This month’s installment of Urban Safari’s Industry Interview is dedicated to all the handsome grooms + groomsmen out there! Today I bring you an interview from the leader in the Denver men’s fashion scene, The Bespoke Edge. I’m loving that more men are wearing fitted, custom-made suits as opposed to a more traditional tux to weddings. It gives the groom + his guys more options to add a little swank to their outfits. The bride shouldn’t be the only one who gets all gussied up, right?!
Sitting down with me for this interview is Ryan Wagner, who heads up the operations side of The Bespoke Edge, who is also run by his brother Brett and father Ron. Read on for tips for the groom-to-be and a little insider info on Denver men’s fashion, followed by some photos we shot down at Union Station. Thanks for stopping by the blog!
Urban Safari: Who is The Bespoke Edge? How long have you been in business?
Ryan Wagner: In a nutshell, we are Colorado’s custom clothing company for men. We offer completely bespoke suits, blazers, pants and some of the most unique custom dress shirts in the area. It’s just threeof us behind the whole company - my brother and I and our dad - who is really the guru behind the business - Ron Wagner. Although Ron has been in the menswear business for over 37 years, he started the Bespoke Edge just over two years ago to help usher Colorado men into the world of custom clothing.
Urban Safari: How do you cater to grooms + groomsmen in Denver?
Ryan Wagner: We can help a groom and his entourage with either a tuxedo or a suit. Regardless, it’s going to be created just for him and look amazing. But what’s really fun about going custom for a wedding is that a guy can take advantage of some of the details on his suit or tux. For instance, he can match the button hole thread on his jacket cuff to that of the wedding colors. Or, he can accent his white dress shirt with a really interesting contrast fabric on the inside of the collar or cuff. And this can be a team effort, he and his bride can create a suit or shirt that tells a story — that’s a special thing for a lot of couples.
Urban Safari: Personally, what’s your favorite piece to craft or design?
Ryan Wagner: Well, I imagine that Brett, Ron and me will all have different opinions! But I think that we could all agree on the following example:
Oftentimes, we’ll work with a client that is just frustrated with shopping for off-the-rack clothing. He may not know for sure why, but he knows that the clothes he buys in the mall just don’t fit him well. And so it’s really fun for us to act as a mentor and take him through the BE process: Fabric selection, taking measurements, picking out the details - all done in his home or office. Then when he gets his suit and tries it on for the first time, it’s just magic. It’s like he discovered a whole new world where clothes actually fit! For us, that’s a really fun thing to help enable.
So, it’s not so much a favorite piece of clothing that we enjoy building, but more of a favored opportunity - helping a man discover custom clothing for the first time.
Urban Safari: What are some of the trends you are seeing in men’s wedding fashion?
Ryan Wagner: Good question Ashley. Something that we’ve started to notice is that more and more grooms are opting for a suit versus a tuxedo. This makes perfect sense because a man will usually have more opportunities to wear a suit after the wedding ceremony than he will a tux. Depending on the suit fabric and construction, he may even be able to wear the jacket all on its own (e.g. a blazer with a pair of jeans). Also, we’ve met a lot of guys taking more of an interest in how they look on their wedding day. Their bride is certainly putting a lot of time and energy into how she looks for him on the big day so it’s nice to see guys reciprocating.
Urban Safari: What tips do you have for grooms + groomsmen shopping for their wedding attire?
Ryan Wagner: The one piece of advice that I would offer up is to not view buying a suit as an obligation, but as an opportunity to have one really awesome suit. Some grooms have the notion in mind that buying a suit is going to be an arduous process and one that will invariably result in an uncomfortable suit. Nothing could be further from the truth. Based on the feedback of our clients over the past two years, buying a suit is actually a lot of fun. And when you begin to look at the available fabrics you’ll realize that your suit can actually be quite comfortable.
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