Review: Luxire Custom Shirts

Luxire Custom is a relatively new name in the online shirt making scene, but one that is quickly gaining a good reputation for quality and attention to detail for the price.

The website is fairly straightforward and doesn't rely on a lot of Flash or other gimmicks, you simply select your style options and input the measurements of your choice. They'll make shirts from just neck and sleeve measurements if desired and show the actual shirt dimensions according to fit (Regular, Slim, Super Slim).

From Ashish Arya, since I couldn't say it better myself:

We started making Luxire Custom shirts 4 months ago. We had launched RTW shirts in November last year. Since then, we had been working on refining our skills and launched the custom program after we thought we had reached a level that could satisfy the most demanding of customers. 

We have been on a journey of continuous improvement with the goal of making some of the best shirts in the world. We feel we have now reduced the gap to be counted among them.

Input materials and quality:

1. Almost all our fabric are from some of the best European mills and most are 2 Ply. The fabrics are tested against many parameters at our premises after delivery and if not found to the mark, they are discarded.

2. Buttons: Our buttons are Mother-of-pearl, made of Australian Sea shell, 4mm thick and have a nice shape. Am yet to find more expensive MOP buttons of the same size.

3. Interlinings: Our interlinings, in combinations of fused, unfused, hard, soft, thick and thin are from Wendler of Germany. They are probably the best in the world. We also have a few custom-made linings as even Wendler could not provide us those to our satisfaction.

4. Threads: We use Geutermann threads from Germany. They are again considered among the best.

5. Machines: Basic single needle.

6. Buttonholes: Done by machine, Brother, computerized. Also done by hand on certain shirts either by request or if deemed necessary by the shirt's style.

7. Buttons: Mostly shanked by hand, but machine used at times.

Our setup and shirt making process:

We have 3 factories in Bangalore, India. We employ 800 people and make shirts for some of the best brands in the world and many Indian brands. We have a capacity of 120,000 shirts per month.

Our custom setup is separate and follows some of the best traditions of shirtmaking.

The setup we have is simple. After an order is received, the shirt length is cut and washed in a home-style washer dryer. The pattern master makes the pattern completely by hand based on the details provided. The fabric is then cut, handed over to the tailor who makes the shirt based on provided details.
Nothing is boxed, hence there is complete flexibility. There is no time pressure on anyone while making the shirt. The only focus is on quality and accuracy. If an error is made, the shirt is discarded and the whole process is redone. There are no workarounds or corrections.

They are also willing to do all sorts of things by special request, this vintage style shirt being one of the damn coolest examples I've seen.

Alrighty! Time for some pictures and the review.

The shirt comes in a simple cardboard box within a Tyvek sleeve.



Unboxing. You may notice the collar has no stays.



However, these come separately and include two sets of stays rather than just one like many online shirt makers.



Like I said before, I was impressed by the quality for the asking price. Here are a few features, besides the split yoke you see almost everyone do. (Not that it's any less important.)

The aforementioned collar stays are stainless and seem to be of decent quality. There are no sharp/jagged edges, so they won't tear the stay pockets over time like those inferior brass ones sold at most department stores. These are a bit different than the ones I got with my previous shirt. Those stays were a bit long and sat almost right against the collar band, not leaving enough "wiggle room". I forgot to mention this to them and yet they seemed to have fixed it on their own. It seems they are always improving their product, which is a good sign.



Shanked, thick mother-of-pearl buttons. I've never seen a shirt with shanked buttons before, so this was interesting to me. The only downside I see is that it makes the fabric buckle a tad around the buttons.



Last buttonhole is cut horizontally and placed well below where the trouser waistband would sit. Most shirtmakers have a tendency to space their buttons too close and high. Speaking of which, on my remade shirt they gladly accommodated my request for fewer buttons in front. Because I chose a 33" length, they put nine buttons in front which seemed a tad excessive in my opinion. I prefer seven buttons because it looks a little cleaner and allows collar to open nicely when not wearing a tie.



Pattern matching (also on the split yoke and placket placement).



However, upon inspection it revealed the only real sticking point I actually have with the shirt... diagonally cut sleeves. It reminds me of the shirts sold by a lot of fashion brands now and, to me, seems the only cheap looking thing about the shirt. Cutting them straight from the shoulder would be far better and make the sleeves ride up less when one reaches forward for a pencil or something.



A beautiful, non-fused collar which is available upon request. The placket and cuffs are made this way as well. Button-down collar shirts have the sewn interlinings by default.



Now, onto the fit pics. Since I sent the measurements from a well fitting shirt, pretty much the only thing I would change is the slope of the shoulders. They appear to be crinkling a bit. I'll be sure to note this for my next order.







Now, a few things of interest...

This shirt was remade because the fabric had shrunk too much in the wash. They pre-wash every fabric up to three times to stabilize sizing (something usually reserved for bespoke shirts), so this surprised me. They did some tests and determined this particular one needed some more washing before being made into a shirt. As I said before, I like that they are always trying to improve.

Overall, I liked this shirt. At $60 I think it is one of the best custom shirt values there are. In fact it's worth over twice that price due to the fabric and detail quality (subsidized through their mass-manufactured shirt business). However, the sleeve attachment issue is the only real strike against it and keeps it from being a truly incredible value.

UPDATE: I was informed by Arnaud Rousseau himself that sleeve attachment can be made straight from the shoulder by request, so be sure to put that in the special instructions along with any preference for sewn interlinings or number of buttons in front.

DISCLAIMER: Nouveau Vintage received material compensation for this review. However, every effort has been made to remain objective.