FROM MAKING clothes for friends in an attic, to becoming his native city Boston’s leading bespoke tailor, to helping to pioneer recycle designer clothing in the Paris collections, Geoffrey B. Small has continually been on a mission to save the lost art of designing and making clothes by hand. Now working in Italy, his limited edition collection brings this artisanal concept to its most refined level to date.
A dedicated research collection of entirely handmade pieces made by the designer himself in his apartments in Italy. Maximum production limited to 500 pieces total for worldwide distribution, 1-25 pieces per model. Offering advanced artisanal techniques in textile treatment, new garment construction, and Small’s signature vintage recycle design.
Perfecting the Art of the Imperfect
At a time when many are claiming to be making items by hand, few actually are. Every piece in Small’s production is imperfect, perfect proof of its authentic individual creation. Each order is made one-at-a-time in Japanese- style Kanban method. Each recycle article is personally selected, prepared, cut, resized, reconstructed and finished by hand. Each new production article requires paper patterns, cutting, sewing and pressing all by hand. And all items are hand-packed individually for delivery to clients.
Even the hangtags are filled in by hand
denoting the client the article was made for, and the numbered series production of the article.
Since 1991, all hangtag information has been written by hand detailing the article, size, fabric, color and client the piece was made for. In addition, Limited Edition hangtags denote the example number of the article and the total number of examples produced. The tag in the photo will be attached to the second piece in a series of 14 LS3 model handmade avant-garde shirts produced in the world (“EX. 2/14”).
Perfection lies in the imperfect, what less discerning people might consider defects, are in reality the most valuable elements, every piece has anomalies that prove its authenticity of individual production and assembly.
The result: hours and hours of work making each item of exceptional value and as beautiful, individual and special as humanly possible.
Note: due to extensive copying by industry competitors worldwide, we do not show the majority of our recent collections or designs online. For additional information please contact: geoffreysmall@hotmail.com
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