By Manish Puri.
For my money it’s the most beautiful building in New York. And yet, despite being lucky enough to have been to the Big Apple on more than a dozen occasions, I’ve never actually been inside the Chrysler.
But today, after leaving Grand Central via the correct exit (itself a noteworthy accomplishment), instead of just gazing up at the steel gargoyles and the spire glinting in the early autumn sky, I’m going in.
The lobby glimmers with soft light and the rich browns of African marble, like the interior of an ornate Easter egg that’s slowly melting away. A security guard approaches and says, “How can I help you, sir?”
“I’m here to see Ralph Fitzgerald, the tailor.”
“Oh, Ralph. He’s on 49.” I’m ushered toward a bank of elevators and whisked skywards.
Ralph Fitzgerald started his career in London at the age of 16 when his Dad, who was friendly with a doorman at the nearby Scott’s restaurant, bagged his son an apprenticeship with Douglas Hayward on Mount Street. “He was the coolest tailor,” Ralph tells me, “I know Michael Caine’s Alfie was based on him, but I can’t believe there hasn’t been a movie made about Doug.
“I was there for four years and worked for no pay for the first two. It was totally worth it because I started as a nervous kid and came away with a lot of confidence.” For the record, Ralph’s claims of poverty aren’t strictly true: Roger Moore, upon delivery of a Hayward suit, did tip Ralph £50 for the express purpose of wining and dining an upcoming date.
After a spell at Kilgour, Ralph settled at Huntsman, and in 2017 was promoted to US Head Cutter and sent across the pond to help establish their pied à terre on West 57th Street, where he remained until he founded his own house in 2023.
Ralph’s house cut is clearly inspired by his London origins: strong shoulder, dropped gorge, nipped waist and lower buttoning point – often secured with a solitary button. (I could literally hear the strains of Mrs. Robinson as I tried on the rich corduroy jacket above).
I also found the double breasted model (below) very flattering. The low buttoning point (which Ralph favours as it exposes more of the shirt and tie), moderately wide bellied lapels, double buttonholes and rounded lapel points combine to look like the face of a somnolent fox.
Ralph also prefers a wider collar piece as it helps the leaf-edge of the collar to read straight upon the form – which he thinks looks better. It’s fascinating how, having expressed doubts about a bigger collar in the review of my Taillour DB (reservations that most readers politely and helpfully dismissed in the comments), I’m really starting to appreciate a fuller collar panel. A lesson in being patient with your clothes and allowing the eye and the mind time to adjust.
In deference to the meteorological and sartorial climate of his newly adopted home, the house construction tends to be much more lightweight than a traditional London coat – with less padding and lighter canvas.
This is just one of the ways that Ralph has adapted to and embraced New York life. But, just as interesting to me is how his overall approach has a simplicity, clarity and openness to new ideas that I’ve always found to be characteristic of my favourite New Yorkers.
Take the fitting process. This is kept as simple as possible – the majority of Ralph’s garments are delivered fin-bar-fin after one baste fitting, i.e. finished without buttonholes and with the lining still to be hand felled. As a result, turnaround times are relatively short: around 10 weeks for a first commission and five weeks for repeat orders.
While it’s fairly unusual to skip a forward fitting, Ralph’s model has been honed by his experience of US trunk shows – where a garment can easily take over a year to finish. As he explains: “Time is a big factor here. It’s nobody’s fault, but I think people get exhausted by lots of fittings.”
With that said, Ralph made it clear to me that he wouldn’t baulk at offering a forward fitting if one were needed. In his experience, he’s just found that it’s not often the case. I’d recommend that any potential customers with concerns reach out to Ralph beforehand. However, ultimately, the proof is in the wearing, and that’s something I will be able to comment on in the future.
Ralph’s pricing is also a good example of clarity. Sports coats are $5,000, and suits and overcoats $6,000. These are fixed rates for most cloths, barring super-luxe selections such as cashmere, vicuña and alpaca – the latter used for the overcoat above which is my favourite commission of the year (alas, not mine). As Ralph explains, “It’s frustrating for a customer when they’re told an initial price and then get charged an extra 10% because they picked a more expensive cloth.”
