Readers who have been into menswear for a while may know that Alex Kabbaz passed away two years ago. Kabbaz was a towering figure on the menswear fora—a well-respected figure and moderator at Ask Andy and one of the go-to US authorities on bespoke shirtmaking. He was a bespoke shirtmaker himself, having made for blockbuster films such as Wall Street, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Men in Black. But among guys obsessed with classic men’s dress, he was perhaps better known for his brisk online business selling high-end undergarments, knitwear, and pajamas. He introduced many men, including me, to names such as Zimmerli, Marcoliani, Bresciani, and such.
After Kabbaz passed away, much of his stock was sold to two companies. The shirting and sewing machines went to CEGO in New York City (one of the best bespoke shirtmakers in the US). Carl at CEGO tells me that he took a ton of fabric dating back to the 1960s. There’s old stock Grandi & Rubinelli, American Sember (a distributor for Thomas Mason), and Andros (an NYC-based distributor who traded Testa and Ferno). CEGO also took in all of the fabric lining, buttons, threads, necktie silks, and other materials. “The quality is so much better than what is produced today,” Carl told me over the phone. Readers based in or around NYC can stop by CEGO to check out the stock and have stuff made.
The other stuff—the pajamas, knits, and undergarments—is being auctioned off through LuxeSwap. Most of the stock is Zimmerli and Gran Sasso. Simon at Permanent Style named Zimmerli as the maker of the best underwear in the world and included them in his book on the finest menswear in the world. But even he balked at the stratospheric prices in 2019. I once bought a pair of $150 Zimmerli boxer briefs from Mr. Porter, but only because they had been heavily marked down to something like $50. The quality was indeed incredible, but you know, it’s $150 for underwear and not something I can regularly afford at full retail. Gran Sasso occupies the same kind of tier for knits—as did everything in Kabbaz’s shop.
Since all of Kabbaz’s stock is being auctioned off at prices starting at just a penny, this is your chance to get something for considerably less than retail. There’s a lot of stuff, so you can expect this clearance to go on for many weeks. As with all of LuxeSwap’s auctions, things go up on Thursday and end ten days later on a Sunday. You can find the Kabbaz stock by looking up the following brand names: Zimmerli, Gran Sasso, Lorenzo Conti, Villa Delmitia, and Seaward and Stearn. Matt at LuxeSwap tells me that some stuff is not branded, so he’ll be auctioning those off under the title NWOT Anonymous. For ease, we’ve created a custom link here, which you can use to check back every Thursday.
Lastly, LuxeSwap recently visited the home of a famous menswear figure and will help them clear out some things from their wardrobe. Those actions will be posted later this month, so be on the lookout.
