March 29, 2005
hong kong’s biggest tailor
Hong Kong’s biggest tailor is now selling 1,000 suits a week in the UK. Wonderful business model. From the BBC:
Even more luckily, Mr Daswani’s main competitors — the venerable names of Savile Row and Jermyn Street — seem oddly hamstrung.
Quite apart from price, Mr Daswani says, they have a lot to learn about customer satisfaction.
“They try to tell the customer what to wear,” he says.
“But we’ll make anything you want, any way you want; we’re not proud.”
Mr Daswani’s more democratic approach, he feels, has helped bring made-to-measure tailoring to a wider audience.
City boys and politicians — including, it is rumoured, Tony Blair — still make up the bulk of his clientele, but a growing percentage are twentysomethings on moderate incomes.
Hamstrung? Well, maybe some people feel that way.
I think the journalist who wrote the article is a wee bit under-informed. I don’t think Mr Deswani is going after Poole’s and Huntsman’s and Anderson & Sheppard’s business. Looks to me like he’s going after these guys and these guys, and the more upmarket ready-to-wear boys.
[NOTE TO SELF:] Time to raise prices again. Ker. Chiiing.
Article makes a point that tailors should be listening to their clients — seems to me Tom’s blog is a good start. Article also talks about getting cutting and sewing done in places where labour is cheaper — but how much does this damage the reputation for excellence which is the major differentiator of a Savile Row suit?
Hi,
He is not the only tailor in Hong Kong that travels. David Chow of DC Mohex Fashions also visits his clients twice a year in the US.in 14 cities. I am by far not the eaiest person to make look good in a suit, but David did. His prices are good and I finally have shirts and suits that fit.
He is on Carnarvon Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, HK.
One reason I like David is that he has his own sewing shop unlike many tailors in HK.
Bob Roeder
Well, cheaper labor is a definite advantage. And if people like the suits, that’s great.
“But how much does this damage the reputation for excellence which is the major differentiator of a Savile Row suit?”
As he’s not a Savile Row tailor, the answer is “not much”. He’s a Hong Kong tailor.
Nothing wrong with a Hong Kong suit. And the prices are terrific.
I got my first ‘proper’ suit from Raja Fashions back when I was 15, and I’ve picked a couple more since. Having read English Cut for the past few weeks I have wondered how much better a Savile Row suit is. The materials for my suits were top notch, but they did have shoulder pads instead of soft wadding. The turnaround time is probably the most amazing thing, but if you do have time for an extra fitting, it is worth it.
I need a new suit at the moment but have a dilemma where I’m used to tailored suits but now live in London instead of Hong Kong. I just wish Savile Row wasn’t such a huge leap in price.
English Cut prices aren’t dropping any time soon, that’s for damn sure.
So, Miles, now is a very good time to buy
Sadly I don’t think I’m in Tom’s target clientele, at least not yet anyway. Similarly Raja Daswani isn’t really a competitor to you guys. I think I paid
Re These guys ands these guys
Both sets of these guys are headed for oblivion — I clicked on your links to find out who they were. The first took ages to load and broadband users aren’t prepared to wait that long — while the second, “The Savile Row Company” wrongly informed me that they had detected that my browser did not support cookies!
So don’t assume that the Hong Kong tailor is not going to be your competition — maybe not in the near future he isn’t but he will be in the medium term. Though of course by then you two will be too wealthy to be concerned.
Drawing
Drawing
Drawing
Perhaps he is Savile Row’s competition… he says his top of the line suits are “one third less than Savile Row”. Fair enough. English Cut is about 25% less than Savile Row.
But then you have to ask other questions: Who is the cutter? Who trained him? What are the suits actually like? These things matter.
From my own standpoint, one has to ask oneself what is easier for English Cut: to steal old Savile Row customers from other existing SR tailors or create new SR customers. Like our Hong Kong friend, I would bet on the latter.
Agreed!
You owe it to yourself to indeed find out what all the fuss is about. I’m a skinny 6-footer with wider shoulders than I should have, so bespoke was the only way to go. I visited the very nice Ede & Ravenscroft on Chancery Lane (they also are on Saville Row, if you’re a snob
and they provided me an absolutely stunning suit. The feel of this suit is wonderful, and the character is thrilling. I don’t wear it very often, but everytime I wear it to meet clients, I knock people’s socks off.
I like to dress down most of the time, with my green or red hair and make myself look like a funky photographer (because that’s what clients want you to look like) but when the occasion calls for a suit, a bespoke suit and a decent posture will really impress.
This was about four years ago that I bought the suit and it’s not needed a dry cleaning yet. Just a sponge now and then. Prices were slightly cheaper than Thomas’s are now, but I have no doubt that Thomas will do an equal of better job.
I am saving up for my next proper suit, but intend to get a couple of DJs made from the Hong Kong crew.