ATELIER KONOMI: Men, Real Fanatics of Fashion

By Rudina Hoxha

"We cannot expand but we are fanatic of the quality of the products for our clients. We want our clients to be fully satisfied and every product must be out of our hands; they must have our touch. As much as I have caressed the jacket, I did not caress my wife!! So, a work to be beautiful needs attention and love inside.

Handmade suits for a week with only one try. This is the most attractive offer of Atelier Konomi for the businesspeople, VIPs and all the people working in high level institutions.

“Minimally, a handmade suit needs one week. We have managed to create our clientele by now. One try is needed for the final product to be delivered by us. Why I underline that? Because time has become precious today,” says Mr. Antonin Konomi, Master of Atelier Konomi in an exclusive interview with TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE.

According to the Master, “this is a great achievement for us because we have come to the help of the client.”

Working with fabrics belonging to two world known brands like Scabal and Holland & Sherry, Atelier Konomi, launched in 1997, is famous for the attention in details and the love they put in such “creations of art”.

Atelier Konomi also is specialized in producing workplace attires. They are the first to introduce this concept embraced by banks, hotels and many other companies and institutions. “Atelier Konomi has gone a long way. We started out with very little collections and tailor-made clothing. Today we have managed to take over projects on workwear and corporate wears. We are the first to introduce the line of workwear. Besides the education we have been received, we have been trained in Italy especially for the corporate garments.”

Full interview below:

Can you make a presentation of Atelier Konomi and what are its main trends in the line of men’s suits?

Of course, I would like to make an introduction of the Atelier because I think that one atelier’s values are rooted in the years of its work experience. Never I think that an atelier or a brand, however good they are and how much capital they have, can be good in a product delivery without having the right experience.

Atelier Konomi has been operating since 1997. It remains one of the fist ateliers in Albania. It took a lot of courage to open an

Master of Atelier Konomi - Mr. Antonin Konomi

Photo credit: Atelier Konomi

atelier because the country was plunged into a real economic crisis in 1997. I work together with my husband, Master, Anton Konomi, in this business. He started out this profession since at a young age. At that time, we thought at least to help our friends as no brands or boutiques existed in Albania back then. In the beginning, we had difficulties in finding the right materials. No fabrics could be found in Albania as even those few surviving factories were closed down. However, we used materials which had come from abroad spontaneously from somebody and used to make out designs with embroidery, accessories or printouts in order to make our Atelier speak out. No matter what, we always thought that the Atelier would be regarded one day as luxury, as part of art, as part of the identity of the person who would put on that outfit, to meet not only his/her needs but even to be compatible with the dignity and character of the person and why not impose personality. Because the person can impose himself or herself through his/her outfits.

Here we are today, after many years of work experience, we have managed to create

our line of clothing, our clientele while being very solid in our business. Now we are at a point of not considering the outfit as a necessity but as part of the luxury.

Atelier Konomi has gone a long way. We started out with very little collections and tailor-made clothing. Today we have managed to take over projects on workwear and corporate wears. We are the first to introduce the line of workwear. Besides the education we have been received, we have been trained in Italy especially for the corporate garments.

It was Anila’s idea to embrace the line of workplace attires because at banks, she would see the employees serving with their own clothes and she considered this not ethical at all. So, we proposed the idea to the American Bank in Albania at that time which was the first bank in Albania. After that, all the other banks embraced our proposal. Since that day, we take care of the image of many institutions esthetically and why not even in respect of the quality. Because doing a workplace attire is not easy. Corporate wears have to impose the clients or the

second or third parties but above all, the fabric of the corporate wear should be of a high quality to resist to washing and ironing and well-thought to suit to all the characters of the employees. Therefore, this needs a well-thought study based on the history of the institution, the logo of the company and so on and so forth. Of course, the colors are limited such as blue, gray, black, mostly found in the business world. In this context, a strong asset of our Atelier is that we work not only for the women but even for the men, this is rarely found in another atelier.

What are the main brands you work with mostly?

