Berwich is one of the houses we have worked with the longest. The brand has been making trousers in Martina Franca, a small town in Puglia in the south of Italy, since 1975. Forty-nine years of doing one thing, and doing it carefully. The story of Berwich is the story of a region where tailoring runs through generations, and a family business that has stayed close to its workshop instead of scaling away from it.
What sets Berwich apart is the combination of traditional Italian tailoring with a slightly looser, more modern approach to fit. The trousers are cut for men who want the line of a tailored pant without the formality of a full suit. They sit somewhere between the boardroom and the weekend, which is exactly the place a lot of our customers want to dress for.
The fits we recommend most
Most Berwich models are named after Italian locations. The four we carry most consistently:
The Morello is the slim, tapered fit. Clean through the thigh, narrow at the ankle, and probably the most versatile starting point if you have not worn Berwich before.
The Vulcano195 is a refined regular fit. A little more room through the leg, still tailored, with a slightly higher rise. This is the one we usually recommend for men in their forties and up, or anyone who prefers their trousers to drape rather than cling.
The Retrolong is the sartorial fit, with side adjusters instead of belt loops. Higher rise, generous through the thigh, tapered toward the bottom. Worn well, this is the closest you get to a 1960s Italian silhouette in a contemporary trouser.
The Chiaia is the widest cut Berwich makes, with a more contemporary, fluid line. Suited to softer fabrics like wool flannel or linen, and to men who like the current move toward a looser leg.
The fabrics
Berwich does not make its own cloth. What they do is select carefully, from the mills most of the menswear world already trusts. Loro Piana wools, Vitale Barberis Canonico worsteds, Zegna fabrics, alongside cotton mills in northern Italy for the chinos and casual cuts. The result is a trouser that feels softer in the hand and holds its shape longer than the price would suggest.
You will often find a small amount of stretch in the modern fits, which makes the difference between a trouser you wear for a meeting and a trouser you wear all day. Important if you are travelling, or sitting through a long dinner.
Why we keep them in the store
The honest answer is value. There are tailored trouser brands at twice the price that do not give you the same fabric, the same construction, or the same feeling when you put them on. Berwich sits in a place that very few Italian houses sit in: serious tailoring at a price that lets a man build a rotation rather than own one pair he is afraid to wear.
We also like the way they age. A pair of Berwich wool trousers in the right fit will look better in year three than year one, which is the test we apply to most of what we carry.
If you are new to the brand, come by the store on Jan Evertsenstraat. Pulling on a few different fits side by side tells you more in five minutes than any guide can.
