Victor Besnard’s Outstanding Good Taste [A Review of Besnard’s Tailored Clothing]

Who’s the best bespoke tailor in the world?

That’s an impossible question to claim any definitive answer to. But if you were to try and put down a list, just about everybody would agree that Liverano would be in the top 5. As the standard bearer for Florentine tailoring, his influence on the menswear scene the past 10-15 years is unmistakable. His characteristic design, with its extended shoulders, rounded appearance and three-dimensionality thanks to its curving lapel line, has more than held is own against the onslaught of the ever-present Neapolitan tailoring tradition and its acolytes.

Yet only recently has the Tuscan tailoring tradition begun to gain traction in the larger menswear marketplace outside of bespoke. Way back in 2014, Eidos Napoli designed a jacket inspired by Florentine tailoring, called the Lorenzo (which morphed into the Ciro and No Man Walks Alone cuts; read about all three cuts here). P. Johnson bought and grew a workshop in Tuscany they named Sartoria Carrara, whom No Man Walks Alone has teamed up with for their own house label of tailoring that Greg described as hewing closely to the default aesthetic Carrara made historically. Earlier this year, The Armoury introduced the Model 15 of their house-line of RTW tailoring (which I touched on in my Ring Jacket article), which is explicitly an homage to Florentine master tailors’ work. And now Besnard in The Netherlands has released his own line of RTW tailoring that’s inspired by the Tuscan tradition, made by a factory in Northern Italy (the identity of which Victor Besnard has kept to himself, in part because it might change as he moves to establish made-to-measure services).

Two years ago I reviewed Besnard’s initial product, a line of shirts. At the time I could tell he had a unique vision that he was adamant to bring to bear. Since then, as he’s expanded the range of what he sells, that vision has only become more focused. “After running a company for a few years, you develop a better sense of the brand you want to be. We started working together with partners that are experts in their particular fields,” he told me in an interview (see the full interview at the end of this article).

The constant through-line in everything Victor’s made as he’s expanded his company is his excellent taste. Everything has a high-quality point of view behind it: from the styling on the product photos, to the fabric selections of each garment itself, and even to the choice of fonts, branding and web design.

This summer, Victor re-launched his tailored jacket line (after its first brief appearance in summer 2021) with a totally new pattern and new factory. I asked if he’d send me a sample on loan to try on and review, and he kindly agreed. He also sent along a pair of trousers to model with the jacket. Read on to find out whether Besnard’s tailored clothes are worth the price.

The Recommendation

Let’s just cut to the chase: Besnard’s tailored blazer model is outstanding; and it’s at a price point that’s a little bit shocking (in a good way). Put another way, it’s punching way above its weight in both its quality and design given the price. I’ve tried on a lot of brands, and there’s sort of an expectation that a lower price will mean a more mass-market design. Yet even as you go higher in price, you still sometimes find the same basic aesthetics, just made to a higher standard of quality in nicer fabrics. Besnard bucks that expectation all together.

The jacket feels very high-quality, and its design looks bespoke. I think that owes to its extended shoulders, very high armholes, a-little-wider-than-normal lapel width and fairly low gorge. Add to that the subtle wink that only other tailoring buffs will notice—a characteristically Florentine angled side seam running from the armhole down to the pockets, and no vertical front darts. The benefit of such a design is that it allows a patterned fabric to be completely uninterrupted on the front. It’s a neat design detail that could almost be called an anti-Neapolitan design choice; many tailors in Naples run the front dart all the way to the bottom hem of the jacket (instead of stopping it at or behind the hip pocket). The cantankerous old tailor I’ve used for alterations for many years looked at the full-length Neapolitan dart I showed him and said “that looks like a mistake they tried to cover up!” (I still love the full-length Neapolitan dart and find it charming; but I also appreciate the extra skill it takes to add shape to an un-darted jacket like this one).

I think that while the jacket’s design has a strong point of view, it isn’t so niche that it won’t work in a normal everyday context.

