For some, the costume is sometimes a source of paradoxes: we love its elegance, but after a while, we are tired of the overwhelming majority of austere and common colors.
We therefore begin to want a suit with a stronger and/or more exclusive material. This is what we wanted to explore with our new costume.
The goal in my head was ambitious: to make people who don't like costumes want to wear this costume.
And suddenly, around the bend of a cliff, a costume like no other appears…
My mission will be successful if, during a casual weekend, between wearing a usual outfit and this suit, you choose our suit. Not to go to work, but for a dinner with friends for example. With your sneakers, or a pair of brogues.
And there, only there, can I consider that we have succeeded in relaxing the costume!
Last thing: I wanted a suit that could be mismatched very easily , so that I could wear the jacket and pants separately in a wide variety of outfits.
If you want to wear this costume just (and above all) to have a drink with good friends, I have succeeded in my mission!
Just once, I love this suit so much that I wanted to have a little fun with it, and show you its potential when worn "normally" (shirt, tie, shoes):
It made me want to wear the costume again! Howard's shirt, Husbands tie, and Barker shoes.
I was already a big supporter of the green tie, now I am even more so! It's a color that blends superbly with this Prince of Wales. Howard's shirt and Husbands tie.
These pants are a bit special, but we'll talk about them at the end of the article :) Barker shoes and Mes Chaussettes Rouges socks.
With these specifications geared towards relaxation, it was not possible to take a completely flat combed wool. We needed relief, pattern, nuance , and if there is one manufacturer who could satisfy us on all these points, it is the Italian Ferla.
But what is this strange material? Where is she from ? Answer in a moment! Oh, and the pockets are patched to add casualness and use the blazer as a mismatch.
Ferla, a luxurious Italian draper… centenary!
I'll be blunt: I love Ferla.
And that’s where… the first problem arises!
Usually, Italian suppliers have very “explanatory” communication. Watch all content from Vitale Barberis Canonico, Albini or Candiani.
They quickly understood that the market was demanding explanations, workshop images, and education. And the biggest have invested heavily in this direction
The only aerial photo of the workshop! I mainly deduce from this that Ferla is located in a haven of greenery… #inspectorcolombo (photo credit: Ferla)
On the other hand, at Ferla, there is not much to eat.
It's all the more surprising for such an old company, with world-famous archives, which must have a ton of stuff to tell, and whose creativity is unrivaled (I'll come back to this point in a moment).
A glimmer of hope remains: they told us that they would agree to open their doors to our cameras if our collaboration were to establish itself over the long term... We very much hope to come back with a beautiful video report for next year !
Despite everything, let's investigate and see what relevant information we can recover...
A small family business with a century of existence
Ferla employs 40 people, which is very few for an Italian draper! Besides, when I talk about Ferla to other Italian suppliers to say that I like its creativity, I am told each time " yes but you know, Ferla are artisans, that's why they are so expensive .
One of the very rare interior photos of the factory, with this curious parquet floor. (photo credit: Ferla)
While Italian drapers try to push prices down to remain competitive, Ferla has made the opposite choice, namely to remain very clearly at the high end, with a unique and creative offer.
This is how this very small company was able to carve out a place of choice among all the luxury brands
Here too, a photo without explanation, where the fabric is obviously being washed, and where the machine seems to be very modern. (photo credit: Ferla)
For the record, they only have two French clients: a very large luxury house and… us! Finally, a surprising thing for an Italian manufacturer: due to their unique know-how, they are quite secret, and little information circulates about them
In my opinion, there are three points that make Ferla's positioning unique:
The Ferla touch #1: characteristic creativity 
An inimitable touch! (photo credit: Ferla) They are creative, but it always remains very tasteful, and elegant, it doesn't go all over the place with WTF and unwearable things. In short, they have really specific fabrics, very easily recognizable.
This color mix is magnificent. (photo credit: Ferla)
The Ferla touch #2: an unparalleled sense of texture
They are all about loop and texture, which gives their fabric a “signature” hand, very difficult to find elsewhere. And believe me, having searched for such textured and creative equivalents for a long time, I know what I'm talking about!
Ferla, given its small size, offers a surprising variety of textures. (photo credit: Ferla)
For this, they do not hesitate to try numerous blends with wool, silk, linen, mohair, alpaca, and when necessary, polyamide to provide strength.
The Ferla touch #3: baby alpaca specialists… but not only
Tell yourself that these three fabrics are among the most sober that you can find at Ferla. I'll let you imagine the rest! (photo credit: Ferla)
They are specialists in baby alpaca, they have entire fabric collections on this theme. It's a material that is not easy to work with creatively and they always come up with super cool designs. Moreover, very, very few Italian drapers venture out.
