Meet B Corner - the Future of Spanish Tailoring

After an exhaustive search and at the point of giving up hope, Jamie finally found a young tailor named Goyo Fernández at Calle de Velasquez in Madrid. So pleased was he with the results, that don Jamie and his equally sartorially devoted friend Federico Zanolla decided to invest in the business, re-christening it B Corner. The unusual name was a result of Federico thinking about the physical aspects of the tailor's workspace, namely the workbench upon which all his patterns are cut. Hence Bench Corner, which was subsequently abbreviated to B Corner.

Because Jamie and Federico understood that the Spanish are as gifted in creation as they are poor in communication, they took the decision to create a line of ready-to-wear clothes to demonstrate the abilities of the tailoring enterprise. The first time I encountered the B Corner ready-to-wear clothes, I was randomly browsing through recently shot images for The Rake and came across a file of Elcacho wearing some of the most thought-provoking and striking garments I’d seen in a long time. It was, in particular, a coat, a stunning blue, three-quarter length, dramatically peaked-lapelled top coat, with turn-back cuffs, half-belted with some of the most visually enticing details on the back that I had ever seen. When I asked the stylist who had shot these images who made these clothes, she replied, “Aren’t they great? It’s a Spanish tailoring business Oriol is involved in called B Corner.”

Says Elcacho, “As I’ve gotten older I’ve branched out into other areas of business. It was getting married and having a family that really motivated me to get involved in some other enterprises but I wanted these to be things I was genuinely connected to. That I truly believed in. The first time I saw images of B Corner’s clothing I was really surprised. As someone that’s worn a lot of very nice tailoring in my modelling career, I’ve become sensitive to details and to the line and silhouette of a jacket or pair of trousers. B Corner made exactly the type of clothes I wanted to wear. And when I discovered they were Spanish it got me really excited because there is no Spanish men’s tailoring brand on the market. I went to meet Jamie and his partners and it happened very naturally that I became part of the business because I just loved the clothes and loved promoting them.”

As Elcacho described his coming together with this new vision for connecting the culture of Spanish tailoring with the new generation, I couldn't help but marvel at the shoulder of his jacket. Each nation, or even city espouses a specific indigenous philosophy when it comes to the alchemic art of merging the need for unrestricted movement with the aesthetics of the shoulder. In Paris, added fabric in the sleeve head is crafted into a cupola, using Le Cigarette; in Naples it is left in dimples and folds known as Spalla Camicia, not unlike the large floppy sleeve head in London’s 'British Drape' which is contrasted by the roped shoulder in the more traditional Savile Row structuralist’s approach. B Corner’s shoulder evinces subtle pleats and folds that are much less pronounced than their Neapolitan counterparts, being built out using the barest soupçon of wadding, which complements an otherwise totally natural shoulder line. Lapels are wide but accentuated by crisp plunging diagonal lines, which I feel are very much influenced by don Jamie’s personal style. Depending on the fabric used, the jackets are constructed with hand canvassing and are soft and light. Some jackets with fuller fabrics are fully canvassed, some are just half-canvassed and lighter fabrics for summer are not canvassed.

When I look at the pricing for these garments I am surprised at how attractive they are considering all the handwork. Says don Jamie, “It was not lost on us that if we are introducing the world to a new brand, even though it is one with a long history, we need to create a strong value proposition. We Spanish may have not been so good at marketing in the past but we are learning to communicate and we think the best way to do this is with beautifully crafted clothes at an attractive price.” Amen to that.