My Himel Experience (v2)

[jeo]

Jeo may not have contacted him right away and Himel may be justified in his responses at least to the degree they had not realized the full extent of the flaws in a timely fashion.

I received the jacket 10/13. I notified him of the flaw 11/1. Is that right away? It’s not like I told him about it a year later. It was also only because he said he was starting making me an Imperial. It just so happened it was 19 days later that he told me he was able to make the Imperial, so that’s when I felt I needed to tell him about the flaw to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

 

[dannyk]

I received the jacket 10/13. I notified him of the flaw 11/1. Is that right away? It’s not like I told him about it a year later. It was also only because he said he was starting making me an Imperial. It just so happened it was 19 days later that he told me he was able to make the Imperial, so that’s when I felt I needed to tell him about the flaw to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

You did. That’s why I said the full extent of the flaws. You admittedly sent one photo but there was several others you came to see. I don’t know if he would have acted differently if he had seen all of it. That’s a guessing game and we will never know what would have happened. That’s all I meant.

 

[red devil]

I don’t think we can judge his body of work on one or two or three jackets. Mistakes/sub par quality does happen and according to what I’ve read on this forum, no maker is immune to it.

I agree with you and Jeo, the work displayed here (and with Carlo’s jacket) is sub par for the price. No one is saying it isn’t.

I guess we will never know, but I wonder if when Jeo met with Dave and said “I’m really not happy with my Frobisher and I’d like you to consider remaking it or at the very least, can you provide me a discount on my Imperial”? What would David’s response have been?

Since Jeo “loves his Frobisher” in my mind, that still counts for something.

The way I have seen some other makers act is say very quickly "send it back", not even asking if the owner is happy or not. Himel didn't.

 

[jeo]

Since Jeo “loves his Frobisher” in my mind, that still counts for something.

Yes that is absolutely correct. And I’m pretty sure the vast vast majority of other Himel owners feel the same way about their jackets.

 

[Brandrea33]

Yes that is absolutely correct. And I’m pretty sure the vast vast majority of other Himel owners feel the same way about their jackets.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I do.

My stitching isn’t what I’d call perfect either and I’m sure if I stared at it long enough I could find other things.

I’ll make a final analogy which sounds to me, like it might resonate with you ... and perhaps others here.

I collect watches and am a long time member of a watch forum. We often get members who buy an expensive watch and they put it under a 12 or 15x loupe when they get home, only to discover “flaws” ... uneven appliqué, dust, what have you. Some will say that’s not good and for the price, if you’re unhappy, send it back to your AD to sort it out with the manufacturer.

Many others live with it and say, “put away the loupe and enjoy your watch”

I guess all I’m saying is that I’m pretty sure David would’ve and maybe still would, replace your Frobisher if you had asked/ask.

If on the other hand you truly love your Frobisher, don’t let these imperfections diminish your enjoyment of it.

 

[TG3]

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Despite all these flaws, I still love my Frobisher. It is my best fitting jacket and the leather is amazing.

When I met Dave at Inspriation LA he assured me that the Imperial he was going to make me will be perfect. This was my dream jacket so I went ahead and plunged a significant amount of money for him to make it for me. My Imperial came out much better than my Frobisher.

As I mentioned in other threads, I never brought this up until now since I saw no reason to, but after Himel's post about standing behind his products, I felt I needed to tell people about my specific experience and am writing this thread with the purpose of informing the great people of TFL community as well as prospective buyers.

I hope this thread will serve well in that purpose.

Thank you for sharing Jeo. I'm glad to hear that you still enjoy this jacket and I would wager that you get plenty of complements when wearing it. Non-enthusiast wouldn't even know where to look to determine if it was a great or poorly manufactured product. However... that is not an excuse at all. Especially at the price point and hype around the brand. I'm not sure which is more concerning, the fact it passed QC or that it never made to QC eyes. Hindsight is 20x20 so in saying this I know it's not helpful, but the only feedback I can give is I wish you would have replied to Dave with the other photos so he could get the whole picture of how bad things really were. Dave got to see the big ugly dent on your driver side door, I would have liked to see his response if you showed him the rest of the totaled car.

