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The Humble Button: Why Mother-of-Pearl Changes Everything

Published · 1 min read · ORBIS Editorial

Flip a cuff and look: real shell is cool to the lip, uneven in its rainbow, and clicks like porcelain.

“It is the cheapest expensive detail in menswear — and the first corner cut when a shirt is built to a price.”

Article references

From the Atlas

  • 100Hands Amritsar / Netherlands / Online
    The Gold Line's Signature One-Piece Collar is the house's calling card — up to 34 hours of handwork per shirt, hidden snap buttons holding the self-rolling collar. store page → · open in the atlas →
  • Anna Matuozzo Naples / Online
    Neapolitan shirtmaker creating hand-sewn, made-to-measure shirts at its appointment-led Viale Antonio Gramsci atelier and through online consultation. store page → · open in the atlas →
  • Apposta Italy / Online
    Italian online custom shirtmaker with a dedicated one-piece collar program — configure the cloth, they cut the single-piece collar in Italy. store page → · open in the atlas →
  • Barba Napoli Naples / Online
    Neapolitan shirting house since 1964 — hand-passed shoulders and the ease of Neapolitan dress shirts. store page → · open in the atlas →
  • Battistoni Rome / Via Condotti / Online
    Opened in 1946 at 61A Via Condotti by Guglielmo Battistoni, a former Academy of Fine Arts student turned shirtmaker, this Rome atelier became an artists' gathering place from the 1950s — works by Picasso, Modigliani, Guttuso and Cocteau still hang on its walls — and dressed Marlon Brando and Andy Warhol. store page → · open in the atlas →

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