The sartorial gems of the Netherlands – a bespoke project between Amidé Hadelin and Anton Noordink
Photo credits: Amidé Stevens
The Netherlands might not be the first place that pops into people’s minds when they’re thinking about tailoring and quality men’s clothing. Wooden shoes and cheese probably is what’s popping up usually and even though most of those wooden shoes are handmade by a craftsman, it isn’t considered as a sartorial item. Yet I’m born in that tiny country and started to be interested in clothing on a very early age and even was able to explore on that field here before I started to explore in other countries. Many people know some brands that supply the world with suits that are truly value for money and looking good, but real craftsman that actually make something are little known. This is perhaps not fair since there are still some craftsmen in the Netherlands that make garments which will make the Sartorialist happy. A couple of shirtmakers, shoemakers and bespoke tailors and some of them even very young. One of them is Anton Noordink who is in his twenty’s and finished a full education as men’s tailor. His atelier is in Enschede which is an old textile city and therefore quite suitable for a tailor.
Another sartorial gem I would like to mention is Amidé Hadelin. This accessory brand is started by Amidé Stevens, a gentleman that many people might know from Instagram. Amidé Hadelin is always having unique products in their collections and even though it is not produced in the Netherlands, but in quality ateliers in Italy and England, there is a Dutch touch to some of the products. There is for example a line of ties where Amidé Hadelin designed the printed designs for themselves. And not to forget are the Dutch Masters pocket squares with works on it from Dutch Master painters like Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh.
A Dutch bespoke project
Knowing both Anton Noordink and Amidé Stevens for a while now, brought the idea together with Wim Kuperus (Mister Seven) to connect these two sartorial artists. A good craftsman and a good designer always will create something beautiful and so it did in this case. Out of the introduction between them grew the project of a tweed jacket made by Anton Noordink with tweed from the Urgha Loomshed and a Dutch Masters lining from Amidé Hadelin. The way the jacket looks is of course completely designed by Amidé and as a good tailor is supposed to do, Anton followed up with every detail and put in his skills to make it a refined handmade garment. During the three fittings we made pictures and we asked Anton to make pictures during the process so we could see what he was doing and at the end we made pictures of Amidé wearing the garment in various ways matched with the accessories from Amidé Hadelin.
From the left to the right: Anton Noordink, Wim Kuperus, Amidé Stevens.
Photo credits: Amidé Stevens
Measuring and observing
Measuring is of course the most important part of the whole bespoke process. Without the correct measurements the garment will never fit well. In Dutch there is a saying ‘’meten is weten’’ which means literally translated ‘’measuring is knowing’’. I don’t mean to say that the Dutch have a better eye for measuring, but it’s in their culture to value the importance of measuring. For a bespoke garment more than thirty different measurements are taken and all noted down. Besides measuring Anton is also taking some time to observe the body of Amidé very detailed. The anatomy of the body plays a role in his head when he starts cutting the cloth. How is Amidé moving, how is he walking, what is the position of his shoulders? This is all crucial to keep in mind during the cutting process as Anton knows what to keep in mind when cutting the fabric. Of course there is the possibility to change things during the fittings but the less he has to change, the better it is. After measuring and observing, Amidé and Anton sit down together and talk through the details of the jacket.
Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft, c. 1660 - 1661
Source: www.mauritshuis.nl/
Amidé shows the lining he wants in the jacket which is silk printed with the Dutch master painting ‘’View on Delft’’ from Johannes Vermeer. The silk is printed in England. The fabric for the jacket is Harris Tweed woven in the Urgha Loomshed on the Isle of Harris, Scotland. Amidé would like to have wider lapels and the jacket has to have two buttons on the front to close it. The shoulders should be soft but not without padding, a bit of padding is to Amidé his liking to make it look more British. On the sides he chooses for patched pockets and on the sleeves 4 kissing buttons. The jacket is ‘’bespoken’’ now and Anton can start to work.
The road to the first fitting
After the first meeting for measuring and observing Anton started cutting the cloth in his Enschede atelier. He is going to make a basted fitting in which he still has plenty of opportunities to change things and adjust the fit. And since it is the first time he is making something for Amidé the fittings are extremely important so he can get used to the anatomy of his new customer Amidé. It also gives Amidé the opportunity to change his mind on small aesthetic details. During the first fitting we see all of this working out as Anton makes a couple of adjustments to the way the jacket fits and Amidé decides that the lapels may be a couple of inches wider as he likes that. The jacket looks for now unfinished, but it looks like a jacket. The sleeves and the sides of the jacket are from a fabric that will not be used in the jacket, but he puts them there in order to see how the sleeves are fitting on Amidé and how he will match the pattern of the sleeves well with the rest of the jacket. Anton notes all the changes down and is putting pins in the parts that have to be adjusted and goes back to his atelier to get ready for the second fitting.
Photo credits: Amidé Stevens
Photo credits: Amidé Stevens
Second fitting
After Anton has been working in his atelier again to make adjustments and build up the jacket a bit further it is time for the second fitting. The sleeves and sides are in now and he made the lapels a bit wider like Amidé asked. We still see canvas here and there as the jacket is not finished yet. But it looks already more like a jacket then it did before. During the fitting the jacket is fitting quite nicely although Anton sees a couple of things he wants to adjust since he is a perfectionist. Once he put in his pins, and noted the adjustments he needs to make, it is time for him to take it back to the atelier and start to make adjustments as well as finishing the jacket. Now the time also comes to put in the special lining by Amidé Hadelin with the artwork ‘’View on Delft’’ from Johannes Vermeer. The buttons can go on the jacket and Anton makes the finishing touches and most importantly is pressing the jacket nicely, so it looks crisp.
Photo credits: Amidé Stevens
Third fitting and photoshoot
The third fitting is in fact also the delivery of the jacket when it fits well and that is the case. Amidé seems happy and slips into the jacket comfortably. Time for the photoshoot of which you can enjoy the photos below.
