am not sure if that makes the clothes elegant, but at least there is an idea behind everything, and we take pride in that thoughtfulness.”
On a really special side note, the whole working world of Atelier Saman Amel has been transported from Stockholm to 5 Carlos Place in London, allowing customers to indulge in the full Atelier Saman Amel experience – now that’s a glorious feat. There, Granath will be available for a gab while you view the capsule collection and begin to understand more about the holistic approach the brand takes to working with its clients.
“There has been a great understanding from Damien Paul and Matches’ side that we are a company that works in a different way than the majority of the brands they partner with,” Granath comments. “There is a high level of professionalism and supportiveness in the entire team which is something we highly value.”
Whatever the case, Atelier Saman Amel has got your summer outings sorted.
The Atelier Saman Amel capsule is now available exclusively at MatchesFashion online and at its Mayfair townhouse at 5 Carlos Place, London. The Atelier Saman Amel experience will be in 5 Carlos Place from May 11 to 12. Photography and creative direction by Henrik Lundell and HLVM Partnership. Shop the collection here.