 

[Jin431]

Dave got to see the big ugly dent on your driver side door, I would have liked to see his response if you showed him the rest of the totaled car.

This! Great way of putting it. Touché.

 

[jeo]

I guess all I’m saying is that I’m pretty sure David would’ve and maybe still would, replace your Frobisher if you had asked/ask.

If on the other hand you truly love your Frobisher, don’t let these imperfections diminish your enjoyment of it.

Again, I didn’t want a remake, refund or a discount.

If I would have insisted on it maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t. We will never know. But what we do know is that I showed him one flaw that should have been enough to warrant a different response from what he gave me.

I have enjoyed the jacket for two years and will continue to enjoy the jacket.

but the only feedback I can give is I wish you would have replied to Dave with the other photos so he could get the whole picture of how bad things really were. Dave got to see the big ugly dent on your driver side door, I would have liked to see his response if you showed him the rest of the totaled car.

If it was about getting a remake, I would agree with you.

If I would have been all up in arms demanding a remake and sent him all the pictures I can confidently say that there is absolutely no way he could have denied me one.

The purpose for sending him the flaw wasn’t to get a remake it was to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. It worked.

The purpose of this thread isn’t to say that I demanded a remake and got denied. It was that I showed an obvious flaw and got a response that wasn’t in line with his claim of resolving issues.

 

[Marc mndt]

You mentioned you are happy with your frobisher jacket. Then let's leave it at that, enjoy wearing it.

And that's where Jeo left it at. Case closed...

...But then Himel came on here and proclaimed that he always stands behind his products and that anyone who has brought up issues with him had them resolved.

I can see why Jeo felt the need to share his experiences, even though he's happy with his jacket. Because instead of getting his issue resolved, all Jeo got were excuses:

"the problem was the leather is a bit slippery" (...) it wont happen again obviously"

What won't happen again? The leather being slippery, or the machinist doing a sloppy job?

 

[red devil]

The purpose of this thread isn’t to say that I demanded a remake and got denied. It was that I showed an obvious flaw and got a response that wasn’t in line with his claim of resolving issues.

I would hope by now that this very clear for anyone reading through this thread

 

[Downunder G Man]

Sorry to be a "doubting Thomas" but in the OP photos the jacket looks lovely to me.
I of course may either be weird or easily pleased . Perhaps both ?
And after all that reading the OP likes the jacket anyways ?

 

[Brandrea33]

And that's where Jeo left it at. Case closed...

...But then Himel came on here and proclaimed that he always stands behind his products and that anyone who has brought up issues with him had them resolved.

I can see why Jeo felt the need to share his experiences, even though he's happy with his jacket. Because instead of getting his issue resolved, all Jeo got were excuses:

"the problem was the leather is a bit slippery" (...) it wont happen again obviously"

What won't happen again? The leather being slippery, or the machinist doing a sloppy job?

But Jeo loves his jacket ... which leaves me confused as to what reply he was looking to get from David. He didn’t want, or ask for a remake agreed.

I truly think that there is a mix up between the “impression” that David was left with after his interaction with Jeo, and what is being discussed here.

I guess I’m in the vast minority here.

 

[handymike]

The classy response would be for DH to send @jeo a jacket on the DL (without making a show or having Parker post about it)...no strings attached.

 

[ton312]

Thank you for sharing jeo. The Himel response is actually more disappointing than the finished product. Frankly, I am not the least bit surprised. I saw and tried on a few “stock” Himel at Mildblend in Chicago a few years back, and while they were not quite this bad, each one was sewn together worse than my worst 5 Star.
I was very tempted to snap a bunch of pics and post them here but thought better of it. I felt it would be a malicious act. I was annoyed at the chatter about Himel superiority and superlative build quality but I kept my mouth and camera shut.
My understanding was that the stock offerings were not built to the same level as the custom builds so I bit my tongue and respected that. Clearly not the case.
Honestly I wouldn’t wear this jacket. It would piss me off to no end. Not only because it is stitched together in a haphazard way but the response is so poor I’d probably honestly throw this to auction and just get rid of it.

