What Is Sizing Like at Fortela?

If you're hovering over a Fortela basket wondering whether to size up or down, here's the short version: take your usual size. Fortela is cut true to size but designed to sit loose and relaxed, so your normal number will give you that softly oversized, lived-in Italian drape the brand is famous for – not a fitted, nipped-in look. I've styled my fair share of pieces from Alessandro Squarzi's world over the years, and I tell every client the same thing: don't panic-size-down. The roominess is the entire point.

The Fortela sizing system, decoded

Fortela is an Italian luxury label, so its sizing follows Italian conventions – and you'll spot a few different labelling systems depending on the piece. It throws people, so let me lay it out plainly:

Lettered sizes (XS–XL): Most shirts, knits, tops and jackets arrive in XS through XL. As a rough UK guide, their S lands around a UK 8, M around a UK 10, L around a UK 12 and XL around a UK 14.
Italian numbers (IT 36–46): The more structured, tailored pieces are often labelled the Italian way. IT 40 sits at roughly a UK 8, IT 42 a UK 10 and IT 44 a UK 12.
Denim by the waist (25–29): The jeans are sized by waist measurement, exactly as most premium denim is, so go by your usual waist number rather than a dress size.

The thing to hold onto is that Fortela's sizes are honest. There's no vanity sizing, no surprise shrinkage in the cut. What changes the maths is the silhouette, not the label.

How the fit actually feels on the body

Fortela's whole language is military, workwear and vintage tailoring reinterpreted between Italy and Japan – so almost everything is built with a generous, utilitarian ease. Here's what that means in practice:

Shirts & overshirts run boxy with a slightly dropped shoulder. Lovely worn open over a tee or knotted at the waist; less so if you want something close-fitting.
Trousers are slouchy and high-rise by nature. The charm is in the volume, so resist the urge to tame it.
Jackets & outerwear are cut with layering room built in – deliberately, because that's how the archive pieces they reference were worn.
Knitwear tends to be relaxed and a touch heavyweight, so your usual size gives an easy, tuckable drape.

A genuine win of mine: I bought one of their field-style shirts a couple of seasons back in my normal size, fully braced to swim in it, and it was spot on – roomy but intentional, the sort of thing you reach for endlessly. The fail came earlier, when I sized down in a pair of their relaxed trousers, convinced I'd “neaten” the line. I lost every bit of the slouchy magic and ended up looking like I'd pinched a smaller friend's trousers. Lesson well and truly learned: with Fortela, trust the cut.

A quick word on between-sizes

If you're between sizes and want a cleaner line, take the smaller size in shirts and knits – the built-in ease covers you.
If you love a properly oversized, throw-on look, stay at your usual size and enjoy the volume.
For tailoring and jackets you plan to layer under, your normal size is right; only size up if you're tall through the body or broad across the shoulder.

If you love the Fortela feel, try these too

Fortela isn't cheap, and not every piece will be in your size when you want it. So if you're after that same relaxed, vintage-luxe, lived-in aesthetic, these are the labels I'd send you to.

High street & mid-market

Massimo Dutti – the closest high street match for Fortela's Italian-leaning, understated luxe and beautiful neutral separates.
Whistles – modern, slightly androgynous relaxed shapes and genuinely good utility shirts.
Jigsaw – quietly elegant, well-cut staples in natural fabrics that age nicely.
Hush – the high street home of the effortless boxy shirt and the slouchy trouser.
Seasalt Cornwall – proper British workwear-meets-coastal, brilliant for the utilitarian end of the look.
Barbour – heritage field-and-military DNA that sits right alongside Fortela's archive references.
Mint Velvet – relaxed-luxe drape and soft tailoring for that same undone, lived-in feel.

Premium

Me&Em – a clever British label doing relaxed-but-polished cuts with real fabric quality.
Paige – premium denim that follows the same waist-based sizing logic as Fortela's jeans.

Luxury & designer

Max Mara – the obvious Italian luxury sister: camel, relaxed tailoring and archive-grade fabrics.

And two left-field independents I rate

Bellerose – a low-key Belgian label doing relaxed workwear and soft shirting beautifully, and worth knowing.
Pomandère – an under-the-radar Italian brand specialising in exactly that soft, undone tailoring Fortela does so well.

Find your exact Fortela size in seconds

All of the above is the stylist's-eye view – but if you want your precise size in Fortela (or in any of the brands above) without squinting at a size guide, that's exactly what we built Tellar for. It's the UK's leading sizing tool: your body, matched instantly to 1,500-plus brands, so you never have to second-guess an Italian label again.

Measure once – using your bust, waist, hip, or simply a brand size you already own.
Use the Store Size Lookup tool to get your exact size in any brand – COS, Reiss, Everlane, Arket and many more.
Always free, nothing to download – it works straight in your browser.

And once you've got your size, dive into the Tellar Fashion Hub – a library stacked with free posts from our stylists. Honest, unbiased, independent and always free: style advice, top picks and the best brands, with nothing sponsored.

Never look at a size guide again.

Match your body to 1,500+ brands instantly with Tellar – free, in-browser, no downloads.

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