As a nobleman, Raphael Medina Abascal knows a thing or two about fine suits. That’s why, as creative director of Massimo Dutti’s men’s tailoring division, it all comes naturally to him. Abascal, who’s actually the 20th Duke of Feria in Spain, was recently in Dubai to help relaunch the personal tailoring service at Massimo Dutti. The Directory caught up with him to talk the art of power dressing.
Massimo Dutti has always had a personal tailoring division. So what are we relaunching?
Yes, we’ve had the service for the last 10 years and our personal tailoring service is now in 54 stores in 15 countries. But this time, we’re not only improving the service, but also launching a capsule collection along with it. We’ve completely changed our way of working, of providing service and giving the customer the experience. And the focus is on fine tailoring.
Personal tailoring is usually in the domain of high-end labels. How are you going to compete with that?
We definitely have more accessible prices. We are accessible luxury. What we try to do is offer our clients a real tailoring experience with the highest quality products and the finest clothes and fabrics you can make them with. Not only suits, but also shirts. And ultimately deliver a great experience and great product.
We also want to make it easier, make it better and help you understand that a good tailored suit can last for a very long time.
What other new things have you added to the service?
There are a lot of new things. Before you could only do suits and jackets. Now you can do sport coats, shirts, sports shirts etc. Before you could do only formal shirts. Now you can do flannel shirts, linen, cotton shirts, all handmade. We can now do three pieces suits with double-breasted waist coats, for instance, that you couldn’t do in the past. With added designs.
For the capsule collection, we’ve differentiated three worlds: The country world, which is meant for the weekend. The Business collection, for everyday work clothes. And then there is the Extreme Lux, for a man that stands for extravagance.
Walk me through the process of making a suit.
Firstly, when you walk in, I will ask you what you need. Do you need a shirt for the weekend? For work? Or for an event or wedding? Then It’s a really easy process that will only take 10 minutes. The only things you have to choose is the cloth, the linen, the buttons and what style you like. The rest is in the hands of the tailoring specialists. We wanted to make it a very quick process because a lot of people don’t have the time.
And there’s an online experience?
Yes. We’ve built an entire online lifestyle experience on our website, which is an introduction to the full canvas of what we offer. There, we talk about different ways of dressing, discuss restaurants and clubs. Basically, anything that’s related to fine tailoring. We also have a full accessories collection that we’ve built around the looks.
We’ve also built into our app a service that will let returning customers order their shirts or suits through the app. That service will be launched soon.
How different are customers in the Middle East compared to the rest of the world?
Not very different. Because of the weather, the need for softer, lighter materials are higher. But as far as style is concerned, it’s universal.
Go get yours
The Massimo Dutti personal tailoring service is available at The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates. Call 04-3399070.
