#luxuryshirts

Established in Düsseldorf, Germany, Ignatious Joseph was born in Sri Lanka and credits his family for his sense of elegance as dressing up on Sundays was a tradition— ‘My mother would wear her best saris. 30 years ago, people knew how to dress! Now the European heritage is being lost. Fathers no longer take their sons to the tailor. Everything has been taken over by fast fashion. There aren’t even any factories left in Europe. I have my shoes made in Vienna. There used to be 50 or 60 shoe-makers, now only a very few.’

He launched Ign. Joseph in 1997. ‘Finding the right factory was not easy’, he sighs. ‘It’s very difficult to find non-fused collars.’ He now uses two Italian workshops, with different levels of hand-made work. He also wanted to avoid the fabric suppliers that everyone used, preferring more original designs. As he does not make vast volumes, he concentrates on quality.

He was looking for quality makers that could provide sewn collars and bring the best possible sensation when you wear the shirt. He went as far as finding makers who would stitch the label inside the shirt the right way so as to avoid scratchiness.

His background really informs his business approach: ‘I come from a tea-plucking country where you knew the different types of tea. It’s so industrialised now! I know what exploitation is and it’s not something I want to take advantage of. I’d rather contribute to keeping the European employment fabric alive. It’s important to preserve the knowledge and practice of local craftsmanship rather than go for the cheap options and exploit developing countries.’ He thus brings an ethical approach to his business, perfectly aware that clothing does not exist in a vacuum and is based on the spirit of the times, ‘You need to know the past if you want to have a future. Fortunately, a new generation is learning about clothes.’

There’s a certain zest to his shirts, in part because he decided he wanted to put some colours into the classic blue or white go-to shirts: ‘I like colours, I come from a sunny country!’

Indeed, there’s a surprising blend of formality and nonchalance in his shirts, which are both dressy and light. Harking back to his upbringing in Sri Lanka, he seems to have harnessed the British formality and the tropical conditions, resulting in a very specific mixture of relaxed and classy attitude, a sort of spontaneous combination of British and Italian flair.

I tested one shirt in his collection, a fine navy Bengal stripe with a cutaway collar and I have been impressed by its obvious sense of style. The detailing is a sign of quality: the monogrammed gussets, the single stitch seams, etc. even the last button is horizontal with a contrasting colour for the stitching—an unnecessary refinement but a discreet one, like a wink hinting at quality.

And yet the most pleasant aspect of the shirt actually lies elsewhere. It’s the soft non-fused collar that has a distinctive feel. Not only is it wonderfully designed with its the wide angle and the stitching creating a ribbed edge but, above all, it feels soft and pleasant. It may be light but it does not lack structure and sits comfortably under the lapels.

Like all true sartorial devotees, Ignatious Joseph is making sure that he loves his own products. There’s something special about finding the right clothes, the ones you will wear with more pleasure than others. The pleasure of a well-made shirt—the quality fabric, the finishing, the general allure— is based on the confidence that you don’t have to worry about any of its elements going wrong or feeling wrong. It’s the reliability you pay for, the certainty that you will not be disappointed by unpleasant details—so that when you reach for a shirt in your closet, your hand will pick what feels the best. I must confess my hand now seems to know its direct way to the Ign Joseph shirt.