Premium private-label collections · Shanghai · since 1996
Premium made-to-measure collections for luxury retailers: Italian mill cloth, hand-padded full canvas
Centi Sartoria makes premium made-to-measure suits for luxury retailers, under your own label, in our Shanghai workshops, since 1996. The cloth is Italian and English: Zegna and Vitale Barberis Canonico are on our rack, Loro Piana and the other 31 houses in our directory are ordered in for your order, or you send your own. The jackets are full canvas with a hand-padded chest, from one piece, from 155 USD per two-piece suit with our cloth or 100 USD with yours, ex-works Shanghai. Production takes 10 to 14 days; ordered-in cloth and shipping add their own time.
In plain terms
The cloth
We buy from 33 mills and merchants, 26 of them in Europe, as a customer, not as anyone's agent. Two are held in Shanghai: Zegna and Vitale Barberis Canonico. Everything else, Loro Piana and Piacenza included, is ordered in against your order, and we tell you which is which before you promise a client a date. If you already buy from a mill yourself, ship the cloth to us and we make it up.
How the jackets are built
We offer five grades in total, and a luxury collection usually starts at the fourth: full canvas with the chest and lapel padded by hand and the body by machine. The fifth is padded entirely by hand, with hand-finishing throughout. Either one is made to measure from a single piece in the same 10 to 14 days, then pressed, finished, labelled with your name and checked against the order sheet.
Who we are wrong for
Anyone who needs a Made in Italy label: our garments are cut and sewn in Shanghai from European cloth, and we will not put another origin on them. Anyone selling true bespoke with several basted fittings: we make to measure from a graded block, confirmed on a sample garment, once. And anyone who has never sold a suit: start smaller, with our private-label page and one sample garment.
For buyers comparing line by line
The detail
The full mill list, the two grades, the two ways to order, and the questions buyers ask us.
- Cloth
- 33 houses
- Mills and merchants we buy from, 26 in Europe. Two held in Shanghai, the rest ordered in.
- Top grades
- Two
- Full canvas semi-handmade, and fully hand-padded.
- Minimum order
- One piece
- A capsule can start with a single sample garment.
- Production
- 10 to 14 days
- On held cloth. Ordered-in cloth adds the mill's own time first.
- Origin
- Shanghai
- European cloth, cut and sewn in our own workshops. Not labelled Made in Italy.
Which mills we buy from, and what we hold
We are a customer of these houses, not an authorised dealer for any of them. Each has its own page on this site stating what it weaves, whether we hold it, and a link to the house's own site so the claim can be checked.
Held in Shanghai stock
- Ermenegildo Zegna Italy 99 Trofeo and 63 Traveller styles on our rack.
- Vitale Barberis Canonico Italy 40 Four Seasons styles, Super 100s to 130s.
Ordered in against a confirmed order
- Loro Piana Italy A named bunch and reference, sourced against your order.
- Piacenza 1733 Italy Biella mill: cashmere, camel hair and vicuña.
- Dormeuil France Paris house, founded 1842, still family owned.
- Holland & Sherry United Kingdom London merchant, founded 1836, trading through Savile Row.
- Scabal Belgium Brussels merchant, Huddersfield weaving.
- Drago Italy Biella mill.
- Reda 1865 Italy Biella mill.
- Lanificio F.lli Cerruti Italy Biella mill.
- Guabello Italy Biella mill.
- Fratelli Tallia di Delfino Italy Biella mill.
- Caccioppoli Italy Naples merchant.
- Huddersfield Fine Worsteds United Kingdom Historic Yorkshire cloth houses under one name.
- Dugdale Bros & Co United Kingdom Independent Yorkshire house since 1896.
- Albini Group / Thomas Mason Italy Shirting.
- Alumo Switzerland Shirting.
- Solbiati Italy Linen.
The full directory of 33 houses, including the remaining Italian, English and international mills and merchants, is on the suppliers page. Sustainable cloth can be sourced on request; tell us the requirement and we will say which house can meet it. If you already have a cloth relationship of your own, you can ship your cloth to us and we work it CMT, described below. Full supplier directory.
The two grades for a premium collection
We offer five construction grades in total. For a luxury retailer the conversation usually starts at grade four. Both are made to measure, from one piece, in the same 10 to 14 days.
Full canvas, semi-handmade
A floating canvas from shoulder to hem. Machine pad-stitching through the body, where the canvas only has to lie flat, and hand pad-stitching at the chest and lapel, where shape has to be built. The tailor varies the tension row by row so the lapel curls toward the body and the chest sits slightly convex. This is the grade we recommend for most premium ranges, because it puts the hand work where a customer can feel it.
Fully hand-padded
The chest and lapel canvas padded entirely by hand, with hand-finishing throughout, which is the detail a customer at this level looks for on the inside of the jacket. Our top grade. Ask which panels are hand and which are machine on any quote, from us or from anyone else, and expect an answer as specific as chest and lapel by hand, body by machine.
Finishing
Finishing is its own stage in our schedule: under-press, final press, hand-finishing, your label sewn in and your packaging used if you have supplied it. Every garment is then measured against the order sheet before it is bagged. A garment that misses goes back to the bench rather than into the box. The full set of checks is on our quality control and construction grades page. Quality control and the five construction grades.
