Hand-stitched using a silk-wrapped gimp cord to create a raised, rope-like finish on the lapel. Over 150 stitches. One hour of work. The single most uncompromising sign of handcraft in bespoke tailoring.
Hand Stitches
Per Buttonhole
Raised Finish
The Milanese buttonhole — known in Italian as Asola Lucida, meaning “shining buttonhole” — originated in the early 20th-century tailoring houses of Milan. From the 1930s onward, it became the defining detail that separated true bespoke construction from everything that came after it.
It serves almost no functional purpose. It holds a boutonnière, perhaps. But that is not the point. The Milanese buttonhole exists as a declaration — a private language spoken between those who make clothes and those who truly understand them.
At Sakal, it is non-negotiable. Every bespoke jacket carries one.
The Cut
Unlike machine buttonholes, the Milanese starts with cutting the hole first — before a single stitch is sewn. This demands absolute confidence from the artisan. There is no correction. No undo.
The Gimp Cord
A thick, rigid silk cord — “gimp” — is carefully laid around the entire perimeter of the cut hole. This forms the armature, the invisible scaffold that will give the buttonhole its sculptural, three-dimensional profile.
150+ Stitches
Fine silk buttonhole thread is tightly and consistently wrapped around the gimp in a continuous loop — over 150 stitches for a single teardrop shape. Only the lustrous silk surface remains visible.
The Finish
The result is a robust, raised, rolled edge with a subtle sheen — an architecture impossible to replicate by machine. Sculptural. Permanent. The final signature of a garment made by hand, for life.
At the heart of every Milanese buttonhole is the gimp — a thick, rigid cord of twisted silk. It forms the structural spine of the buttonhole, the substrate around which every stitch is wound.
Without the gimp, the buttonhole is flat. With it, the buttonhole becomes architecture. The cord raises the finished surface off the cloth by several millimetres, creating the distinctive “rope-like” silhouette that gives the Asola Lucida its name.
Twisted silk over a cotton core — rigid enough to hold the raised profile permanently.
Wrapped tightly and consistently so only the lustrous silk surface is visible.
The classic Milanese form — wider at the base, tapering to a point — allowing a stem or pin through.
Reserved exclusively for the boutonnière hole — never on functional sleeve or front buttons.
Machine Buttonhole
Milanese Buttonhole · Sakal
ŠAKAL ATELIER | SINGAPORE
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