Tailor Gage Flores Shrinks a 1990s Max Mara Jacket to Chase the New Jil Sander and Prada Silhouette

A Vogue writer enlisted Gage Flores of Age Design Services, a tailor operating from a truck on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, to shrink a beloved oversized camel Max Mara jacket inherited from her mother. The jacket, purchased at Neiman Marcus in the late 1990s, was worn since college but deemed obsolete after the writer observed the narrow-shouldered, double-breasted coats shown by Jil Sander and Prada in February. Flores, who had been receiving a surprising number of similar silhouette-shrinking requests, transformed the garment in 48 hours: the single-button closure became double-breasted with dark contrasting buttons, the sloping sleeve heads were sharpened, the waist was slightly cinched, and suede cuffs were added. The alpaca wool retained its worn elbows and collar and the jacket still smelled of the writer’s perfume, but the alterations gave it a more assertive feel, allowing it to be worn with vintage column dresses and slim pencil skirts. The writer’s mother was elated by the reimagined jacket, joking that it was “just a little more hip.” The piece highlights a renewed interest in sharply tailored silhouettes reminiscent of 1990s designs by Jil Sander and Prada, and the growing demand for alterations that update inherited garments rather than replace them.