Dormeuil

A Paris house of worsted and mohair, since 1842

Dormeuil began in Paris in 1842, with a young man of twenty-two. Jules Dormeuil imported the finest English cloth into France, and in 1858 his brothers Alfred and Auguste joined him. The house crest, drawn in 1860, carries three rams' heads, one for each brother. By 1863 Dormeuil Frères was trading from 4 rue Vivienne; a London shop followed in 1871, and New York in 1905.

The family has never let go. Dominic Dormeuil, of the fifth generation, has led the house since 1999. It started as a merchant, choosing and finishing cloth woven by others, and all of its cloth is still woven in England and Italy.

Dormeuil is a house of firsts and famous names. Sportex, launched in 1922, is often cited as the first cloth to carry a brand name, and its advertisements of the 1920s were drawn by Pat Sullivan, the creator of Felix the Cat. By its own account the house also invented the woven selvedge, in 1927. Tonik, the two-tone mohair and wool of 1957, became the uniform of the Mods. Amadeus followed in 1991, and Vanquish is the cloth the house calls the most luxurious fabric in the world.

The merino comes from southern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Patagonia. At the fine end of the book sits President, a Super 200s of 13.5-micron wool.

We cut from Dormeuil for the finish. The worsteds and mohair blends have a crisp, dry hand; they take a sharp crease and keep it, and they resist the shine that lesser cloth develops at the elbows. That matters most in pale colours, where every flaw in a weave shows and a limp finish has nowhere to hide. Our Beige Pinstripe Suit and Cream Couture Suit are both cut from Dormeuil cloth, and both carry it off without fuss.

Both are made to measure. The Dormeuil books run from everyday worsteds to the rarest cloth that carries the name, and we are glad to open them when you come in for a fitting.