James Bond`s tailor shares secrets with fashionistas

Angelo Petrucci furrows his bushy brown eyebrows as he steps a few paces away from his client, a prominent New Orleans lawyer - reports Nola.com

It's like a scene ripped from the "Thomas Crown Affair." [MI6 Note: Perhaps another Brosnan movie "The Tailor of Panama"?] Petrucci, a tailor, helps the client slip on a suit coat and begins taking measurements. His long, thin fingers reach forward and gently pull at the sleeve. To the untrained eye, the soft gray wool fits fine.

But Petrucci scowls. He pinches the fabric on the shoulder, then releases. Pinch, release. Pinch, release. The movements are quick, like a bird pecking at a seed.

After a few more tugs, Petrucci's brow becomes a little less furrowed. He turns, jotting down notes in Italian on a white sketch pad -- an eighth of an inch here, a 16th of an inch there. The page fills with fractions.

Then it's on to the shoulders, fingers again running.

A long white tape measure draped around his neck remains untouched. "I know what a measurement feels like," Petrucci says, after instructing his customer, a man who asks to remain anonymous, to take off the jacket. "The tape is mostly just for the client."

Petrucci is the chief master tailor for Brioni, the Italian luxury brand, and he's taken the inseam measurements of some of the world's richest and most famous men. He travels 100 days a year. He has fitted both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig in 007 elegance; Brioni has provided James Bond's suits in every film since 1995's "Golden Eye."

Donald Trump is a client, as is former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Prince Andrew of England and a Malaysian sultan (who reportedly ordered a suit with 21-carat gold thread). He has dressed more than 24 heads of state around the globe.

Petrucci's services are as elite as his clientele. A custom, made-to-measure Brioni suit can cost as much as a mid-size sedan. Suits range from $5,000 for off-the-rack to $25,000 for the finest-quality bespoke. Jackets start at $3,500.

On a recent, rain-soaked Friday, Petrucci pulls out his cashmere, silk and wool swatches at the Rubensteins store in downtown New Orleans. The customer can choose from among more than 2,500 fabrics.

Petrucci himself is dressed like a European banker in navy pinstripes, double-breasted vest and violet tie. A half-dozen or so salespeople hover around, reverently watching like acolytes at a monastery.

At age 37, with a mop of brown curls and a long, sharp nose, Petrucci is young to have such an esteemed post within the 63-year-old Italian firm. He began studying to be a tailor at Brioni's academy, the Nazareno Fonticoli in Penne, Italy, at the age of "13½," he said with a grin, and worked his way up the ranks after a four-year apprenticeship.

"It's good to start young because the fingers are flexible," he said. "You have the sensitivity in the hand. I can make a buttonhole blindfolded."

When he was a student, he'd practice sewing on the curtains in his family home, much to the chagrin of his parents.

Penne is a company town, and Brioni employs more than 1,300 tailors. Between 18 to 25 hours of hand sewing goes into each suit, not counting the time the fabric must "rest" between adjustments.

"There are more than 5,000 hand stitches per jacket, 10,000 hand stitches in a tuxedo," said Todd Barrato, Brioni's executive vice president, who traveled to New Orleans with Petrucci. "Each suit goes through 42 pressings."

The majority of the work is done on the inside of the jacket, with the amount of stitching dictated by the climate where the customer lives. In more humid areas, fewer stitches are required.

Petrucci was the youngest person ever to win one of Italy's most prestigious awards for tailors. And he's the one to work with the firm's top clients.

So what was it like to fit James Bond? Petrucci is tight-lipped. "Daniel and Pierce were completely different," he said with a wave of his hand. "Daniel is a little more athletic, and Pierce is athletic but has a totally different body." A good deal of discretion is important in this business.

For the last Bond flick, "Casino Royale," Brioni provided 25 suits for Craig and 15 or so identical outfits for his stunt man. All told, the label created 65 tuxedos and suits for the movie, outfitting all of the actors in the blackjack scene.

The movie required unusual details not often requested. It's a rare client who needs, for example, a special pocket for a Walther PPK, Bond's weapon of choice.

"For Daniel Craig, we also had a special pocket for his knife," Petrucci said.

Chef Scott Boswell, owner of Stella! Restaurant in the French Quarter, wants something equally custom-made to relate to his profession. He was fitted by Petrucci for a Brioni chef's jacket.

"It seems like, in today's chef world, you're a lot more in the public eye," said Boswell, who recently was named a 2007 "Best Dressed" honoree by the Men and Women of Fashion in New Orleans and will be honored at the group's upcoming luncheon.

"Honestly, I have a wonderful wardrobe of other clothes outside of chef's apparel," he said. "I love cooking, but I also love nice clothing, and I find myself putting on the same chef's coats and pants every day."

The Brioni won't be for the kitchen. "It's something for the dining room, that I can slip into and go out and be this presence," Boswell said. "I think the late 20th century stereotype of the fat chef is gone. We've tied food with fashion, made food very artistic and fashionable, and the chef should be as beautiful as the food is."

Boswell plans to pair the coat with black pinstripe wool Brioni pants.

"I expect a lot," he said. "I'm very high maintenance, and I don't mind paying the price, but I need to feel like I got what I paid for.

"I want people to go, 'Where did he get that?'"

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