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Volume 3 • Number 1 – $3.95

FROM EDGEWATER TO COCONUT GROVE, THE SOUTH FLORIDA SKYLINE WILL CHANGE DRAMATICALLY IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.

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FROM THE

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VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 1 ________________________________________________________________________________

BY KEN DUNEK

PUBLISHER Ken Dunek

High Hopes… Nope

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ashley Dunek EDITOR George Brinkerhoff ART DIRECTOR Steve Iannarelli CONTRIBUTING WRITERS George Anastasia, Jan L. Apple, George Brinkerhoff, Sam Carchidi, Mark Eckel, Sam Kraft, Vincent Mantuo, Kurt Smith Photographers Joel Garcia, Natalia Garcia, Miami Lights Studio Event Coordinator & Administrative Assistant Alexandra Dunek, Lauren Westerman Website & Digital Coordinator Jamie Dunek Editorial gbrinkerhoff@jerseymanmagazine.com Advertising 856-912-4007 Printing Alcom Printing, Harleysville, Pa. Controller Rose M. Balcavage Sales Associates Esha Desaiy, Ashley Dunek, Frantz Pilorge, Lauren Westerman

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Football is a passion of mine. I was lucky enough to play it for six years on a professional level, first making the roster as a tight end on the 1980 NFC Championship Eagles, briefly in camp with the Baltimore Colts and NY Giants, and three seasons with the 2-time USFL Champion Philadelphia Stars. It’s a great game. It teaches you hard work, teamwork, and the value of relationships. So, living in Philadelphia, of course, I have a love affair with the Eagles. And my association with MiamiMan has given me the reason to be a Dolphins fan. We actually did a profile of Dolphins great Larry Csonka in one of our first MiamiMan issues. Which leads me to the puzzling ending for both of “our” teams this season. I know, I know. Miami had serious injuries, especially on defense. Vic Fangio, former Dolphins defensive coordinator (now with the Eagles), was an assistant coach with the Stars. He knows what he is doing, but in the end, the Dolphins were in a fight with one hand tied behind their back. The Eagles were a totally different story. After making a puzzling switch of their defensive coordinator mid-season, the Birds took a swan dive and wound up losing six of their last seven games. They were grounded – Eagles without wings. There is always next year, I guess. But oh, what an Eagles vs Dolphins Super Bowl it could have been!

The author (right) was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles 1980 Super Bowl team.

#miamiman MiamiMan Magazine is a product of a partnership between Peter Cordua, Ken Dunek, Anthony Mongeluzo and Alcom Printing Group, published by New Opportunity Publishing, LLC, with offices at 5 Perina Boulevard, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. Copyright 2023.

JOTTINGS

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BY GEORGE BRINKERHOFF

Cruising Large out of Miami Photos www.royalcaribbean.com

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas

N JANUARY 23RD, 2024, the Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, was, very appropriately, christened by one of the world’s biggest soccer superstars, Inter Miami CF’s Lionel Messi. Then, on January 27th, this magnificent vessel set sail from Miami on its sold-out maiden voyage. Built in Turku, Finland at a whopping cost of $2 billion dollars, it’s powered by six liquefied natural gas engines and has been outfitted two 307 ton, 90-foot-long LNG fuel tanks, the largest in the cruise industry. Along with its shore power connection while in port, its carbon emissions should be vastly reduced. On the accommodation side, it boasts 20 decks with room for up to 5,600 passengers (up to 7,600 at maximum capacity) not including a crew of 2,350.

HIS FLOATING ENTERTAINMENT PALACE also has what Royal Caribbean says is the “largest waterpark at sea” with seven pools (and nine whirlpools), including a 40,000 gallon “lake,” and six “record-breaking” waterslides. There are more than 40 dining venues and bars staffed by 50 musicians and comedians, six carousels, what Royal Caribbean calls the “largest ice arena at sea” and, as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve upped the ante by including an entire 16-piece orchestra. To help you get around, the ship has been divided into 8 designated “neighborhoods” for different activities and experiences, which includes the Aquadome, Central 4

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Park, Chill Island, Royal Promenade, Surfside, Suite Neighborhood, the Hideaway and Thrill Island. Weighing in at 285,000 gross tons, it has five times the tonnage of the ill-fated Titanic, and at 1,197 feet long, it is longer than the Eiffel Tower would be if laid on end (1,083 feet).

For more information and to book your cruise, visit www.royalcaribbean.com/icon-of-the-seas

NASA

administrator Bill Nelson made the announcement late in January 2024: “It is bittersweet that I must announce that Ingenuity, the little helicopter that could... has now taken its last flight on Mars, Like the Wright brothers, what they did back here on Earth at the early part of the last century, Ingenuity has paved the way for future flight in our solar system, and it’s leading the way for smarter, safer human missions to Mars and beyond.” Ingenuity, the little NASA helicopter that’s been happily skipping across the surface of Mars has officially ended its

Photo nasa.gov

Ingenuity NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity flew its final flight on the red planet on Jan. 18, 2024.

almost three-year mission, after suffering a communications blackout and rotor damage during its latest flight. After lifting off from Earth on July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the tiny helicopter took its first flight on April 19, 2021, and has since performed above and beyond all expectations. Initially expected to make only five flights to prove flight was possible in the thin atmosphere of the red planet, the copter ultimately logged over two hours of total flight time while making 72 short hopping flights. NASA engineers used some of the flights to help guide its surface

bound brother, the rover Perseverance (on whose underparts Ingenuity rode to the Martian landscape), in Perseverance’s search for potential evidence of billion-year-old intergalactic microbial life. “The Ingenuity absolutely shattered our paradigm of exploration, introducing this new dimension of aerial mobility,” said Lori Glaze, the director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division. Congratulations to Ingenuity and its creators, programmers and operators at NASA, for extending the boundaries of flight and human knowledge!

Artwork nasa.gov

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MiamiMan Legacy Club event at Negroni – Miami, FL.

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Photos by Miami Lights Studio

MiamiMan Legacy Club event at Jaxson Maximus – Miami, FL.