In our profession, the raw material is seen as a big necessity. As it is customarily said in our profession, all it starts and ends in the fabric. Given that, we thought to include some world distinguished brands in our Atelier. Among the brands which gave the certificate of authenticity to us, was Scabal and Holland & Sherry. Both these brands date back to 18 th century. They are leader in the field of fabrics. They serve to VIPs and they are characterized by a world-known history. Both brands put conditions on us, so

it was not easy as a process. Above all, they asked their fabrics to be sewn by hand. We sent a video to show our way of working. After they saw that their dear material was worked with such a great love, they could not say ‘no’ to our cooperation. This was a great appreciation for us but a big responsibility as well. We are very careful in all the details of this process. For example, a fine detail, which I am sure, all would be interested, would be that the first try is done with another fabric. This way, we save the fabric. Only after, we are 100 % sure that the first try is proper, then we work on the qualitative fabric, brought to us by these two prestigious brands. This shows once again how much work is needed to arrive to the final product of Konomi Atelier. Another interesting detail, which we were not aware, was that to produce the Lana fabric or cashmere, you have to place a cloak over the sheep since it was born to the day its wool is cut in order to protect its wool from the climate conditions.

30 years making suits for the men. How it has been this experience?

After working with the men for 30 years, we have come to the conclusion that the real fanatics of fashion are the males. They are very fanatic, drawn to the fine details while they know themselves very well. They look for perfection as much as they are precise criticizers. Their eyes are never wrong in judging an outfit properly. And I think if an atelier manages to deliver a handmade suit as it should be, I think it is an atelier that has fulfilled all the expectations and has reached the highest quality. The jacket of a man takes 280 steps (processes) to be done in our Atelier. Minimally, a handmade suit needs one week. We have managed to create our clientele by now. One try is needed for the final product to be delivered by us. Why I underline that? Because time has become precious today. People have

gone away from the services because of the time. The more the business people spend time for their work and increase their incomes, the less time they have for their services. We have come to their help by creating a suit for them in a week. They do not come more than one time for the try. I strongly believe that this is a great achievement for us because we have come to the help of the client.

What would be the invitation of Atelier Konomi for the businessmen, who are among our readers?

If they decide to approach an atelier which fulfil their service for a suit, then, first they need to be introduced with the atelier. What this atelier offers and this interview makes this possible. Secondly, it is very important to know what products these clients produce, what strata they belong and work to. In accordance to their meetings, we create their garderobe. Why is this important? If they are really potential clients and have meetings with other companies, surely, we will keep them in the imposing colors, mostly standard mat color. If they want to have part of their garderobe, even an outfit for a gala event, the mat color is mixed with a percentage of silk to make the fabric shiny and luxurious.

Everything starts from the fabric. We have made many meetings in Italy and the Italians have a habit when they meet you, they pat your shoulder. This touch shows to them what fabric is your suit made of. This shows a lot to them. How much you have spent and how much intellect you have. To choose the best fabric is intellect. The suit is your second skin as they say it. If you want to impose the other, the suit gives makes the impression.

So, this shows once again how important is the suit especially for the businesspeople who create relations with the other sides.

What are the plans of the Atelier Konomi? Any expansion plans?

We have chosen to be an atelier that delivers only handmade products. The Master and myself hold most of the job. Time has not yet come that others may take over our Atelier. We cannot expand but we are fanatic of the quality of the products for our clients. We want our clients to be fully satisfied and every product must be out of our hands; they must have our touch. As much as I have caressed the jacket, I did not caress my wife!! So, a work to be beautiful needs attention and love inside. If these two ingredients are lacking, we are convinced that the final product would be cold and not properly delivered to the client. This is very important.

The presence of hotel brands in Albania is increasing. How important is to convey your above stated messages to the people working in hotels or other high-level institutions?

Since 2000, we keep making corporate wears. We strongly believe we are successful in this field because even here all starts from the quality of the fabric. The fabric chosen for the attires of the people working in hotels, banks or other industries are designed to resist frequent use as well as regular washing and ironing. So, this is a very important aspect. In this context, I make a call to the leaders of the companies to get used to put a lot of importance on the workplace attires. The more attention we put on the quality of these workplace attires, the longer they would live. I can mention here the Jews’ saying: I am not rich to buy cheap.” What I maintain is not to spend a lot on these outfits, but go for an average cost and a strong quality in order to resist time. Above all, this is the image we represent.

Mrs. Anila Konomi, the Spouse of Mr. Konomi. The couple founded Atelier Konomi in 1997.