I’d agree with that sentiment and add that, in a pricey town, Ralph represents good value, especially when you consider that more established American purveyors of an English style, such as the travelling Savile Row tailors or Leonard Logsdail, can charge up to nearly twice as much.
Of course, the decision to have fewer fittings helps to control costs, plus those other businesses carry more prestige and significantly higher overheads than Ralph’s nascent, one-man enterprise.
At the heart of Ralph’s tailoring identity is an openness to new ideas. Recently finished commissions that I saw hanging on the rails included a reversible satin/alpaca bomber jacket, a trench coat made in a reproduction World War II cloth by Hainsworth, and a barathea jumpsuit for a Pilates instructor (below).
“I think tailors should be excited to do something different. I’m not better than any garment, and I like to understand how things are made,” he says.
In my opinion, it’s that enthusiasm and willingness to try new things that’s helped Ralph become an inadvertent hit with the ladies…in business terms! Around 50% of his clientele is women.
“New York women have incredible taste and they’re often accustomed to paying very high designer prices, so when they walk into a bespoke studio and realise they can have whatever they want for a similar amount it’s a shock to the system. Women are also great at spreading the word if they’re happy.”
I asked Ralph about the challenges of adapting to cutting for women: “It’s not rocket science, but, of course, it is significantly different. However, the main difference isn’t technical, it’s taste.
“Generally, there will be small differences in men’s taste. But women have wildly different preferences on the shoulder line, lapel, shape through the waist, trouser style – it’s far more challenging in that way. But that’s where I think the cutter’s skill lies: working out what the customer wants.”
At present, Ralph sends all his cut bundles to London to be basted and finished. “There’s some incredibly skilled makers in New York, and I’d love to have everything made here one day, but there isn’t the same capacity as there is in London,” he says.
However, minor alterations and certain finishing touches are done in New York – including two of my favourite stylistic flourishes of Ralph’s.
The first is the precisely stitched buttonholes – long and lean with a small keyhole, they resemble matchsticks and are among the neatest I’ve come across.
The second is cloth-covered buttons. Ralph found a shop in the Garment District that would cover them, and now it’s become something of a signature on evening wear, overcoats and even blazers. It’s a detail that I always liked on George Cortina’s Anderson & Sheppard suits (from the days when he was a fixture on The Sartorialist’s now-defunct blog), and I think it looks particularly charming on winter clothing, as though the buttons are chilly and need a protective layer too.
That Ralph was pottering about in the Garment District will come as little surprise to those that know him. He has a self-declared passion for sourcing cloth, and his vintage collection – much of it scored in that neighbourhood – is as interesting as any I’ve seen. Among his stash you’ll find hand-dyed ombré lambswool, Pierre Cardin alpaca and a prototype worsted-spun cashmere-denim made by Dormeuil.
“The Garment District is sat on so much rare and wonderful cloth, and a lot of it is really unusual because it comes from the fabric development teams of big designer brands. A new find that I really like is cotton gauze [as seen on the first DB shown in this article]. It gives some of the same effect as linen, but it’s more porous, requires less maintenance and tailors better in my view.”
For my first commission with Ralph I chose a vintage navy Japanese wool seersucker (above) that is so crisp and textured it could double as a very gentle skin exfoliator – not a property I’d normally commend to you, but you really should feel this stuff. Count on a review from me when it’s ready next year.
I left Ralph to the tranquillity of his studio, high above the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan. “It’s nice just to lose yourself in your own stuff, and not see what everyone else is doing all the time,” he tells me.
As I exited the majestic Chrysler I took one last admiring glance at the spire – and asked myself ‘Has it always looked like a sewing needle?’
Manish is @the_daily_mirror on Instagram
Ralph Fitzgerald can be contacted at [email protected]. All images are courtesy of Ralph Fitzgerald.