Photos by Miami Lights Studio

MiamiMan Magazine

MOB SCENE

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BY GEORGE ANASTASIA

The Podfather

T WAS SUPPOSED TO BE a secret society, but that train left the station years ago. There was supposed to be a code of silence, but that’s been replaced by sound bites and pontificating. Turncoat mobsters used to tell their stories from the witness stand and then disappear into witness protection. Now they do podcasts. This is Cosa Nostra in the social media age. The latest wrinkle may be the most dramatic. Erstwhile Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino has joined the fray. With a slick sports handicapping show called “The Skinny” Merlino has become something of a social media darling to thousands of internet mob watchers. The weekly show, which

The Skinny he’s a big fan. Go figure. Less complimentary is this take from a certified wiseguy. “It’s like Seinfeld’s bizarro world,” he said, adding that for many mobsters what Merlino is doing flouts conventional underworld wisdom. It’s the opposite of what has been the norm. “Old-time guys are rolling in their graves,” he said. We’ve seen some of this with reality TV shows that purported to offer a glimpse of “the life.” But these were always once removed from the real players. “Growing Up Gotti” was the underworld version of “My Three Sons” with Victoria Gotti

There is a fine line between roguish bravado and self-serving bitterness. Merlino often crosses that line. debuted with the start of the football season, blends sports talk with Merlino’s unique take on life in the underworld. There has never been anything like it. “I think he’s refreshingly entertaining,” says a former North Jersey mobster. “He’s calling out every level of mob hypocrisy – rat podcasts, the federal government… He understands the politics of Cosa Nostra… He has no equal.” That comes from a mobster who became a cooperating witness for the FBI. In Merlino’s world, he’s a “lying rat.” But when it comes to 8

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and her slick-haired boys offering a view of everyday life from the fringes of the underworld. Then came “Mob Wives” a show in which the wives, girlfriends and daughters (Sammy Gravano’s daughter Karen was one of the “stars”) offered angst, pathos and lots of F-bombs. Merlino has taken it to another and more genuine level. There is an edge to what he has to say about cooperating witnesses, federal prosecutors and judges. And there is also lots of bitterness. Cooperators are “lying rats” who have cut a deal to get out from under their own problems.

Some are documented abusers of women, he says. Others have committed crimes while cooperating. But the feds have looked the other way because the witnesses help make cases against “the good guys.” Good and bad are relative terms, of course. And this is clearly a perspective from the underworld. Merlino’s presentation is the opposite of a grand jury investigation where only the prosecutor gets to present his case. On The Skinny it’s only Merlino’s view that’s presented. Always quick on his feet and never afraid of the media, Skinny Joey was Philadelphia’s first – and perhaps only – celebrity gangster. But until now, most of his media exposure had come through conventional channels. He would occasionally agree to an interview and he almost always responded to a question posed by a reporter as he entered or left a courthouse or was approached while hanging on a corner or sitting in the coffee shop he once frequented in the heart of South Philadelphia.

NE OF THE CLASSIC encounters involved my friend and colleague, TV reporter Dave Schratwieser and then FOX News’ intrepid cameraman Brad Nau. A rumor was circulating that jailed

Philadelphia mob boss Little Nicky Scarfo had put out a $500,000 contract on Merlino because he believed Merlino was the gunman who shot his son in Dante and Luigi’s restaurant on Halloween Night in 1989. It was an audacious hit. A gunman wearing a mask and carrying a trick-or-treat bag walked into the restaurant and up to the table where Scarfo Jr. was having dinner with two friends. The gunman pulled a machine pistol from the bag and opened fire. Scarfo Jr. was hit six times but miraculously survived. Later he and his father were picked up on a phone tap discussing plans to kill Merlino. That’s where the contract rumor began. Schratwieser and Nau, driving around South Philadelphia, spotted Merlino and, with the camera rolling, asked him about the $500,000 contract. Merlino looked into the camera and casually replied, “Give me the half million dollars and I’ll shoot myself.” It was quintessential Merlino. And if his foray into social media proves successful it will be because he’s able to bring that same street corner attitude to the show. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always come across that way. There is a fine line between roguish bravado and self-serving bitterness. Merlino often crosses that line. His f-bombdriven anger toward prosecutors, judges, witnesses and the media can at times come across as an underworld pity party. It doesn’t have to be that way, but too often it is. That being said, it’s his show and he can do and say whatever he wants. Until now it has been the mobsters from the other side of the street who have had the franchise.

media could do for a guy’s image. John Gotti followed in Capone’s footsteps. Merlino never had as big a stage to play on, but his act was just as flamboyant. So here was Merlino, in the 1990s, holding forth at Christmas parties for poor children, offering a lavish meal, a visit with Santa and a pile of toys – bikes, dolls, footballs – under the tree for each one to take home. Or here he was Skinny Joey in a housing project giving out turkeys to poor residents a few days before Thanksgiving. After raising money through his podcast back in October and November, Merlino revisited the gift giving. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, he had a massive giveaway of turkeys to the needy and hosted a Christmas party for children that included brand-new

bicycles and other gifts. His fans on social media loved it. No word from law enforcement on this one, but I suspect little has changed in the two decades since Merlino first hosted one of those parties. For cops and prosecutors, it was Merlino, a street corner gangster, playing the role of an urban Robin Hood. And it drove them crazy. “You don’t see the FBI doing this,” Merlino quipped to reporters during one of his first Christmas dinners. “It’s easy to be giving things away when it’s not your money,” responded an FBI agent angrily when asked about Merlino’s comment. All of that, of course, came through the filter of newspaper, radio and TV reports. Now the filter is gone. l

ICHAEL FRANZESE established the template and is still at the top of the leaderboard. There is also Sammy the Bull Gravano and John Alite and John Pennisi and on and on and on. Most of them were cooperating witnesses and first told their stories from the witness stand. (Franzese may be the only exception in that regard.) All are considered “rats” in Merlino’s world. And perhaps as important, all are perceived as cashing in on their notoriety. At least one source said all the debate about how and why and what is motivating Merlino boils down to economics. It’s all about a payday. If “lying rats” can turn their stories into a weekly or monthly cash stream, then why can’t real, died-in-thewool wiseguys? Al Capone was the first mobster who recognized the power of celebrity and what the MiamiMan Magazine

GET FIT

954-260-2655 • vmmantuo@gmail.com _______________________________________________________________________________________________ BY VINCENT MANTUO Licensed Massage Therapist MA75512, Structural Energetic Therapist

Meal Preparation

N TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT it seems we are always busy and on the go with very little time for ourselves to meal prep. Yes, grabbing something quick and easy, like takeout, or dining in is easier than cooking and/or prepping food, but it’s not necessarily the healthiest option. Of course, you can find restaurants with good quality meals but, we tend to go with what is closest or fastest since we are so busy these days. Meal preparation can be difficult when you are just starting out because you don’t know how or what to start with, but there are plenty of resources that can get you started with quick, easy, and healthy meals on Google or YouTube. The hardest thing is setting aside time for yourself to look up meals you would like to try and making them. Believe me, I know this can be hard sometimes because if I’m not working, I’m with family and friends, or I would like to just relax and watch tv or something else rather