They also use mohair extensively, as they are very fond of these luxurious and fluffy wools.
And here, we have much stronger fabrics! (photo credit: Ferla)
Ferla is my little pleasure when I'm in a professional salon. I absolutely want to stop by their stand (much too small and discreet compared to their added value, you don't come across it by chance) because you'll be amazed by their new fabrics.
A Prince of Wales with a baby alpaca, cotton, polyamide blend
A Ferla fabric with an unusual composition!
Basically, this fabric is a Prince of Wales. But all Ferla's know-how has been to relax it thanks to the curly texture he has the secret to and the use of baby alpaca.
Here is the exact composition:
- 38% baby alpaca
- 33% cotton
- 29% polyamide
You are probably wondering why there is almost 30% polyamide in this material. For once it is very useful: it allows you to obtain the curl effect which gives all the charm to this fabric. If there were none, the material would disintegrate too easily, because it is the polyamide which gives structure and robustness.
Do you feel the polyamide when worn? Short answer: no.
During my personal tests, where I wore the jacket in several temperatures, I did not notice anything particular compared to a 100% wool: no excessive sweating in particular. I think it's due to the cotton which provides lightness.
The famous Ferla label on their fabrics including baby alpaca.
This curl effect obtained thanks to polyamide quickly becomes hypnotic. There is a slight "blur" on the pattern, and above all it is a material incredibly rich in nuances. He is therefore a Prince of Wales really unlike any other, much more modern than the "first degree" Prince of Wales that we see almost everywhere.
For the more technical among you, the weight of the material is 290g per linear meter or, in square meters, 190 g/m2 , which makes a suit very suitable for autumn, winter, and spring.
The star element of this material is obviously the Baby Alpaca , it is he who gives this roughness so difficult to find elsewhere, difficult to describe in writing.
It's both soft, but with grain, and the feel and drape have a "velvety" side.
It is definitely the most beautiful in daylight. Also note that gray and burgundy are two colors that complement each other wonderfully.
What is baby alpaca?
It is a species of camelid from South America, which also includes llamas and vicuñas. Since they live at high altitude in the Andes, they have a fleece to protect them from the cold, and that is precisely what interests us!
Their particularity? They have a smiling face when you look at them from the front:
Yes, this is an animal that has enormous swag. In scientific jargon, we say that I am anthropomorphizing.
How is Baby Alpaca measured?
Some myths remain around the baby alpaca: some say that it is the first shearing of the little alpaca aged a year or two, etc.
Yes, that may be the case, but the term "baby alpaca" simply refers to the fineness of the fiber. An adult with a very fine fleece will be able to produce “baby alpaca” grade fibers.
Obviously, we are indeed much more likely to find this finesse on alpacas aged 1 or 2 years at the first shearing than on an adult! Hence the name “baby alpaca”.
Please note, depending on the country, the classification of the "baby alpaca" grade does not necessarily represent the same fiber thickness. But it's safe to say that between all classifications, this represents a thickness between 18 and 23 microns.
In the case of the alpaca used in this material, Ferla told us that it is a 19 micron fiber .
In the American classification system, it is the highest grade: the name "royal baby alpaca" , which corresponds to alpaca fibers whose fineness is equal to or less than 19 microns.
In Europe , you must have fibers less than or equal to 18 microns to be considered Royal Baby Alpaca. This is why on Ferla's composition label, it says "Baby Alpaca" and not "Royal Baby Alpaca"
Among its advantages:
- it is hypoallergenic since it does not contain lanolin unlike sheep
- its thermal properties, due to the fineness of the fiber, are very close to those of cashmere
- and obviously, it is a very soft and resistant fiber!
Finally, it is a rare material, since according to Ferla, it represents 1.5% of alpaca wool production . We might as well tell you that you will be touching this material for the first time, you will be very attentive!
A color just for us
Note that this is a color that was created specifically for us
And with a manufacturer who has such good taste in colors, it really wasn't difficult to get the "just" gray.
A pattern full of nuances! And again, I find that no photo does justice to the “real” effect of this fabric.
Quantities revised upwards… thanks to the enthusiasm of the BonneGueule team
Moreover, given the price of the material, we had planned to release 180 costumes.
But there was such enthusiasm among the team for this costume, that we decided to directly plan an automatic restocking for the end of January...
