In Long Island City, right on the border of Sunnyside, a commercial building on 36th Street just off Queens Boulevard houses an assortment of small businesses, like a tattoo shop, a quinceañera dress rental shop, and a nail studio specializing in Russian manicures. The building’s exterior doesn’t give way about what else it holds on the inside-a photography studio, a fitness space, a driving school. Inside are long, quiet hallways and a feeling like you might be in the wrong place.
After passing rows of plain walls and grey doors, suite #113 stands out. There’s quiet chattering and low music playing, and just behind the door, a bleak hallway gives way to a burst of technicolor with flamingo pink walls lined with photography, album artwork-a collection of thread rests on the wall next to glittering fringes set behind rows of men’s blazers.
Jason Sandagon, the designer and tailor who owns the showroom, is sitting with a couple who are looking to have a men’s suit made for their wedding. They’re interested in a velvet jacket, though a full velvet suit was mentioned to them as a possibility if they really wanted to. Sandagon has an admirably upright posture; he’s wearing a suit, sitting comfortably in socks, while the three of them go through swatches of different materials and colors to curate the perfect suit for their special day. The scene looks like they might be sitting in Sandagon’s living room, sifting through materials for their potential suit as friends, dancing through topics from the idea of using wool for a suit (the bride-to-be doesn’t like the idea of resting her head on his chest and feeling sandpaper across her cheek) to the inspiration of their wedding (the ballroom scene from The Labrinth with David Bowie), and some small talk about Sandagon’s work and how the couple found him (they discovered him through a Reddit thread recommending him amongst other tailors known for digressing from typical men’s suits.)
It’s less than surprising that Sandagon, who first became inspired to become a tailor after a background in film and writing, read “House of Nutter-The Rebel Tailor of Savile Row,” a biography about the Nutter brothers who made waves in the 1970s in London’s fashion and music scenes, with Tommy revolutionizing Savile Row tailoring. Sandagon, who grew up in Boston and lived for a short time in Florida, quickly learned that trading cold and dull Boston winters for hot and humid Florida days was not the move he imagined. He settled in Queens around 2016 with his wife, originally aspiring to write for Saturday Night Live. He first lived in Jackson Heights in a seedy basement apartment for $400 a month before moving to Sunnyside, where he’s lived since. In 2020, his vision shifted to fashion, immersing himself in everything he needed to know, working with a store that regularly hosted pop-ups in the East Hamptons. His wife went to fashion school, and one of her professors recommended the book “House of Nutter,” which he read on the long drives out there and led him to where he is today, as the founder and creative behind Mad King George, specializing in punk-rock-inspired, eccentric, high-quality, made-to-measure garments.
“I learned there was a whole different side to men’s tailoring that I never knew about,” said Sandagon. “To me, there were suits, and then there’s fashion, so when I read this book, I realized you can truly blend the two of those things together and create your own thing. I took that idea and said, ‘Oh, I can just do whatever I want, that’s incredible.”
Initially, Sandagon started the brand out of his living room, drawing sketches, scouting fabric, creating sample garments, and curating a look with strong shoulders, a nipped waist, giving a full-fitted garment that was not at all popular at the time, according to Sandagon.
“As a theater kid growing up, I was very into musical theater, but then also very into punk music, so I took that ethos because if everyone wants to be so punk by just co-opting the aesthetic of the 1980s punk, is it really rebellious?” asked Sandagon. “Perfectly tailored suits that are just immaculate with flared pants and all these things seemed the new sort of rebellion. It got refined over the years, but it got so much hate out the gate because at the time, this sort of Neopolitano wave had started to pull in, which is a very soft shoulder relaxed garment, but it was not the kind of garment I wanted to wear.”
The lack of a supportive response for his line didn’t really discourage him at all, Sandagon said, attributing it to the thick skin he developed as a theater kid growing up, and a down-to-earth attitude, saying, “It’s just clothes.” The lack of acceptance made him lose interest in fitting in even more, and he continued to follow his own vision. Staying true to his own path led to his success, with both men and women who were similarly looking for suits that were unique and represented them in a way that felt authentic, rather than feeling suffocated in an all-black or navy suit.
“I gave up on trying to appeal to the people who would be quintessential suit customers,” said Sandagon. “So, I thought, I’m just going to focus on making really interesting things and hone in on my clientele. A lot of the people I work with are all in some sort of creative field, and that’s the niche I’ve cultivated. No one has ever come to me asking for a navy suit, but every week I get an email that they want a velvet suit from me. In film school, I was not very well received for the kinds of things I wanted to make, so you get used to it and think, well, who cares? We live in a world of make believe-I don’t take it that seriously.”
He first hosted fittings out of his living room, which gave customers an even more comfortable feeling than being at an upscale store in Manhattan. When he found the suite space on 36th street in Long Island City more than a year ago, he decided to keep that same cozy vibe. Both customers and friends got used to stopping by to unwind, inspiring Sandagon to start hosting movie nights amongst the comfy couches, the room filled with books, some of Sandagon’s writing and photography, a stack of old National Geographics, and a small bookshelf with video games.
“We’ve designed the studio to kind of feel like our living room,” said Sandagon. “It’s turned into this cultural center for my personal life. Now we do movie nights, and we had this big one-year party, and I was surprised at how many people could fit, because 100 people showed up and I wasn’t expecting that. My wife’s book club meets here, so it’s turned into our second living room. This building is full of other random things; there’s a quinceañera studio where they teach them how to do the dances, there’s my friend tattooing upstairs at Sunnyside Tattoo, it just feels like a really cool collection of oddities-it feels just so authentically New York.”
Amongst his clientele names like SNL’s Ben Marshall, and Vy Le, from HBO’s “The Sympathizer,” are included on his list, whom he connected with through social media and happened to make a connection from Sandagon genuinely appreciating their work and starting a conversation. Lately, he travels a lot from NYC to L.A., but his roots are tied to Queens.
At the showroom, his potential clients and soon-to-be husband and wife spend nearly an hour with him, looking at samples and talking, with Sandagon immersed in the conversation, showing no signs of being in a rush or anxious to strike a deal. He simply lets them sift over materials and colors, listening to their ideas and enjoying their conversation, knowing that if the clients are meant for him, they’ll choose him, with no eagerness to overplease or pretend to be someone he isn’t to earn business.
“I started doing this because I wanted to make really interesting things, not because I want to make Navy suits,” said Sandagon. “A suit just came in today where the whole front of it closes with silk bows instead of closing with buttons, and it’s like, that wouldn’t be possible if I only show that we’re very cookie cutter and proper; people wouldn’t come to me with those ideas if they didn’t look at the stuff we make and say, ‘I think they can do this.’
To learn more about Mad King George or book a consultation, visit their website or follow them at @madkinggeorgetailors.