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than cook. I do find it is nice when I take the time to cook and make some meals for myself for the week. I am not saying you need to start calorie counting and weighing your food and watching

Take some time for yourself to cook a nice proper meal… If you are looking to start eating healthier this is a great way to get started. everything you eat. All I’m saying is to take some time for yourself to cook a nice proper meal that you think you would like to make to help kickstart meal preparation. If you are looking to start eating healthier this is a great way to get started. Whether it’s a New Years resolution or you just want to make a change, take some time

to look up new meal preparations. If meal preparation seems to hard at first and you would like to try a meal preparation company, you can find plenty of those as well. Once you are with them for a little bit you can than try to make it yourself if you would like. Meal prep companies are good for convenience, but once again you can always to make it yourself if you desire. Hey, you never know you might just surprise yourself with your cooking skills. All in all, meal preparation allows you to create healthier meal options as well as create meals ahead of time, so you don’t have to worry about what you want to eat for that day. You can choose to create them yourself or use a meal prep company. Of course, meal prepping for yourself takes longer than a meal prep company, but it’s rewarding to know you did it yourself ! Either option will help you create a better eating experience and habit, especially when you want to start eating healthier and stop eating out all the time. l

For information on how to become a member, contact Ashley at adunek@jerseymanmagazine.com. www.MiamiManMagazine.com Irina Agurok

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THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT ALL BY KURT SMITH

Winning football has evolved well beyond player skill, execution and play calling. Today, all 32 NFL teams have a Sports Scientist on staff. Joshua Woods performs that role on the Dolphins, and MiamiMan caught up with him to learn why it matters. FOOTBALL IS A SIMPLE GAME.

One team tries to move a football into the other team’s end zone, and the other team tries to stop them. Explain it that way to someone who has never witnessed a game, and chances are they’ll imagine it being exactly like what we see on the field. But as anyone involved with a professional sports team understands, the level of detail, teamwork, and excellence required to win an NFL game, much less a Super Bowl, is staggering. When sports media personalities talk about football being the most team-oriented sport, even they probably don’t know the half of it. 12

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Photo courtesy Josh Woods

Josh Woods, Miami Dolphins Sports Science Coordinator / Strength & Conditioning Assistant MiamiMan Magazine

Photo courtesy Josh Woods

Woods

Joshua Woods is one small cog in the machine that is the Miami Dolphins. But he’s as important a cog as any. His official job title is the Coordinator of Sports Science and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. That’s a mouthful, but he basically describes himself as a point guard. Woods collects and analyzes intricate data about players’ speeds, intensity and the volume of their output. He then passes the relevant bits of that information to people who need to know. “My job is to take all this complex data and make it very simple for our football coaches, so we can make better decisions and better observations of where a player is at. “Not only with speed…we’re measuring how high they jump, how much force they develop while jumping, their breaking phase, how they stop their jump. We analyze that across the season. “Let’s say we’re doing a squat. We’re looking at the speed, in meters per second, to see how fast that bar moves. There’s research out there that says if the bar moves at this speed, that these are the adaptations that the guys are going to have.” Woods stresses that player patterns in practice and changes to them have a major impact. He likens it to how an automobile works. “You drive the same miles per hour to work 14

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every day. One day you decide to take a different route, and you drive faster. Then you do that again, and again. Eventually, your car’s gonna be like, ‘What’s going on?” What’s this change?’ We really look if there’s anything over 60-70% change in a guy’s output. “The hardest thing a human body can do, and produce the most force doing it, is sprint. Taking off running full speed is the hardest thing your body can do. I count the number of times that guys do that. So if a guy does that five times in a practice and that’s pretty consistent, his average is five sprints. Then he does 15 one day and 15 the next day. We need to monitor that guy to make sure he doesn’t blow a radiator. “I have the conversation with an athlete. ‘Hey, you did way more than you normally do.’ ‘Yeah, coach, I know, I’m tired today.’ ‘Okay, well make sure you get a massage this week. Make sure you increase your carbs this week.’ “I might pass them to the trainer, ‘Hey, this guy hasn’t hit 20 MPH in two months.’ When that guy gets in the game and hits 20, we don’t want that to be his first time exposed to that in two months. So we will run extra sprints with certain guys after practice if they haven’t achieved a sprint over 90% of their match speed. I’m able to get that information from the tracking. “It’s a long grind of a season. It’s a lot on these

guy’s bodies. We try to tell these guys to relax as soon as the season’s over. They need to get their bodies a break.” In theory, it would seem that a sports scientist would have to sell the benefits of crunching numbers and using data to athletes. They play in a game so fast-paced that players don’t have a second to question their output. Woods says that’s not a problem in Miami. He’s unequivocal that all the Dolphins’ players are on board with anything that makes them better. It doesn’t hurt that Woods was a former player himself, at the University of South Carolina. He understands that nothing motivates athletes like competition, even among teammates. “I post their speeds, top speeds of the day. These guys are competitors. They want to compete in anything. You put a number up, they want to be the best. I drive competition through statistics, I would say.”

AS WOODS POINTS OUT,

sometimes his involvement with players can lead to underlying issues that a team has to address. In the NFL, players unquestionably need to be in the game mentally, and sometimes analyzing player performance will uncover a

different problem. “Stress is not only just, ‘We have a big game tonight’,” he says. “Stress with some of these guys is, ‘I just had a baby. I’ve got to leave my wife and go play a game with a newborn.’ So that’s stressful. “And that’s a conversation. The data gives you conversation starters. ‘Okay, I see you’re not running fast today. You’re not moving the bar fast. Your jumps are down. What’s going on? You all right?’ ‘Well, actually, man, I’m having some problems at home.’ “Now we’ve got some other decisions to make. We have a player development person that could help guys in their personal life. We have a clinician, a psychologist, we have a huge emphasis on players and their safety and wellness and well-being. “We all work together in the athletic training…sports science, the headstrong coach, the nutritionist, the sports psychologist, the team chaplain, the player development. It’s all a team. “I kind of just assist with the team. Make sure everybody gets a hand on the guy.” Given that the Dolphins have strung together four straight winning seasons for the first time since 2003...it seems like the knowledge sharing isn’t hurting. “I guess the improvement just comes with guy’s confidence,” Woods says. “Sometimes what these numbers do is give guys a little bit more confidence in themselves. You’re coming back off of an injury, you wanna make sure you still got it. This data can provide some of that.”

