Photography by Alex Natt
The coat you’re looking at is, in some ways, the culmination of more than two years of careful thought. While this piece is a ready-to-wear number, it’s a very close replica of a bespoke overcoat that was made for me last winter, and which I’d spent most of the preceding year dreaming about in turn. I’d wanted a big tweed raglan coat for years, but hadn’t found the tailor who felt like the right fit to take the job on – fussy so and so that I am.
Then, maestro Fred Nieddu entered the picture. The former head cutter at Timothy Everest, Fred now operates his own bespoke tailoring studio in Shoreditch, east London, where he cuts lovely pieces like this for clients and also for leading film studios – he’s the tailor behind all the menswear in Netflix’s hit drama, The Crown, for instance. I met him shortly before he left Everest to set up his studio, and he’s since made me a handful of really beautiful sports coats. His house style is fascinating. He’s Italian by blood and so has a natural fascination with soft tailoring, but he trained at Meyer & Mortimer, one of Savile Row’s stiffest military tailors, so today his approach to tailoring combines these two traditions into something that feels contemporary and comfortable.
Which brings us neatly to this overcoat. Fred cuts a lovely Raglan, which is relaxed, yet has presence. The stand-and-fall collar adds drama, as does the length, which I wanted to fall below the knee, with a long waist belt to match. True to my original bespoke piece, Fred cut the master patterns for this ready-to-wear version, before the cloth was sent to a small, specialist outerwear workshop in north London, where it’s been lovingly sewn together expressly for No Man Walks Alone. Each coat is finished with hand-sewn buttonholes for a thoughtful bespoke touch.
Thanks so much for reading, and for supporting this fun project. I hope you like the coat as much as we do!
TTFN,
Aleks
Aleks is freelance journalist and creative strategist. He writes on men’s style for publications including Monocle, British GQ and Robb Report US. He is a Contributing editor for FT How To Spend It magazine and the host of HandCut Radio, a critically acclaimed podcast that interviews key figures in men’s style, media and luxury. He lives in north east London.
3 comments
June 30, 2023
Aleks,
A beautiful coat, beautifully introduced.It really is perfect.
I have a thirtysome year-old Aquascutum similar to this in a shouting black-and-white tweed, but the belt is all wrong and the length is slightly shorter, making the skirts bell-out, so that, when belted, you appear.to be wearing a hideous tweed ball-gown.
I’m interested in participating in the second run of the coat’s production.
Robert Robinson
Washington, D.C.
Just like every piece of cloth, especially some like Donegal tweed that are composed of many different color yarns, the color differs based on light, shade, angle, etc… The dominant colors are green/blue but are not very saturated, which can come out grey-ish in some light and photos.
This is a ready-to-wear product, not a custom product and we do not provide any alteration services at all. Any alterations would have to be made by your alterations tailor.
I’m curious why some photos the coat looks more grey (white-black herringbone) and in others the coat looks blue-green? Are (the two | they all) images of the same coat?
If I need some adjustments made, can I walk in to No Man in NYC for help?