Made to MEASURE

HUSBANDS, the cultish men's TAILORING label, is the SECRET French spot where FASHION'S ELITE go for their JACKETS and SUITS. LEAH CHERNIKOFF gets FITTED.

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NICOLAS GABARD is staring at my shoulders. “I think about shoulders all the time,” he tells me. It is a rainy spring day in New York, and I am in the pop-up atelier of Husbands, the Parisian made-to-order men’s tailoring company that Gabard founded in 2012 and that has had some of the most discerning dressers in its thrall ever since. It is the first time the brand has set up shop outside of the French capital. Gabard and his small team are located on the third floor of a nondescript building on the Bowery in Chinatown. It’s the kind of building where, if you open the wrong door—as I did—you might find people playing mahjong instead of seasoned aesthetes being fitted for their next suit.

Though the space will be operational for only a little more than a week and, as such, is sparely appointed with rails of clothing and some plants, it has a rarefied air to it. That is thanks to Gabard, who has a kind of cinematic presence. He looks not of this time, a late-’60s, early-’70s fever-dream mashup of Yves Saint Laurent and Serge Gainsbourg. His accent is strong, his focus unwavering. He is his own best brand ambassador, with his long, angular frame poured into a sublimely fitting black pinstripe suit and topped off by a shock of salt-and-pepper hair. This is not a man you could ever imagine wearing sweatpants. This is a man you trust to steer you toward a great custom suit.

Gabard darts around me, taking my measurements, having me try on various samples: Single- or double-breasted jacket? How far should the shoulder jut out? Where should the cuff hit my wrist? Where should the pants break, taking into account that I may want to wear them with heels or flats? Though he is used to fitting men, he takes all of these needs into account, adjusting hems and waistlines and shoulders until we are both satisfied. I've never felt so attended to when buying clothes, even when I bought my wedding dress.