AS FOOTBALL KNOWLEDGE,

technology, and awareness grows so does the need for more individuals to pull together to

SPORTS SCIENCE IS FUNNY Josh Woods encourages players to give their bodies a break when they’re working too hard, and he does the same thing for his own psyche. He’s actually taken a leap into doing standup comedy, and he’s looking forward to doing more and adding that to his resume. Photo courtesy Josh Woods

‘‘

My job is to take all this complex data and make it very simple for our football coaches.”

make a team victorious on the field. Woods understands that ultimately, it’s still the Ws that matter most. He cites the heavy turnover in coaching at every level in the NFL, including his. Woods loves his job, but there’s no question the competition is demanding. “This is the highest level of performance, in my opinion, one of the hardest physical sports in the world. It requires tons of energy, speed, endurance, all the strength. Every component of human sports life is entailed into our athletes in American football. “I gotta keep getting better and seeing what’s new, what people are doing. It’s a lot of research on things and making sure that research is applicable in our setting.” But he also believes the growth and increasing level of competition is a good thing. After all, it’s employing people…in a field they might dream about being a part of. “I didn’t grow up wanting to be a sports scientist,” he reflects. “I didn’t say ‘That’s what I’m gonna do with my career’. But when something’s going well and you’re good at it, sometimes it’s your calling. It’s what I keep getting hired to do. So, I just try to keep doing a good job.” Woods also thinks it’s an important message for young people. “I think one of the best majors you could be is a STEM major. I’m a huge advocate of that, this is a pretty cool lane to science, technology, engineering, and math. This is great for that kid that, you like science, you like football, there’s a job for you in football. “I’m trying to start an organization called More Than One Way, especially for kids where I’m from in South Carolina. I’m from pretty much nothing but football. That’s all we do. Just letting people know that there are multiple ways to make it to the NFL. “We have writers, we have a data analyst, we have sports scientists, we have a nutritionist, we have doctors, we have a clinician, we have surgeons. It’s so many departments that we have, and we all have to work together to help these guys.” Thankfully for Dolphins fans, those hundreds of folks from every angle seem to be putting our team on a winning path again. Woods sees a bright future for the Dolphins. “I think Coach McDaniel’s a great coach. The guys love him. We have a great team. He believes in the science, and he does a great job of explaining it to our guys and showing them why we do what we do, and what’s gonna make us better and better each year.” So if your son or daughter is good at science, have them follow the Dolphins on LinkedIn. Maybe they could be a part of that long-overdue championship in Miami. l

Woods graduated from a comedy school, and he’s performed at Dania Improv at Dania Beach and a few other places. He’s even had Dolphins players in the audience. “I had a comedy graduation during the season, and a lot of guys showed up. Jalen Ramsey showed up, Tyreek showed up, Waddle showed up. “It felt good to let them see me perform. Everybody’s always watching them out on the stage of a football field, so it was cool for them to relax and for them to be entertained as they entertain all of us every Sunday.” One would think given his line of work that he’d have a lot of material. Football players can be a strange breed. Woods says it does help him write jokes, but “I can get canceled or fired, so I gotta be careful,” he laughs. “Test them with HR first!” If you’re interested in seeing a Miami Dolphins insider share some football comedy, you can follow Woods on Instagram, at coach_jwoodz or laughcoach_. MiamiMan Magazine

The Perigon Miami Beach

MiamiMan Magazine

The Sky’s The

BY JAN L. APPLE

limIT

“I wanna wake up in the city that doesn’t sleep…and find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap…” This line from the iconic song “New York, New York,” by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb and brought to life by the indelible voice of Frank Sinatra, reflects the unique and beloved status of the “Big Apple.” Y et, the buzz is clear. Miami is fast becoming a close second. In fact, some may ask whether it could truly be the next New York.

Photo provided by Esha Desaiy

MiamiMan Magazine

Photos provided by Esha Desaiy

The Bentley Residences

The once well-kept secret is out. “Miami has something for everyone,” said Esha Desaiy, a luxury, residential real estate advisor with Compass and a member of MiamiMan Magazine’s core team. Desaiy, originally from New York, has called Miami Beach home for the past four years and couldn’t be more amazed at the region’s growth and potential. “Miami lives up to its nickname of being a ‘Magic City,’” she said. Desaiy, who is often referred to as a “real estate matchmaker” because of her extensive knowledge and expertise, is passionate about Miami’s offerings. She cites the weather, governance, business-friendly policies, and the fact that Florida has no state income tax as features that continue to attract tech entrepreneurs, investors, big-name celebrities, musicians, rappers and more. With its burgeoning real estate opportunities, particularly in the ‘luxury resort living’ space, the city has become an increasingly desirable destination. Not only is it a destination to visit or vacation in, but it’s now become a place to call home, or perhaps create a second or even a third home. It is estimated that over the next few years, from Edgewater to Coconut Grove, the skyline will change dramatically. In downtown Miami alone, there will be 14 additional skyscrapers. And plans are in the works for the construction of nearly 6,000 apartments and 2,500 condos. It’s all about fulfilling the rising demand. Desaiy noted that a number of development projects are well underway in the Greater Miami region, which encompasses nearly 56 18

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Contact Esha Desaiy at esha.k.desaiy@compass.com www.compass.com/agents/esha-desaiy square miles. Many have targeted completion dates ranging from 2024 to 2026. The projects, she elaborated, run the gamut, including ultraluxury condos, such as the Bentley Residences, Baccarat, St. Regis and Waldorf Astoria. Some of the future properties will also be condo-hotels and are of prime interest to investors as they can rent out units on a daily basis. The sweeping views of the water from many of the properties, noted Desaiy, are truly breathtaking. And although high rises represent a significant portion of the new developments, she noted that there’s also a boom in luxury singlefamily homes – many of which are also on the waterfront. “Miami is an area that serves every lifestyle,” stated Desaiy. “Where else can you be on the beach in the morning and on the same day end

up in a five-star restaurant at night? There’s something for everyone. We’ve got beaches, boating, art museums, an opera house, arts, culture and fine dining.” Desaiy shared that Miami has been rated the number one healthiest city and number two for best nightlife. With five major sports teams (Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, Florida Panthers, Inter Miami CF) and two national parks, she elaborated that the port of Miami has the largest concentration of international banks and is the largest financial hub outside of New York City. The city is also home to the Miami Open (professional tennis), greyhound racing tracks, marinas, jai alai, golf courses and horse racing. A number of professional auto races, such as NASCAR’s Homestead Miami Speedway event and the Miami Grand Prix (Formula 1) are hosted by the city. Besides alluring those who love the sunshine, recreational activities, the great outdoors and warm climate, shoppers enjoy the Miami Design District, akin to Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive. The region also hosts polo matches and an array of seafood, music and arts festivals, including the popular Art Basel. Desaiy explained that the significant boom and draw to Miami began at the height of the pandemic in 2020. At the time, businesses across the country were transitioning to a remote workplace. It was then, with people having mobility and the freedom to work from anywhere, that many began to discover and rediscover the