 

[58panheadfan]

Dear mods, I think it is now really time to close this thread... OP has now repeatedly commented on it and explained itself ... I also believe that enough has been written / blasphemed about the work of Himel Bros. Ultimately, everyone can decide for themselves whether they want to order a leather jacket from Himel Bros. or not.

 

[NYDRH]

And that's where Jeo left it at. Case closed...

...But then Himel came on here and proclaimed that he always stands behind his products and that anyone who has brought up issues with him had them resolved.

I can see why Jeo felt the need to share his experiences, even though he's happy with his jacket. Because instead of getting his issue resolved, all Jeo got were excuses:

"the problem was the leather is a bit slippery" (...) it wont happen again obviously"

What won't happen again? The leather being slippery, or the machinist doing a sloppy job?

This was the part in the original thread that bothered me too. I didn't realize he was making a second jacket for Jeo at the time so I had found the wording odd without understanding that bit of context. But as you said how was it simultaneously unavoidable and something that could be remedied in the future? I am really glad the second jacket came out great and overall Jeo still enjoys the first one as well.

This is all very helpful information for anyone interested going forward, thank you for sharing. And I say this is as someone who will most likely order a chevalier in the near future and Im thankful for Carlos and Jeo sharing their experiences. The customer service response does give me pause, I admit.

A lot of this reminds me of conversations I have with my tailor in regard to the rise of IG and social media. There's often a great deal of discussion online about how much hand stitching one maker has versus another and if one does more than another they are therefore superior almost like it's a math equation. But ultimately it's the overall experience and for me specifically, the fit and how I feel wearing the suit. I would be more inclined to look past a few bad stitches for a near perfect fit as that in my opinion is the hardest thing to replicate/achieve from any maker or OTR. So when I find someone who can do that I'm hooked. This isn't to excuse the stitching on Jeo's jacket or the response he received as my tailor would never let a suit with obvious flaws in top stitching out the door and I believe it's easier to hide other mistakes in cloth just another aspect to think about. When a bespoke product fits there's nothing better and when it doesn't it's a disaster which is why expectations for customer service are so important in the initial leap of faith.

I've followed Himel for a long time across social media and I enjoy his newer youtube videos. What I have always admired are his designs and how great the jackets look on all of his customers in all shapes and sizes. Carlos' Chevalier is one of the better fitting jackets I've seen. I have a couple of second hand Himel jackets and I quite like them(I've never heavily examined the stitching but I've also not noticed anything in daily use) but as I mentioned above, fit is my ultimate goal and I'll need to go custom. There are many flaws on Jeo's original jacket I would be willing to look past for a perfect fit but I completely understand someone who wouldn't and there are a couple I would not be ok with. I have OTR leather jackets from high end Japanese repro companies and the stitching is flawless but the fit leaves a lot to be desired and the price point is similar, I'd prefer both the perfect stitching and the fit but if I had to choose I'd go fit every time. But I have to believe in the customer service and I am very appreciative of these threads that I am more informed in the decision I would be making.

 

[jeo]

But Jeo loves his jacket ... which leaves me confused as to what reply he was looking to get from David. He didn’t want, or ask for a remake agreed.

I truly think that there is a mix up between the “impression” that David was left with after his interaction with Jeo, and what is being discussed here.

I guess I’m in the vast minority here.

What I would have wanted and would have left me satisfied is if he would have given me any other response but the one he gave me so long as it wasn't excusing the flaw I showed him.

 

[red devil]

My understanding was that the stock offerings were not built to the same level as the custom builds

Yes, I remember that was said somewhere...

Yet Himel will also tell you that the stitching on a bespoke jacket can't be as good as on a stock jacket becuase each pattern is unique

 

[Brandrea33]

The classy response would be for DH to send @jeo a jacket on the DL (without making a show or having Parker post about it)...no strings attached.

I agree with you on that front, but we don’t know how the conversation went and what impression David had after discussing the first jacket with Jeo.

I’d bet dollars to donuts, David thought everything was resolved, as Jeo ordered the next jacket.

 

[ton312]

Yes, I remember that was said somewhere...

Yet Himel will also tell you that the stitching on a bespoke jacket can't be as good as on a stock jacket becuase each pattern is unique

LOL. A case of “Hoist on your own petard” then....