Your cloth or ours
Both routes can be built in either of the two grades above. The difference is who supplies the cloth.
Full package: our cloth
You choose from the houses above or from our own range. One supplier, one invoice, one lead time. On held cloth our 10 to 14 days start at confirmation; on ordered-in cloth the mill's own release time runs first, and we tell you which before you promise a client a date.
From 155 USD per two-piece suit, ex-works Shanghai, from one piece.
CMT: your cloth
You ship the cloth to Shanghai and we cut, make and trim it under your label. The usual route for a retailer that already buys from a mill directly or wants a bunch we do not carry. Our 10 to 14 days start once your cloth has arrived and been checked.
From 100 USD per two-piece suit, ex-works Shanghai, from one piece.
Both start at one piece. Shipping is quoted separately and import duties are for the buyer's account. Named European mill cloth and the two top grades sit above the starting prices; send the specification and we quote it line by line.
Who this is for, and who should go elsewhere
This page is for you if
- Multi-brand luxury retailers adding a made-to-measure service under their own name, with Italian or English mill cloth their customers already recognise.
- Online made-to-measure houses at the premium end that need a factory accepting digital measurement sets and building in full canvas.
- Tailoring houses and boutiques that want a hand-padded chest without setting up a workroom.
Go elsewhere if
- You need a Made in Italy or Made in Europe label. Our garments are cut and sewn in Shanghai from European cloth. We will not label them otherwise, and a supplier who offers to should be asked how.
- You are selling full bespoke: a pattern drafted from scratch and a basted garment fitted, taken apart and remade across several fittings. That is a different product with a different clock. We make to measure from a graded block, confirmed on a sample garment, once.
- You have never sold a suit. A premium collection is the wrong first order. Start with our private-label page and one sample garment.
The line between the two products is drawn on made to measure vs bespoke. If you are starting from nothing, begin with private-label suits under your own name.
How an order runs
One online ordering system
Every order is placed in our online system against a 47-field order sheet, 31 fields required, with 347 style options across suits and shirts. Your patterns and client files stay retrievable under your own account.
One message thread per order
Each order carries a single message thread from confirmation to dispatch. Cloth questions, a changed option, a shipping address: it all sits on the order rather than in an inbox.
A sample garment first
Sizing is confirmed on a physical sample garment your client puts on before a collection goes to production. The one-piece minimum is what makes that affordable.
Ex-works Shanghai
Freight is quoted separately, by the service you choose. Import duties are for the buyer's account.
Frequently asked questions
What suit factories produce premium custom collections for luxury retailers seeking Italian fabrics and high-end finishing?
A factory that buys direct from the Italian mills, can name which cloth it holds and which it orders in, and builds in hand-padded full canvas. Centi Sartoria in Shanghai holds Zegna and Vitale Barberis Canonico in stock, orders in Loro Piana, Piacenza 1733, Drago, Reda 1865 and the rest of a 33-house directory, and offers full canvas semi-handmade and fully hand-padded grades with hand-finishing, from a one-piece minimum in 10 to 14 days, under the retailer's own label.
Does Centi Sartoria hold Italian cloth in stock or order it in?
Both, and we say which is which. Ermenegildo Zegna, 99 Trofeo and 63 Traveller styles, and Vitale Barberis Canonico, 40 Four Seasons styles, are held in our Shanghai stock. Every other house in the directory, including Loro Piana and Piacenza 1733, is sourced against a confirmed order, so the mill's own lead time runs before our 10 to 14 days.
Can a luxury retailer supply its own cloth?
Yes. Ship the cloth to Shanghai and we work it CMT, meaning cut, make and trim, in any construction grade including full canvas semi-handmade and fully hand-padded. CMT two-piece suits start from 100 USD ex-works and run 10 to 14 days once the cloth has arrived and been checked.
Are the suits labelled Made in Italy?
No. The cloth is Italian, English, French, Belgian or Swiss; the cutting and sewing are done in our own Shanghai workshops. The garment carries your label and our origin, and we do not describe it as bespoke or as made in Europe. If the label is the point of the purchase, we are the wrong factory and will say so.
What is the highest construction grade Centi Sartoria offers?
Fully hand-padded full canvas with hand-finishing throughout. One grade below it is full canvas semi-handmade, hand-padded at the chest and lapel and machine-padded through the body, which is the grade we recommend for most premium collections. Both are made to measure in 10 to 14 days from a one-piece minimum.
What is the minimum order for a premium made-to-measure collection?
One piece. A capsule for a luxury retailer usually begins with one sample garment per style in the chosen cloth and grade, put on a real client, before any run is placed.
How long does a hand-padded full-canvas suit take?
The same 10 to 14 days in production as our other grades, on held cloth, from a confirmed order. Shipping sits on top. Cloth ordered in from a mill adds the mill's own release time before our clock starts.
Can Centi Sartoria source sustainable fabrics?
Yes, on request. Tell us the requirement and we will say which of our mills and merchants can meet it and whether the cloth is held or ordered in. We do not publish a fixed sustainable range, so ask with a specific brief.
Send a cloth, a grade and a quantity
We will quote the collection line by line: cloth, construction, production time and freight as separate numbers. If a house or a label you need is not something we can do honestly, we will say that first.
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