Waldorf Astoria

Photo provided by Esha Desaiy

city. “We have a lot of people from New York, New Jersey, Texas, California and Chicago,” said Desaiy. “It is a vibrant metro with a cosmopolitan lifestyle, on its way to becoming one of the largest international hubs in the world.” The region, she added, has long attracted those from New York as well as South and Latin America. But recently, it is also drawing Europeans from countries such as Germany, France and Italy.

The Bentley Residences The Bentley Residences on Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach is one example of a future “luxury-style” property. A joint effort of Dezer Development and the luxury car manufacturer, Bentley Motors, pre-development of the 63-story building began in early 2023. Completion is projected for late 2026/early 2027. “Bentley is providing the design and brand aesthetic,” explained Desaiy. Each of the 216 residences (three and fourbedroom units) are described as a home in the sky. People will be able to drive to the building and never leave their car to arrive at their destination. The Dezervator™, a vehicular elevator system, will privately transport residents in their automobiles directly to their living space. The units, which start at $5.6 million and up, will each be equipped with an oversized balcony, a private, heated swimming pool and a three or four-car garage. Each residence will feature floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the At-

lantic Ocean and Intracoastal. The building will include a Michelin-star restaurant run by James Beard award-winning celebrity chef Todd English. Its extensive amenities will feature a resortstyle heated pool, food and beverage service at the pool and beachside, a pet grooming salon, wellness spa, cigar lounge, movie theater, game room, kid’s club, fitness center, outdoor yoga studio, 24-hour valet and security and a multilingual concierge service. Everything will be at the fingertips of residents. “People don’t have to leave the building,” said Desaiy. The Bentley Residences along with other “luxury-style” properties will offer everything residents would need in their community/ neighborhood.

tial for future growth. “The Port of Miami is also the largest and busiest cruise ship port in the world,” said Desaiy, adding that domestic and international travel to and from the region is easy. “It’s a three-hour flight from New York or New Jersey.” The Miami metro region, now home to over six million residents, has a multicultural population as well as a growing financial center. Next to New York, noted Desaiy, Miami is the largest international banking region. In fact, the hedge fund, Citadel, has announced that its headquarters will be in Miami and housed in an 86-story commercial tower.

Waldorf Astoria

Among the many who have recently migrated to the region, include Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and soccer star Lionel Messi. “There are a lot of people from the sports and entertainment industries,” said Desaiy, such as Barry Gibb, Alonzo Mourning, Matt Damon, Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Brady, Cindy Crawford, Enrique Iglesias and Phil Collins, to name just a few who call Miami home. Live, Work, Play It’s a universal motto that’s been adopted by many residents in the region. And Desaiy believes the best is yet to come for the future of the “Magic City.” The sky appears to be the limit. l

The Waldorf Astoria, which rose to fame as a New York City landmark, will be a 100-story building on the waterfront in downtown Miami. “It will be the tallest building in Miami,” said Desaiy, “with studios starting at $1.5 million.” Lower floors will be condo-hotels, which can be offered for daily rentals. The upper floors will all be private residences. Desaiy applauds the leadership of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. She described him as very tech-friendly, which has attracted entrepreneurs and private equity companies to the area. It’s an environment where international banks and businesses are thriving, with enormous poten-

Big Names Call Miami Home

MiamiMan Magazine

Cup bound? Improved Panthers Look Like Strong Stanley Cup Contenders

After a listless regular season, the Florida Panthers snuck into the playoffs as the final wildcard team last year and then upset Boston, Toronto and Carolina to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The momentum has carried into this season. BY SAM CARCHIDI

MiamiMan Magazine

Photo courtesy Florida Panthers Social Media Team

Center Sam Reinhart

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At the halfway point of the 2023-24 season, the Panthers had a 27-12-2 record and were on pace for 112 points — 20 more than last year, when they needed a late push to finish with 92 points. In other words, the Cats look poised to make another long playoff run. “It’s going well for us,” Sam Reinhart, the 28-year-old right winger who is having a career season, told reporters after a recent game. “We’re really in the moment, taking it day by day.” Offensively, Florida has been led by its Big Four: Reinhart, who earned an All-Star spot for the first time in his career, captain Aleksander “Sasha” Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, and Matthew Tkachuk. Midway through the season, Reinhart already had 30 goals while Verhaeghe had 22. Barkov had 45 points (11 goals, 34 assists) and Tkachuk had 40 (12-28). “Nothing surprises me anymore with him,” Tkachuk said of Reinhart after he scored with 0.7 seconds left in overtime to give the Panthers their ninth straight victory, a 3-2 win over Los Angeles. “He’s the real deal. He has been playing amazing, and their whole line has been amazing.”

BREAKOUT SEASON Reinhart, who has thrived on a line with the playmaking Barkov and Evan Rodrigues, had a staggering 30 goals in the first 41 games, becoming the second-fastest Panther to reach that mark in a season. Pavel Bure did it in just 34 games in 1999-2000, and he finished with 58 goals that season. “Sam’s smart player; he is smart defensively and offensively,” said goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, whose team lost to Vegas, four games to one, in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. “He keeps pushing us forward.” But while the Big Four have carried the scoring load, the primary reason for the Panthers’ success is their defense, and strong goaltending from Bobrovsky and his backup, Anthony Stolarz. Bobrovsky, 35, had a lackluster 2022-23 regular season ( 24-20-3 with a 3.07 GAA and a .901 save percentage) before starring in the playoffs. 22

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Center Aleksander Barkov

He carried his playoff domination into this season (2.42 GAA, .913 save percentage) and has resembled the goaltender who won two Vezina Trophies with Columbus as the NHL’s best goalie. “I’m happy to come here every day,” Bobrovsky told Florida Hockey Now. As for the 6-foot-6 Stolarz, 30, he’s been brilliant in his first season in Florida. Midway through the season, the New Jersey native had a 1.95 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 11 appearances.