Regarding the price, I'll be honest, since it's one of the most expensive materials we've used (in the top 3 with the wool/linen/silk and wool/silk/cashmere blazers), it This is a suit that couldn't be less than €600, the usual price of our suits. Yes, the material costs twice as much as a very good 100% wool fabric.
These slight irregularities, these variations of gray, are clearly a material to see above all “in real life”.
To wear mismatched
With such a casual fabric, it's a perfect suit to wear mismatched, that is, to have an outfit with the jacket, but without the pants. And vice versa.
As for the jacket, you can consider it as a blazer in its own right that can be easily worn with jeans, chinos or wool flannel pants. The cut is the same as our usual blazers, so you will be on conquered territory.
It's a blazer that can be worn very easily with jeans.
FOR THIS BLAZER, OUR USUAL HIGH-END FINISHES
HORN BUTTONS
As on all our blazers and coats, you will find beautiful horn buttons.
THE “KISSING BUTTONS”
It's a blazer with "kissing buttons": the buttons overlap slightly, and it's another nod to the tailoring world.
GAPED SEAMS
Since this blazer is unlined, all seams are visible.
It is therefore necessary to carefully bind each seam. It's longer, but so much more beautiful! 
AN AMERICAN PARMENTURE
Even if it's not obvious at first glance, the photo below shows the inside of the jacket, at the left front panel. You see that there is not really a lining, but the outer fabric goes back inside the jacket.
We call it an American facing.
It's more expensive to do because it requires using more high-end fabric, but the effect when you open your jacket is incommensurable.
A semi-lined blazer
Pants with a slight carrot cut
For this suit, there was no question of a banal cut of the pants. So the cut is very close to the joggers that we released in January.
For what ? With an original material like this, we had to explore a different silhouette!
Important: on the shoot, the pants are deliberately worn short, because it is in the spirit of this costume as we imagined it, but at launch, they will be a normal length, including cuffs. The photos are therefore not representative of the current length.
It was clear that with such a material, it was necessary to have a slightly more original cut of pants than usual...
I insist on the fact that it is a slight carrot cut and certainly not a jogging suit. So, compared to normal pants, we have added 1.5 cm at the hips (but the measurement at the waist remains strictly the same, so continue to take your usual size). As for the thighs, we added 0.5 cm to each of them compared to our normal pants.
However, there is a clip on each leg, exactly like the joggers, to provide ease.
At the ankle level, however, these are fitted pants, since the leg opening is between 16 and 16.5 cm (due to industrial tolerances) for a size 48.
To give you an idea of the actual length of the pants, I went to the other side of the camera to show them to you:
This is the correct length of the pants when you receive them . It is a little longer than in the photos of Renaud in Iceland.
The advantage of having a fitted ankle opening is that your shoes will really stand out!
An optional cuff
These pants end with a beautiful cuff!
What if you don't like setbacks?
Don't panic, with two cuts of the scissors, any seamstress will "free" the cuff and make you a classic pant bottom. But if you want my personal opinion, I think it's a shame to do it. Indeed, with this costume we want to encourage you to add some roughness to your outfit, to try new things... And keeping the cuffs as is is one of them!
Its cut, its lapels and its design will allow it to be relevant in an outfit with sneakers, or a nice pair of English shoes (which is what I did when I wore it).
Really, don't hesitate to mismatch these pants, especially with your sweaters, they will add a very nice twist to your outfits. Here, we also had fun with colorful socks (Archduchess), but can be more restrained about it.
In this regard, the gray of the fabric easily calms the atypical color of the sock (Archduchesse). And again, this is not the representative length of the pants , they will normally be long on launch day!
The high-end finishes of these pants
The V comfort at the back of the waistband
It's a very tailor-made finish, which legend has it that it gives more mobility to the belt... In fact, visually, I find that it gives soul to the pants.
Yes, yes, you can see a small slit in the middle of the photo!
Side tightening tabs for optimal fit
These are our first pants which inaugurate this nod to the world of tailoring:
The horn buttons, also on the pants!
As usual, they are there, and provide beautiful nuances compared to a plain plastic button.
My favorite finish: the three-button closure
This is surely the most high-end finish of these pants. Usually it's one or two buttons, here there are three. This helps distribute support well and adds comfort.
This is the inside of the pants...
And there is the view from the outside. Note that when the pants are fully buttoned, the button just above the zip is no longer visible, unlike the button on the far left.
One final warning…
I would still like to warn you: if you want to be as discreet as possible and blend in as much as possible, or if you are looking for the most basic costume available, this may not be the costume for you.
On the other hand, if you like to have a more unique piece, this costume is for you!
See you soon on the other side,
Benedict
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