Alessandro Gherardi: In Pursuit of the Perfect Shirt
Alessandro Gherardi's unrelenting pursuit of perfection informs his meticulous approach to crafting shirts of the highest quality.
Some of the world’s best craftsmen are never content with praise; nor are they pleased to be referred to as ‘Masters’ or purveyors of perfection in their craft. If one commits their life to doing one thing (extremely well) for decades, does that mean one knows all there is to know? Is it perfect? Alessandro Gherardi has been making hand-crafted Italian shirts for a long time, and for him, ‘perfect’ is still something he is in search of.
‘I’m still learning’, he says, ‘I’m still searching for the most beautiful shirt’. This might seem modest for Alessandro, who spent 20 years at the infamous Tiber Camiceria, and who many believe make some of the most luxurious, high-quality shirting available. However, it is this pursuit of perfection that insists every part of his process is the very best it can be.
Alessandro Gherardi shirts are one hundred percent handmade in Italy. It was important to him that there was a manual component when he first founded the company, producing a quality item of clothing, and helping artisans develop their craft. This goes for the entire shirt: from buttonholes and rivets. Everything is handsewn with the finest raw materials.
These ingredients together would be enough to make a more-than-respectable, high-tier shirt, but Alessandro’s quest for perfection is unrelenting. He also invests in cutting-edge tools that enhance the manual skills of his team. ‘Whenever possible, we prefer Italian machinery or rely on international excellence’, the brand says. ‘We must underline the peculiarity in which tradition marries innovation and where the past goes hand-in-hand with the future’ The future is promising. For many, Alessandro is already producing the kind of ‘beautiful shirt’ he is in pursuit of. Yet, there is something exciting, and humbling, about a man with years of experience continuing to improve his craft. It is a pursuit his own family must share, too. His sons, brother, nephews and nieces all work beside Alessandro, continuing his legacy of shirt-making excellence.
