We’re coming to the city…

We’ve created this site as a way to connect with men in New York who might be looking for a tailor shop like ours. Here you will find all the information you need.

Our trunk shows take place at one of the penthouse suites of The Maritime Hotel (Meatpacking) once a month. We have a newsletter service where you can sign up to receive a notification of the actual dates for each month as the come along here. Setting up an appointment is free and does not commit you to purchasing anything - feel free to come meet me, check out our work and make up your mind as you go along.

If you’d like to book a free call with me to find out more about our work simply click on any of the buttons below.

So, trunk shows are the format through which tailors have been catering to their overseas clients for decades without the need of setting up shop in each city: they periodically visit different cities to meet with clients at pop-up locations (usually hotel rooms) to take orders and conduct fittings.

Tailors usually visit each city once every three or four months — in our case, we visit New York once a month. This obviously makes deliveries a lot faster.

As our name indicates, we’re a bespoke tailor shop based out of Bogotá, Colombia; but in it’s broadest sense what we do for our clients goes way beyond just making garments — we help them find ways to dress that serve how they live their lives and enhance their authentic character.

Bespoke, at least the way we interpret it, is not a shopping experience per-se, it’s a long term relationship in which we engage in conversations that inquire into what wardrobe solutions make sense for your unique way of being in the world at any particular moment. 

Now, let me introduce myself: I’m Simon, the cutter at Martelo Bespoke. That means I cut all the garments we make personally. I also serve all clients myself, so when I say “engage in conversations” - it’s with me directly that you’ll be having those conversations.

I learned the craft of cutting from Don Enrique Rojas, probably the last remaining cutter from the golden days of tailoring here in Colombia. 

We’ve been in business for 10 years now serving mostly the local market. Right now we’re an 8 man operation: me, my right-hand assistant Alcira,  3 coat makers, 1 trouser maker and 2 shirt makers.

Our particular approach has been to amplify what I believe to be the most unique and special aspect of this format: the relational aspect. How often do you get to directly meet, chat and develop a relationship with someone who’s making something for you? This opens up an opportunity for something that is very rare and special; and creates beautiful results.  

Another aspect that we’ve been heavily focusing on is amplifying the universe of Bespoke. During countless conversations that I’ve had with clients it became clear to me that in the minds of most people Bespoke is a world restricted between suits and sports jackets — something that is always elegant. And while I understand why this perception exists, the truth is it doesn’t have to be the case, since then I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure everyone can see that.  

Bespoke tailoring can certainly be very elegant, but in my mind what makes this process and service special is that it's about you and making something for you. Elegant or not. Elegance is a possibility, yet not a necessity. This is something I like to convey to all our clients: that the starting point of every process is their individuality. 

So with time, what I’ve found is that Bespoke, as a process, can be applied to a broad number of garments beyond suits and sports jackets; and through our Outerwear program we’re creating different pieces that we feel are relevant for our clients and meet the needs of today’s men. 

1. It begins with a consultation:

I will personally sit with you and we’ll have a conversation about who you are, what you want, and how to best approach your particular needs. 

From there we’ll decide what garment (or garments) you want to commission first. We’ll look at fabrics, talk through some of the design details, and take your measurements and posture indications.  

2. One month later I’ll be back in the city with a first fitting of your garment.

This first fitting is very important since it allows me to capture the particularities of your body and posture that can’t be captured just through measurements.

At this point we will determine if the next step is to either have a forward fitting (a fitting with the garment 3/4 of the way done) or a final fitting (with the garment fully done). This depends on how accurate the first fitting was.

The forward fitting is very important if I need to refine how the garment is going to fit in key areas that are difficult, or sometimes impossible, to adjust once the garment is finished. (i.e neck line of a jacket, rise of a trouser).

3. One month later I will come back for either the forward fitting or final fitting (depending on what we had previously decided).

If we’re on a forward fitting we will check how the adjustments made since the last fitting are performing and make final annotations. 

If we’re on a final fitting and there are no more adjustment needed then we will deliver at this point and the garments will be now yours to enjoy! 

If we find that there are final tweaks needed, we can decide if we either mail the garment back to you once these are made (minor tweaks like sleeve length) or if we wait until I’m back in town the next month to look at it together again (more fundamental adjustments like collar positioning). 

4. One month after the forward fitting we will have the jacket finished. Granted there are no final tweaks needed, at this point we will deliver the garment.

At this point an individual paper pattern for you has been made and archived with us for all your future commissions. Depending on the type of garment and fabric that you select for your next commission we will determine wether it’s better to still do one fitting or if we can go straight to finish (and if you need to wait for a trunk show for delivery or if we can simply start shipping you finished garments). 

In general, garments can be expected to be delivered in a 2 to 3 month window (3-4 trips). Quick note on this: 2 - 3 month turnaround in bespoke is very unique - getting garments through trunk shows usually takes at least 8 months (if not more). 

For shirts we only need one fitting and this fitting is done with the garment already finished. Shirts can be expected to be delivered in 1 month. 

(The process as described above is how a typical process is expected to go - but there are many variations depending on the needs of the client and how things progress.)