TOTAL TEAM EFFORT “The guys are playing really hard in front of me and Bobby and making our job easy,” Stolarz said, adding that if he and Bobrovsky can keep the game close, the team’s offense will “break it open.” The defense has been anchored by Aaron Ekblad since he returned from a shoulder injury in November. He was plus-13 in his first 24 games. Defenseman Gustav Forsling, a 27-year-old from Sweden who is Ekblad’s partner, was a teambest plus-27 at the season’s midpoint. The other pairings – Brandon Montour and Niko Mikkola, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov – have also been dependable. Heading into the season’s second half, the

Panthers were third in the 32-team league on defense, allowing just 2.46 goals per game. “Being five (players) tight in all three zones is really important to us,” Ekblad said. “We don’t really like to play a stretch game and leave players behind. That’s a key component of our game; it creates a tight group in all three zones.” On defense and in the neutral zone, you always feel you can get the puck out, he added. And even when they don’t get it out, Bobrovsky and Stolarz have stood tall. Very tall. Bobrovsky had seven straight wins at the midway point, and Stolarz was just as effective. As the second half of the Panthers’ season began, they were a lock to make the playoffs – a statement that couldn’t have been made a year ago. They were in a too-close-to-call battle with Boston for first place in the Atlantic Division this year, second in the Eastern Conference, and fourth in the NHL with a .683 winning percentage. The Panthers have excelled with a new-look lineup that has sometimes had as many as ten players that weren’t with the team last year. “I’m happy where we’re at,” coach Paul Maurice said. “There’s still some newness. This team is different than last year’s team… . We’re still learning.”

Photo courtesy Florida Panthers Social Media Team

The primary reason for the Panthers’ success is their defense, and strong goaltending…

At the midway point last season, the Panthers were just 18-19-4 and nine points out of a playoff spot. Suffice it to say, the new players have complemented the veterans. And then some. The Panthers looked like a strong Stanley Cup contender as they knocked off opponents in early January. “This streak has been awesome,” Tkachuk said at the time. “I just feel like we keep getting better throughout it. When you win, you come to the rink in a good mood.”

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It does matter when you’re on the bench and you have lots of fans from the other team. We don’t see their sweaters anymore. It’s all Panthers sweaters. That matters. You can feel it; the crowd is energized and having a good time.” Tkachuk, who has been on a sizzling stretch after a relatively slow start, is among the players enjoying the fans becoming captivated by the Panthers. He also likes the team’s makeup.

HOT TICKET

“NO EGO”

Panthers’ fans are also enjoying the ride. The team was averaging 18,507 fans per home game halfway through the season. That’s about 2,000 more per game than last season. This season, the Cats have been playing to 96.1% of capacity, putting them ahead of such teams as Washington, Detroit, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Ottawa and the New York Islanders, among others. It wasn’t too long ago that hundreds (thousands?) of opponents’ jerseys were worn by fans at Florida home games. That has been reduced dramatically. The fans’ allegiance to the Panthers, which increased during last year’s magical playoff run, has caught Maurice’s attention.

“There’s no ego in our room,” he said. “Everyone’s truly in it for the main goal at the end.” That goal, of course, is winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. “We’ve got a standard that we’re trying hold ourselves to, so we’re accountable to our game,” Maurice said. Maurice, whose team had impressive 4-1 and 4-2 wins over defending champion Vegas during its winning streak, believes the Panthers have been disciplined in most aspects of their play. “We have a small number of rules per system, but we really adhere to those rules,” he said. “Even if you make a play and it’s a spin-o-rama over five sticks on the other side of the ice, we’re

not very happy about it even if it goes in the back of the net. We judge ourselves by that, and for me, it’s how close can we get to that every night, and how many games can you string together like that?” They were stringing lots of them together after the holidays, mindful that their hot run wouldn’t last forever, that there would be the inevitable bumps in the road. “And then, more importantly in all of this, when it doesn’t happen for you,” Maurice said about the team’s precision play, “how do you react to it?” The Panthers will try to keep the momentum in the season’s second half and take it into the playoffs. Once there, they have as good of a chance as almost every NHL team to lift the Stanley Cup after the most grueling tournament in any of the four major sports. The aforementioned wins against Vegas will give the Cats confidence going into the postseason. “There’s no secret we don’t like those guys for what happened last year,” Tkachuk said about the talented Golden Knights. “That’s human nature. … Just really wanting to beat a team that kind of ruined our summer last year.” Could a rematch in the Cup Final be in the works? Stay tuned. l

MiamiMan Magazine

BY MARK ECKEL

2024 Preview

an Ryan Blaney do what hasn’t been done in 14 years? Can Denny Hamlin do what’s never been done? Is Christopher Bell the circuit’s next star? Will Team Penske make it three Cup Champions in three years? And who will replace Kevin Harvick as the face of Stewart-Haas Racing? Those questions and more will be answered over the next nine months as the 2024 NASCAR season opens on February 18 with the Daytona 500 and climaxes with the Cup Series Championship race on November 10 in Phoenix. Closer to home, a Round of 8 Cup Series race will be held at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 27. Last year, Joe Gibbs Racing sent three drivers to the Round of 8 as the three-time Super Bowl champion head coach continued his NASCAR success as well. What is JGR looking forward to in 2024?

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Photo courtesy Joe Gibbs Racing

Denny Hamlin (L) with team owner Joe Gibbs. Hamlin has 51 career wins but is still looking for his first NASCAR Championship.

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Photo courtesy Joe Gibbs Racing

Christopher Bell (L) chats with team owner Joe Gibbs on pit road.

“We have our same group back and it’s a good mix,’’ Gibbs told MiamiMan. “We have our veterans in Denny (Hamlin) and Martin (Truex Jr.) and our two young guys in Chris (Bell) and Ty (Gibbs, Joe’s grandson) who can learn so much from the vets. “Our goal every year is to get all four of our guys in the playoffs. Ty just missed last year. And then of course to get at least one of them in the Final (Four). We’ve had one every year for the past 10 years.’’ So settle in for another exciting season of NASCAR and see if Blaney can repeat, if one of Gibbs’ drivers Bell or Hamlin can win his first Cup Championship, or if a veteran such as Kyle Busch gets his third title. Here’s a look at 10 drivers/factors who could shape the season’s outlook.

