Virgin Merino Flannel Three-Piece Suit — Midnight Houndstooth

Costume 3 pièces en flanelle mérinos Super 110’s micro-pied-de-poule. Entoilage semi-traditionnel en crin de cheval, poches plaquées et taille élastiquée discrète.

The departure board flickered with mechanical indifference: flight delayed by another fifteen minutes.
Again.

It was already the fourth postponement in an hour.
Marc was perched on the edge of a rigid row of gate chairs, leaning his chin against his knuckles and resting his other hand heavily against the cold telescoping handle of his navy blue polycarbonate suitcase.
His eyelids weighed a ton, but slumping into a formless heap against the chair was out of the question — even in the haze of half-sleep, you do not needlessly crease fine flannel.

The approaching click of heels broke his descent into slumber.
Marc forced his eyes open: standing before him was a young woman in a sharp navy airline uniform and a meticulously tied neck scarf.

“Excuse me, sir... Are you by any chance the first officer for Flight 408?”

Marc blinked, rubbing his temple:

“Hardly. What on earth made you think that?”

“Oh, forgive me!”
She smiled with that flawless courtesy behind which professional sharpness always hides.
“I’m new here, and dispatch told me to find our flight crew right away. It’s just... your suit fits so impeccably. The shoulders, the poise, the noble depth of that blue cloth — at first glance, I took you for the commander.”

“Just an architect stranded in transit,” Marc muttered dryly.

“Then my compliments to your tailor,” she smiled, turning smoothly toward the crew lounge.

Marc followed her with his gaze — the confident stride, the measured economy of movement, almost a military bearing.
And then it clicked: “New here? She’s flown international long-haul for at least a decade.”

Before he could even process the thought, a slightly rasping, dry voice came from his left:

“Young man, mind if an old lady sits beside you?”

“Not at all, of course,” Marc replied, shifting his suitcase aside.

The elderly lady settled onto the seat with the leisure of an aristocrat who had long forgotten what it meant to rush.
She adjusted her string of pearls, turned her silver head, and looked Marc over intently through horn-rimmed spectacles:

“Tell me, dear... are you by any chance flying to Scotland?”

Marc looked at her with genuine bewilderment:

“No. Why Scotland, of all places?”

“It is written across your cloth,” she laughed softly, gesturing toward the sleeve of his jacket.
“This micro-houndstooth... It has been forty years since I last saw wool woven with such noble character.
My late husband was a member of the Edinburgh Tailors Guild.
Nowadays, men dress like unmade beds — synthetics, lifeless shapes, not an ounce of backbone.
But here? A live semi-canvassed horsehair chest piece, the finest first-shear merino that breathes with you, a proper melton undercollar framed in self-fabric...
Your suit speaks of a true gentleman long before you even open your mouth.”

Marc listened in silence to her reminiscences of heavy tailoring shears, linen canvas interlinings, and the vanishing dignity of bench-made craftsmanship.
He was already beginning to formulate an excuse to stand up and leave.
But just as she reached the golden era of Savile Row masters, a chime rang out overhead: her flight was finally called for boarding.

She gave a regal nod, picked up her leather satchel, and disappeared into the jet bridge.

Marc exhaled, running his fingers across the soft nap of the fabric — did it truly draw that many eyes?
It was heading into the third hour of the morning, and the board clicked again: now the flight was delayed not by fifteen minutes, but by a full half-hour.
A dull irritation began to simmer beneath his ribs.

And in that very moment, his peripheral vision caught movement.

A burly man in an oversized, scuffed leather jacket was slowly circling past his row for the fourth time.
Hands buried in pockets, eyes cast up from under his brow, measuring distances and evaluating the dozing passenger.

Marc’s jaw tightened. “First the flight attendant, then the Scottish nostalgia... And what does this one see in me? Easy prey nodding off with expensive luggage?”

Ending up without his laptop, papers, and cashmere travel vest right before a ruined trip was definitely not part of his plans.

Marc rose in one fluid motion — the discreet elastic inserts along the trouser waistband adapted instantly to his stride, leaving the hips completely flat and uncreased.
He took a firm grip on the telescoping handle of the suitcase, spun it around, and marched purposefully straight toward the 24-hour luggage lockers.

As the heavy metal door of the locker slammed shut with a solid click, the flat, dry voice of the announcer drifted over the empty concourse:

“Attention passengers. All remaining departures are grounded until eight o'clock tomorrow morning due to runway maintenance.”

Marc leaned his back against the locker bank, unfastened the top horn button of his jacket, and felt the supple, resilient warmth of the merino wool cutting through the terminal draft.

“Eight hours,” he murmured into the hush of the empty corridor, a dry, tired smile surfacing.
“At least the suit doesn’t complain about turbulence.”

Sartorial & Technical Details

• Fabric & Fiber:
  • 100% First-Cut Merino Virgin Wool: Harvested exclusively from the inaugural shear of 7–8 month merino lambs, yielding an ultra-fine 17µm fiber diameter comparable to raw cashmere for weightless thermal insulation and next-to-skin softness.
  • Super 110’s Primary Cut Flannel: Woven into a compact, micro-scale navy-and-midnight houndstooth pattern with a soft brushed flannel finish that resists creasing while ensuring natural drape and breathability.
  • Color: Midnight Houndstooth.

• Jacket Architecture:
  • Silhouette: Classic single-breasted two-button front.
  • Internal Structure: Half-canvas chest architecture crafted from natural horsehair and linen canvas. Provides a supple, adaptive drape across the chest that molds to the body over time.
  • Lining: Full interior lining engineered with a smooth, low-friction glide for effortless layering over knitwear and dress shirts.
  • Tailored Collar & Lapels: Balanced notch lapel (approx. 8 cm) with a self-fabric bound melton undercollar for crisp structural stability around the neck.
  • Cuffs: Fully functional surgeon’s cuffs with four overlapping kissing buttons.
  • Pockets: Casual Neapolitan rounded patch pockets and a curved barchetta chest pocket.
  • Vents: Dual side vents at the back for fluid motion and clean drape.

• Waistcoat (Vest):
  • Fabric-Matched Five-Button Front: Tailored in self-fabric across both the front panels and back shell, finished with double welt hip pockets and a polished rear cinch buckle for an adjustable waist contour.
  • Front Hem: Balanced angled hem designed to sit flush over the trouser waistband without bunching.

• Trousers & Comfort Engineering:
  • Leg Cut: Slim-tapered silhouette with sharp pressed creases.
  • Concealed Elastic Waist Inserts: Hidden elasticized side waistband segments designed to maintain a clean, flat-front sartorial look while providing up to several centimeters of dynamic flexibility during travel and long hours.
  • Hardware & Closure: Smooth-gliding YKK metal zipper fly reinforced with an extended waistband tab and internal anchor button.
  • Pockets: Side slant pockets and button-through jetted back pockets.