Bespoke suits, cut in New York.
On the Upper East Side since 1974.

L&S Custom Tailors has cut bespoke suits at 138 East 61st Street, Suite 201, since 1974. Salvatore Cristiano opened the workshop; Carl Cristiano runs it today. Nine master tailors work upstairs from the fitting room.

Bespoke here means the word's plain meaning. A pattern drafted from a live drape on your body — not adjusted from stock. 3–4 fittings on a first suit. Every seam finished by hand. From $3,695.

The first suit takes 8–12 weeks. The second is faster, because the pattern we drafted for you is kept in the library. Some patterns on file are decades old and still in use.

What bespoke means here

The word travels loosely in this city. A good deal of what is sold as bespoke is made-to-measure — an existing pattern, adjusted. We make made-to-measure too, and we call it that. The distinction is worth understanding before you commission anything; we wrote it down.

Bespoke begins with nothing but cloth and your body. The cutter drapes, marks, and drafts a pattern that exists for no one else. Then the fittings: a basted shell first, taken apart and recut, refined until the jacket holds your shape at rest and in motion. If it is your first time, read on choosing your first bespoke before you come in.

The making

Every bespoke suit is built on a full floating canvas — wool and horsehair, shaped by hand, stitched loose enough to move. Canvas is why a jacket takes your shape over the years instead of losing its own. The case for full canvas is one we have been making since 1974.

Cloth comes from the mills we trust: Loro Piana, Dormeuil, Holland & Sherry, Scabal, Vitale Barberis Canonico. The fabric library is at the atelier — bolts you can hold, not swatches on a screen. The full sequence, from first drape to final press, is laid out on the process page.

Is bespoke the right first door?

Not always, and we will say so. The house has three doors. Made-to-order — house styles, sized to your measurements, quality construction, from $1,295. Made-to-measure — the master pattern adjusted to you, full canvas, one fitting, from $2,695. And bespoke, from $3,695. Full canvas is the standard on made-to-measure and bespoke; made-to-order is the introduction.

For many first commissions, made-to-measure is the right answer, and we will tell you that plainly at the consultation. Bespoke is for when the pattern should be yours: a build the master pattern cannot reach, or a standard you have decided to keep. The house overview is at custom tailor NYC; the fifty-year version is in our story.

The first visit is an hour at the atelier. We measure, look at how you stand and move, talk through what the suit is for — the boardroom, the courtroom, the wedding — and put cloth in your hands. By the end of it you will know which door is yours, and so will we.

When you are ready, reserve a bespoke commission — or start with the consultation and decide after.

The atelier

138 East 61st Street, Suite 201, New York, NY 10065 — the Upper East Side, between Park and Lexington. Tuesday–Friday 8:30–5:30. Saturday 8:30–4:00. By appointment.

Book at book.lstailors.com. Call (212) 752-1638. Concierge (212) 308-4431.