this cotton suit Luca Museo Been through some ups and downs, and I still don’t think it’s quite right.
The first suit that Korean tailors made for me was covered HereHad a great fit and an interesting style, bigger on the body than anything I had before. I’ve grown to like it, while also realizing that it’s not my original style.
People said they could make something thinner and take up less space, so we decided to try it last year. They definitely reduced the coverage and fullness of the body, but took it a little too far. The shoulders remained fairly wide – as wide as any other tailor I’ve used – but the body was surprisingly close.
We also had a fitting, so I was going to cover up the suit at that time, especially since it was the last day of summer. It was August 2025, and we shot it in Zurich in early September (below), when we were in town a reader program with trunk.
Most of the fit wasn’t bad at all – the tough stuff like balance and collar fit were solid. Overall, the Luca Museo team has been as good at it as other Korean tailors like Assisi And bee and tailor.
But style-wise the suit was an odd combination, and the trousers were too narrow to be comfortable.
We arranged for another fitting at Pitti in January this year and I got the suit a few months later. While the jackets were improved, the trousers were awkward – a lot flared out in the hem, but were still tight in the fork and seat. I had to adjust them locally before they became wearable.
My idea for the suit was that it would be an update elia caliendo one I made one 10 years ago, and sadly doesn’t fit anymore (above). Those lightweight cotton fabrics make wonderful summer suits, especially in earthy colors, and are a great alternative to classic linen.
While Luca Museo’s style would differ from the soft, rounded cut of the Neapolitan Caliendo, I was hoping that the extended shoulders would add some elegance without sacrificing the lightweight feel. A bit like a Roman suit, perhaps, with a summer-friendly lightness but a little more classicism in the silhouette.
I guess I was right that it would have been a good style, but the Luca Museo suit still seemed a slightly odd combination of cuts, and when I would wear it, I think it was a mistake to ask the tailor to try to change his usual style.
Of course this is a mistake I have made in the past and I have even written about it to try to blame myself – ‘let the tailor cut your style‘ – but here I wasn’t asking for anything radical, just a slightly slimmer fit than the obviously larger one of the first suit.
Like many things with custom commissioning, the problem probably comes down to communication, and making a suit of a style you see around you – hanging, at the tailor himself – is a form of communication: you see a style of suit, you make it to your size in the material you choose.
Verbal communication becomes more important when you want to be apart of it and that was lacking here. The language skills of the Luca Museo team are not bad, but they are not perfect, and communication is also not just about language, but the willingness to ask questions, to make the situation awkward by double-checking things.
General communication is not something the team have been very good at, for example telling me when the suits will be ready, or when they will arrive. This is not helped by the fact that they are represented by a Hong Kong shop caller, and it is not always clear who is in charge. (I asked for clarification on this and it is detailed at the end.)
If Luca Museo’s style works for you, and you can have ready, consistent access, they remain a great choice. They are reasonably priced and as I said, technically very good.
Our colleague Manish had A great suit made for him (above)Which certainly suits him, and he’s currently getting another one made. He covered his first suit (and compared it to mine) Here.
But otherwise I would proceed with caution. Of course, as we always do, I explained all this to the caller team – no desire to upset anyone – and they seem to understand.
More than anything else, I hope we can help emerging tailors find the most effective way to succeed in the long term, because that’s how niche businesses are built. When bespoke is going well, it really is the most rewarding and beautiful way to buy clothes. But it is not an easy business to set up.
Exclusive cotton suit from Korean tailor Luca Muzio via Hong Kong store Collar. Fabric: Holland & Sherry 9oz Cotton, 276009. Price $3800.
Koller’s founder Jaden Chan is also the foreign director of Luca Museo, which could lead to confusion. Collar is based in Hong Kong and also has its own sewing lines, with production in Hong Kong, Korea and Japan. Luca Museo contributes the Korean part to that production. Collar tailoring is divided into red and black lines, with red being more domestic and black being done directly by artisans from those countries.
Other clothes in main costume:
- White Linen Shirt by D’Avino
- vintage tan leather belt
- PS boat shoes
- Ichizawa Hanpu Tote, Via Trunk
- eb meyrowitz sunglasses