Ryan Blaney, #12, Ford — Last year’s Cup winner will look to become the first driver to repeat as champion since Jimmie Johnson won an incredible five straight titles from 2006-10. Before that, the last repeat winner was Jeff Gordon in 1997-98. 26

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So, it’s not easy. Blaney, who just turned 30, is in his seventh season with Team Penske. The Hartford, Ohio native was the runner-up in the Cup Championship Race, but it was good enough to capture the title.

Christopher Bell, #20, Toyota — The newest star from Joe Gibbs Racing has been at the wheel for just four seasons and has been to the Final 4 each of the past two years. The 29-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma is a driver to watch this year when it comes to picking the next champion. He has playoff experience under his belt and now just needs to take that crucial next step. “Chris has done a great job,’’ Gibbs said. “You know his first year was the Covid year and that was tough. But you see what he’s done. And his crew chief, Adam (Stevens) is outstanding. Seven of the past nine years he’s had a driver make the finals.’’

Denny Hamlin, #11, Toyota — There isn’t much the 43-year-old Hamlin hasn’t done on the track — except win the Cup Championship. A three-time winner at Daytona, second among all active drivers in wins with 51, a co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, the best the Chesterfield, Virginia native has done is a second-place finish to Jimmie Johnson in 2010. Is this the year

he finally gets to the top? Joe Gibbs Racing would love to get him that elusive Cup Championship.

The Favorites — According to most of the sportsbooks in Las Vegas and across the nation, Blaney is the favorite to repeat at odds of +430 (a bet of $100 will win $430), but you already know it is tough to repeat. William Byron and Kyle Larson, both out of the Hendrick Motorsports stable, are the preseason co-second choices at +575. Byron led all drivers with six wins and 21 top 10 finishes a year ago. He made it to the Final 4 and finished third behind Blaney. Larson, the 2021 Cup Champion, just missed his second Cup in three years when he finished second to Blaney a year ago.

Team Penske — Penske has produced the last two Cup Champions in Joey Logano in 2022 and Ryan Blaney last year. Penske also has three titles over the past six years. The team should be in the mix again in 2024. Not only are Blaney and Logano, who fell to 12th last year despite four wins during the season, strong candidates but so is 25-year-old Austin Cindric. After a strong rookie season in 2022, which included a Daytona 500 win, Cindric never made it to Victory Lane and had just one top 5 finish in 2023. He’s looking for a big bounce-back season.

Christopher Bell, the newest star from Joe Gibbs Racing has been at the wheel for just four seasons and has been to the Final 4 each of the past two years. He has playoff experience under his belt and now just needs to take that crucial next step.

Stewart-Haas Racing — Kevin Harvick, the face of SHR for the past 10 years, retired at the end of the 2023 season and took his 60 career wins with him. So who takes over for him? One name to keep in mind is Chase Briscoe. The 2021 Rookie of the Year finished ninth in the standings in 2022 and then had a rough 2023 with no wins and a 30th-place finish. The Mitchell, Indiana native is looking to get back to what he did right in ’21 and ’22 and forget all about ’23.

Alex Bowman, #48, Chevy — Bowman got to off a nice start in 2023 with six top-10 finishes in his first 10 races. Then a crash in Michigan caused a fractured vertebra. He missed just three races, but upon returning was never the same the rest of the season. He dropped from a top-10 standing

before the injury to 20th overall. This year the Tucson, Arizona native and Hendrick Racing driver would like to pick up where he left off pre-injury.

Kyle Busch, #8, Chevy — It was different seeing Busch driving the No. 8 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing after being in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing for 15 years. It was also different not seeing Busch in the final 12 of the playoffs — he finished 14th overall. A two-time champion for JGR, Busch will try to get back on track for RCR in 2024. It’s never a good idea to count out a driver with 64 career wins (ninth-best all-time).

Chase Elliott, #9, Chevy — It was a tough 2023 for the 2020 Cup Champion. Elliott, who drives the same No. 9 Chevy his Hall of Fame father, Bill,

drove, went through a one-week suspension and a broken leg that cost him six more weeks of the season. When the season ended, Elliott did not record a win and missed the playoffs for the first time with a 17th overall finish. There is no reason to think he won’t bounce back this season. And the people at Hendrick Racing must feel the same way.

Austin Dillon, #3, Chevy — Another driver coming off a disappointing 2023 season is the Welcome, North Carolina native. Dillon, who has both a Daytona 500 win (2018) and a Coca-Cola 600 win (2017) on his resume along with five playoff appearances, tumbled to a 30th finish in 2023. The 33-year-old from the Richard Childress Racing stable will look to get back what made him a playoff driver all those years in 2024. l

MiamiMan Magazine

THE CIGAR GUY

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BY SAM KRAFT

Unfinished Business

wrapper hit the smoker immediately. This gives the cigar a very strong start and hints at flavors to come. During the first third of the smoke, this cigar continues to impress with its smoothness and the emergence of sweet leather flavors. The interplay of sweetness and leather creates a unique taste that satisfies the palate. The draw remains consistent and smooth, enhancing the overall smoking pleasure. Transitioning to the second half of the smoke, bready flavors become more pronounced, while hints of cherry persist. This evolution of flavors adds a delightful variation, keeping the smoking experience engaging and enjoyable.

NE SUCH CIGAR is the Unfinished Business, which holds a significant place in Noel Rojas’ heart. Symbolizing the last piece in his journey to establish his own brand and company, this cigar represents the culmination of years of dedication, passion, and expertise. From the initial dry puff, the Unfinished Business cigar reveals its character with the distinct presence of cherry and cocoa. This delightful fusion of sweetness and richness sets the stage for an enjoyable smoking experience. The underlying touch of black pepper adds a subtle spice, adding depth and complexity to the overall flavor profile. The cigar contains a closed foot, meaning the wrapper folds over slightly at the end of the cigar. When lit, all the strong flavors from the 28

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The Unfinished Business cigar concludes with a distinctive finish. The flavors shift to a harmonious blend of fermented oaky notes and the richness of molasses. This unexpected combination adds a touch of complexity to the cigar. Noel Rojas and Rojas Cigars continue to leave their mark on the cigar industry through his commitment to purpose and cigar education. With every puff of his brand, cigar enthusiasts embark on a journey with Noel Rojas, exploring flavors, expanding palates, and savoring the essence of what it means to be a cigar smoker. l Photos courtesy Rojas Cigars

ELCOME TO THE WORLD of Rojas Cigars, crafted by the talented Noel Rojas, who works out of the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas. Born in Cuba and later settling in Nicaragua, Noel Rojas has made a name for himself in the cigar industry through his exceptional work on brands such as Guayacan, Ohana, and Ezra Zion. His most celebrated creation, the Street Tacos cigar, has captivated aficionados worldwide. But it doesn’t stop there—Noel Rojas has a bigger purpose in mind. Noel Rojas’ vision goes beyond crafting exceptional cigars. His appearance on the Cigar Authority podcast interview revealed his mission to go beyond simply producing a good cigar: “It can’t just be a good cigar, it has to have purpose.” He strives to help people develop their palates and become well-educated consumers, regardless of where they are in their cigar journey. His brand, Rojas Cigars, represents the culmination of his aspirations, with each cigar telling a story.