The construction quality is high, too—full-canvas, handwork in the places you’d expect (collar and sleeve attachment), and made from fabric that’s to die for (in this case, authentic Irish donegal tweed). The fit will vary on each person of course, but from a high-level perspective it ticks all the boxes: those high armholes give you excellent range of motion; the extended shoulders give it a masculine and flattering silhouette; the shoulder expression itself is just about the ideal execution of spalla camicia, with just a hint of the characteristic waterfall effect; the buttoning point is right at your natural waist, giving the lapels a long line (which is far more flattering than a short lapel line), yet the length is just right, so the quarters below the buttoning point don’t seem short, all adding up to a nicely balanced look. The back length on the R-length is within the Tuscan and Florentine tradition—on the shorter end of the normal range, yet not unflattering or shrunken.

At $800-900, the jacket is a steal. Made-in-Italy full canvas tailoring at less than $1,000USD: What a time to be alive.

The trousers are also excellent, and priced very well. From a quality perspective, the fabric choices are on point from mills you want to have in your life (VBC, Fox Bros., Spence Bryson, to name a few). The details are well-considered and executed: Extended waistband closure with a three-point closure; side tabs instead of belt loops; a comfortable high rise; a single reverse pleat. My one quibble is that I don’t love a button fly, preferring the simplicity and ease of zippers. The fit is moderately fitted in the top block, and tapered below the knee, in keeping with contemporary sensibilities (though the upcoming selection of trousers this season has eased out the hem width, tapering slightly less below the knee). The pair in the photos is my normal dress trouser size; I would maybe consider sizing up, personally, to get some more room in the thighs, then having them brought in if they were loose in the waist.

They have a single reverse pleat, which 2 years ago I’d have scoffed at. But now, I am fine with, particularly since you can’t really tell they’re pleated with a jacket on.

Shop the post

Besnard donegal tweed jacket

Besnard gray flannel trousers

Selvedge denim [mine are Gustin, but several years old; maybe they’re this denim?]

Vincenzo di Ruggiero blue stripe shirt

Drake’s striped tie [I can’t find any similar to this one; the closest I can find is this one from Granqvist]

Cobbler Union pebble grain split toe’s

Omega Aqua Terra ref. 231.12.42.21.01.002

The takeaway

I recently met a sales associate at a local high-end menswear store and tried to explain the brands I’ve worked with and reviewed on my site. He hadn’t heard of any of them. There in his store they carry the big names you might imagine—Isaia, Sartorio, Eleventy, etc. And while I love those brands and appreciate their product, what appeals to me about these small niche brands—like Besnard—is their much stronger point of view. They can afford to have a narrower appeal, since they can sell (and ship) to anybody in the world from a small base of operations. They are not beholden to a thousand wholesale retail accounts, all giving them feedback on how the generic customer in Nashville, Tennessee, wishes their lapels were skinnier or their shirt collars smaller. Instead, they can design a product with a clear vision—bringing to market high-quality ready-to-wear clothes designed much more like bespoke tailoring, partnering with some of the best makers at the price point they want to hit—and sell it to anybody on earth who wants to try it.

Besnard—the brand and the man behind it who’s brought it to life—has some of the best taste I’ve come across as I’ve explored the tailored menswear scene. I highly recommend anything he makes and sells.

An interview with Victor Besnard

Who’s behind Besnard, and what’s your history with menswear?

Who do you think of as your customer and how do you meet his needs and wants?

What is your raison d’etre for Besnard?

How would you describe the style of Besnard’s garments?

What makes your garments special? What kind of quality are you producing, and what sets your garment apart? (i.e. Is there handwork in any special places or any special kind of fabrics used, fancy stitching, etc.?)

You’ve slowly been adding product categories since we originally worked together two years ago. Are there others you are working on adding now?

On a related note, in the last two years, have you changed anything you want to mention? i.e. the fit of your shirts, the factories, etc.?

Are there any other things about your clothing that we haven’t covered that you want to say?

Many thanks Victor, and all the best as you grow your brand!