WEBVTT

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the footprints as your guide.

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(upbeat music)

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- Very, very awkward.

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Hey guys, I'm Brent Rose

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a.k.a. the best-dressed man
in an otherwise empty room.

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Once upon a time, all suits were bespoke.

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They were status symbols,

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handcrafted by the finest
tailors in the land.

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Or at least by a relative
you could blackmail

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into sewing you one.

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But that's how it was
for hundreds of years.

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It wasn't until as recently as the 1950s

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when advances in the manufacturing process

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made cheaper, off-the-rack suits the norm,

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and forced a lot of the custom
made shops out of business.

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And yet, even to this day,

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suits are the item we associate most

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with the word bespoke.

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And while that old-world craftsmanship

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still very much exists in
places like Savile Row,

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right here in the U.S.,

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a new generation of suit makers

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is blending tradition with
technology in innovative ways.

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Button up your britches,
this is Bespoke America.

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Are britches not suspenders?

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What are britches?

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Can we google that?

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One of the biggest
problems with custom suits

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is in the fitting process.

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Hand-measuring is slow, labor-intensive,

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and susceptible to human error.

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But a company called Alton Lane

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lets the robots handle that step

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using a 26-camera, 3D body scanner

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to get every one of my measurements

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down to a tenth of an inch.

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And then a computer-controlled 
laser cutter

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to keep it just that precise.

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We had to go check it out.

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- Hey, you must be Brent.

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- Yes.

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- Hey man, I'm Peyton.

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Nice to meet you.

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- Thanks for having us.

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- Oh, thanks for coming, come on in.

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- All right.

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- Welcome to Alton Lane, Tribeca.

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- All right, so this is the digs, huh?

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- This is the digs.

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My business partner, we
had the exact same issue,

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nothing fit us off the rack.

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And so that was really the
original impetus for Alton Lane.

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The term bespoke actually
comes from England

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where a tailor would say

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"This fabric is bespoken for
fill-in-the-blank," right.

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You know, custom was
not just for the elite.

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It was a manner in which

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most people got their formal clothing.

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So, why don't we get started?

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- All right.

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- First things first,

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can I offer you a drink?

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- Sure.

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Is that the idea?

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Like you feed me enough whiskey

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and I think I look good in anything?

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- 100 percent.

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- Yeah, I'll be like,
just give me the paisley.

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It's all good.

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- What's the main reason for this suit?

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- I mean, I don't wear a lot of suits.

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I'm a dirtbag journalist.

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- Yeah.

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- I honestly have no idea
what's cool right now

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in suit world.

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- What I recommend is

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let's go with this slightly
more medium blue hue.

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- That's slick.

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- That's what's
called a Glen plaid.

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- Ah.

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That looks good to me.

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I think.

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- The lining.

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- Shoot.

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This is really tough.

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Oh, and I kinda like the pulp.

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- Not gonna let
you do the paisley though.

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- No paisley.

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- You can get a hacking pocket

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that is at a slight angle

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just to provide a little bit
of, you know, jazz.

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The last button-hole,

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any of these colors you can choose.

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I'm wearing the notched lapel.

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We also have the peak lapel.

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- Could we talk vest?

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Is that a thing?

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- Oh, yeah, sure.

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- You can get up to 18 characters.

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No curse words.

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- Rose.

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- Very cool.

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- You ready?

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- Ready.
- All right, let's do it.

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Let's go to the fit lab.

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Straight through this secret bookcase.

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- Oh, no way.

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- Yeah.

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- Oh this is very "Kingsman."

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- Yeah, it is.

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(laughs)

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- All right, so
this is our 3D body scanner.

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Get down to your boxers or briefs.

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It's gonna map your outermost layer

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in perfect detail every time.

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Far more so than a human can.

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Most important thing:

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stand at your normal posture.

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All right.

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You let me know when you're ready Brent.

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- All right, I
think I'm in position.

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- [Automated Voice] Position
yourself using the footprints

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as your guide.

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Grasp the handles on both sides

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and stand straight.

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Relax your arms and
shoulders, and remain still.

