A bespoke tailor, a shoemaker, a barber, a cafe... Captains of Industry in central Melbourne has everything the thoroughly modern gentleman (and his partner) could possibly want. A chorizo, olive and grilled cheese sandwich with your short back and sides from Herr Blick? Why certainly sir!
A latte and a mars bar crackle to help ease the dilemma of which fabric (Italian or English) to choose from the 90 odd available for your new suit from Statler & Waldorf? But of course, sir!
I stumbled across Captains of Industry as I was wandering around Melbourne with my camera and flat white in hand (from Brother Baba Budan cafe, just around the corner from Captains in Little Bourke Street). It is tucked away up a flight of stairs (which I always find strangely intimidating -you never know exactly who or what will greet you at the top!) across the road from the GPO centre. It is a gorgeous light-filled space with the cafe in the centre (nab one of the tables overlooking Elizabeth street to do a spot of people watching from above) and little rooms off to the side where barber Steven (Herr Blick), Thom Grogan (Statler&Waldorf*) and bootmaker James (J.S. Roberts) work their bespoke magic.
Lovely Thom was repairing a vintage typewriter when I wandered in (the guys also sell vintage goodies and men's grooming products) and was kind enough to down tools and let me take some quick portraits of him and the shop. Embarrassingly, I still had my Brother Budan flat gripped in hand so I didn't get to try the coffee but if the glorious red coffee machine propped on the cafe counter is anything to go by, the boys take their coffee as seriously as their sartorial crafts.
And if you are sitting there thinking, oh, okay Vanessa, that's great for my man but what about me? Don't fret. Bootmaker James will fit you out for a pair of handmade loafers or derby's or even motorcycle boots if that is what you desire (prices start at around $500 Australian). One of the lovely girls I have met through blogging and who I caught up with while I was in Melbourne, Bec, from Koh&Co (you might have seen her witty comments on the blog) has ordered a pair of jodphur riding boots from James all for herself. Let us know how they turn out, Bec!
So if you are visiting Melbourne, make sure you pop in to Captains. And don't be scared of what awaits at the top of the stairs, the boys couldn't be nicer :)
*yep, named after the 2 ornery characters on the Muppets (the ones who used to sit on the balcony).