Noel Rojas

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WHAT WE WEAR

Jaxson Maximus • (305)-262-5747 info@jaxsonmaximus.com • www.jaxsonmaximus.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________

The Guide to Buying a Suit

O MATTER THE OCCASION, the event, or the time of year, a great-fitting suit never goes out of style. Whether you need a custom suit for your wedding day or need some new attire to make you stand out at a board meeting, a great-fitting custom suit is guaranteed to make you stand out. At Jaxson Maximus, we understand that buying your first custom-made suit can be an intimidating process. But, don’t worry, we are here to help. Our custom clothiers have put together this fantastic guide on everything you need to know about purchasing your first custom suit. 1) INVEST IN QUALITY OVER QUANTITY Our piece of advice for first-time buyers is to always invest in quality garments over quantity. Think of a custom suit like you would a car. If treated right, a Porsche could last a lifetime due to the craftsmanship of the vehicle. Buying quality garments means that you will have that piece of clothing for a lifetime. If at all possible, avoid buying into cheaper fast fashion brands. Unlike massed-produced fashion, a well-made garment won’t just fall apart after just a few wears. 2) MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT WEIGHT When we create a custom garment for you, we take over 35 individual measurements. Before producing the garments, our clothiers sit with you to adjust the measurements based on your fitness goals. However, those measurements are taken at a specific time in place, and if your body has any drastic changes that are different from the measurements, the fit of your suit might be off. Think of it as a timestamp; if you gain/lose 100 pounds, the suit will no longer fit just right. Our recommendation is to wait until you have reached a steady weight where you feel comfortable with us only making slight alterations. 3) INVEST IN THE BASICS In any man’s wardrobe, nothing beats a classic navy suit. You can never go wrong with the basic wardrobe staples regardless of the occasion or time of year. So before you think about investing in a more “out there” texture or pattern, make sure you cover the basics. Think of your first visit to a custom clothier 30

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as the first step in building out your new wardrobe. Start with versatile basics that can be interchangeable, and slowly build your wardrobe from there. No one will notice if you wear a grey suit a few times a week, but they will notice if you wear a bright orange suit more than once. Our advice is to have at least one powerful classic navy suit and a smart grey sharkskin in your wardrobe. Everything else will come after the basics. 4) AVOID TRENDY FASHION The beauty of a suit is that it never goes out of style. You want your investment to last 5-10 years, so keeping the classic proportions and styles will keep you from looking dated. You don’t want to be the person who wears a cropped suit and shorts to a wedding since it was trending on Instagram only to feel looking back that your suit was “last year’s new” and you can no longer wear it. Our advice is to skip any style that does not show longevity. 5) FABRIC IS EVERYTHING There are a thousand ways to create a great fitting suit, but above all, the raw ingredients are the most important. Selecting the right fabric for what you are looking for with your custom garments is the most important decision you will make. The fabric will determine how your suit will look and feel and how it will perform.

There is a wide range in pricing when buying true custom due mainly to the fabric you select. For example, cashmere is going to be more expensive than a wool blend and vice versa. 6) TAKE CARE OF YOUR INVESTMENTS When buying a custom garment, it is important to keep up with the care of your garments if you want them to last. Try and dry clean your suit as infrequently as possible. Dry cleaning uses a chemical wash to clean the garments. Over time, this wash slowly eats away at your suit’s fabric, causing it to deteriorate faster. A sturdy wood hanger is also important when hanging your garments in your closet. For example, a sturdy hanger will help your jacket maintain its shoulder shape. 7) WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO WEAR YOUR GARMENTS When buying a custom garment, it is important to think about where you are going to wear your garments. If you are buying a garment for a particular event, you want to make sure that you come in with the dress code in mind. For example, if you have a formal gala, you need an outfit to invest in a dinner jacket or tuxedo instead of casual dress shirts. If you live in a tropical climate, you don’t want to invest in heavy fabrics that won’t go with the climate that you primarily live in.

8) UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTION METHODS OF SUITING Depending on where you go to get your suit made, they might contain a different style of canvas. A suit canvas is the layer that rests between the outside and the jacket’s lining. The canvas is what gives the jacket structure and its shape. These are the three most common types of suit canvases: Full Canvas: Before the age of mass production, all suits were made using a full canvas. Traditionally the canvas is made out of a horsehair/linen blend. A full canvas is when the canvas “floats” in between the two layers by switching the layer in between. The canvas will run down the length of both the jacket’s front panels. Over time the canvas will mold to the wearer’s chest, making it feel like they are wearing nothing at all without losing the shape of the garment. Having a full canvas only makes the jacket more comfortable in every wear. Traditionally a full canvas will be used in the most expensive of custom garments. Half Canvas: Often referred to as a “semi-canvas,” a half canvas is a happy go-between from a fused and full canvas. A half canvas uses a chest piece but doesn’t run the entire garment length. Instead, it

only covers the chest area. A common use of a half canvas might be on a mesh sports jacket where you want to have that breathability element while still keeping the garment’s structure.

Using this production method saves on cost, but the glue inside the canvas will break down over time, causing the jacket to lose its shape.

Fused Canvas: A fused canvas is what is often most used in inexpensive garments. Instead of natural fibers like in a full canvas, a fused canvas will use synthetic materials around the chest and shoulder area. In addition, the canvas itself will not be stitched in like in a full canvas. Instead, it will be glued in between the two layers.

9) LET YOUR STYLIST DO THE WORK Your custom clothier is trained in the art of menswear. By looking at your skin tone and body shape, they know what colors, fabrics, and styles would look best on you. It is usually best to let your custom clothier work on the little details on your garments as they know what will look best for you. l

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