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Measuring begins in three,

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two,

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one.

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- Very, very awkward.

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- All right, you're all good.

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- All right.

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- Did you know you
have a low right shoulder?

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- I do know that.

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Or a high left shoulder.

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(laughs)

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- Whoa.

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So each of these lines is
a different measurement?

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How many measurements are there?

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- So they take
over 300 measurements.

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You know, the actual
circumference of your ankles,

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to the circumference of your wrist.

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- All of these individual
measurements here,

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are those all getting shipped off

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to whomever is cutting the fabric?

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- Yeah, not every single one of them,

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because it would be overkill.

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- All right, so just have a seat.

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So, today we submit your order.

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Everything goes through to our factory,

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we order your fabric,

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the suit will be made over
the next four to five weeks.

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It gets shipped here

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and if there are any adjustments,

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which can be necessary sometimes,

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we then do that locally.

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Then we're kinda all set.

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- All right, let's time warp forward.

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All right so it's been a few weeks.

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Now we are back at Alton Lane

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and so is my suit.

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So, let's go see what we got.

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- Welcome, suit looks amazing.

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- All right, moment of truth.

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I feel like a kid on Christmas.

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Woohoo.

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Oh man.

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Look, look.

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It's got my name, right in the collar.

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In a rose color.

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- Come on out.

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- Let's dissect this.

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- So you can see that
the seam comes right here

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to your shoulder point

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so they're sitting
right where they should.

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And then it allows for
this nice, tapered look.

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You actually still have enough room

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to be able to move and to be comfortable.

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- Yeah.

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- There ya go.

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That's the most important move.

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But most importantly,

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I wanna know how you feel.

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- Yeah, it feels really good.

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It's got cool lines.
- Yeah.

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- I really like the pattern a lot.

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It doesn't look too 1930s.

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- For sure, for sure.

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- You'll never take me alive, see?

191
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I'd completely forgotten that it would

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have the liner on the back.

193
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I don't look like a card dealer do I?

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- This looks awesome.

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I really like the look of it.

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I love the pattern.

199
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Yeah, I feel awesome.

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It really does.

201
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Yeah, this is so cool.

202
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So let's talk conclusions.

203
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Our bodies are nearly as
different from each other

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as our fingerprints are.

205
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So when you paint in broad-strokes,

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you can service a large portion

207
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of the population,

208
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but some individual nuance is lost.

209
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Some human nook or cranny

210
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or asymmetric measurement

211
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just misses the translation.

212
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And that's fine.

213
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But it isn't perfect.

214
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- Look really good.

215
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- Very much diggin' it.

216
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I feel pretty.

217
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But now, technology is paving the way

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for a new era of Bespoke suits

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that are faster to make,

220
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cheaper, and more
accessible to more people.

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And they straight up feel amazing.

222
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I mean I've literally never worn anything

223
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that fit as nicely as this.

224
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Little bit of that

225
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little bit of this

226
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And I feel like I could own any stage,

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or dance floor,

228
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or hell, even fashion shoot.

229
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In fact
(record screech)

230
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bring in the professional photographer.

231
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I'm ready for my m--(bleep) closeup.

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- Uh huh.

233
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(camera shutter)

234
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Put your hands on your hips.

235
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The other one.

236
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Yep.

237
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Bring your forehead toward me.

238
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Like a turtle.

239
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Yep.

240
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Come at me, come at me.

241
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Talk to me, talk to me.

242
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Now show.

243
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Yeah!

244
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Get it!

245
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You don't care.

246
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Just pour, it doesn't matter.

247
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In the glass, outta the glass.

248
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Peekaboo peekaboo who's that?

249
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(laughs)

250
00:07:06.022 --> 00:07:08.903
(camera shutters)

251
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Thanks for staying classy with us.

252
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To see more of the art
and science behind custom

253
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check back for another

254
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Bespoke America.

255
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(upbeat music)

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- [Photographer] Give me a
little cheers, cheers me.

257
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Hi.

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(coughs)

259
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That's somethin'.

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(upbeat music)

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(cards flipping)