Since the English Industrial Revolution, Thomas Mason has been producing some of the finest fabrics in the world. Houston's own Hamilton Shirt Company has been using their shirting fabrics to create custom shirts for years, but they were recently selected to be the exclusive U.S. carrier of the Thomas Mason Bespoke collection.

To commemorate the launch of this special collection, Tim Neckebroeck and Alberto Pallante of Thomas Mason came all the way from Albino, Italy, where the fabric mills are located, to the Hamilton showroom in Houston.

“Hamilton produces one of the best shirts in the states, and they respect the tradition of Bespoke clothing, so it was natural that we partnered with them for this collection,” Neckebroeck explained.

The idea behind the Thomas Mason Bespoke collection is to dramatically expand the options for customers: In addition to the many Thomas Mason fabrics that Hamilton regularly stocks, customers will now be able to choose from 750 additional fabrics that can be drop shipped from Italy.

The process is efficient: Customers get their measurements taken in the Hamilton showroom and choose a fabric from one of the Thomas Mason Bespoke books.

Hamilton places the order for the fabric, and within 24 hours, the precise amount of fabric needed for the customer’s shirt is shipped from Italy and arrives at the Hamilton Richmond Avenue factory within 3-4 days.

“With this collection, we offer something for everyone: from the guy who wants the most expensive, softest fabric in the world, to the guy who just wants a fabric that is still high quality and unique, but not as expensive,” Pallante said.

Regardless of the price point, customers who order from the Thomas Mason Bespoke collection at Hamilton can be confident that they are getting an exceptionally high quality shirt.

“We source the best raw materials in the world,” Neckebroeck said. “We use Giza 45 Egyptian Cotton, which accounts for 0.004% of worldwide cotton production.” In fact, the Albini Group, Thomas Mason’s parent company, owns its own cotton fields in Egypt. “We control everything from the raw material production to the transportation to the manufacturing – the company is entirely vertically integrated, which is why our quality is so high.”

The fabrics are very true to Thomas Mason’s English roots: Think bold colors in stripes, checks and ginghams. The first four fabric books for the Thomas Mason Bespoke collection are consistent, while the rest change on a seasonal basis.

The current spring/summer books include linens and poplins in bright summer colors. The Thomas Mason archive contains over 700 volumes of fabrics, ensuring that each season will feature something new and different.

Thomas Mason and Hamilton Shirt Co. both pride themselves on the quality of their product. Like Thomas Mason, Hamilton is a family-run business now run by David Hamilton and his sister, Kelly, and all of their shirts are manufactured here in Houston. “I think that Hamilton is our oldest customer in the States,” says Pallante.

A custom-made Hamilton shirt retails between $195-$395; most Thomas Mason fabrics are consistent with that price range although some can cost up to $595.

The trunk show will continue Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

In recent weeks, Pallante has become a bit of a celebrity in the fashion world, after being featured in J. Crew’s J. Crew Goes to Italy video.

“That is my other job – acting,” he jokes.