pamaval darleenah zevulun
Tracee Hsiang
To be honest with you, the dream of buying real bespoke tailoring crafted in a few days for a few hundred dollars is just fantasy. At best you'll end up, if you are lucky, with a decent MTM suit made of regular wool (whatever the label sewn on the bunch which can be fake)
In order to provide you with legit advice and to try to separate the wheat from the chaff, we strongly felt we needed to find a gentleman who really knew both the region and the tailoring world. Finally we are able to respond to your requests by publishing a text by our friend Ronald TA.
Saying that Ronald has a multi-culural profile is an understatement! Ronald attended the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where he received his degree in Social Science, followed by Culinary School (obtaining Le Cordon Bleu!!).
He worked in the hospitality industry for years before deciding to leave Australia and return to his birth country of Indonesia to join the family business. He later started the YouTube "Channel Pills Lifestyle Reviews", as a creative outlet.
As testimony to his link to South East Asian countries, Ronald was born in Indonesia, has a Vietnamese partner, family members in the Philippines and Thailand, as well as grandparents from Hong Kong and many friends from India. His business also takes him to Taiwan and Japan.
Often the person commissioning the garment is looking for an affordable suit that will fit well. Yet, the majority of tailors in Asia do not possess the skills to create high quality bespoke suits, and the tailors who are able to do so often cannot remain in business without providing more affordable garments as an alternative, in order to grow their business. Unless a customer walks in and specifically requests a high quality bespoke suit, the customer will likely end up with an affordable-range suit.
This scanario has created suspicion among consumers, causing them to wonder if a certain tailor is greedy because he charges more than his competitors? Are there real differences between two similar-looking suits, to justify a big price gap between the two?
Unfortunately within SEA, there are several luxurious tailoring houses which employ both great and not so great cutters, which explains why results from the exact same tailoring house can be inconsistent. One customer can walk out of the atelier with an elegant, well-fitted suit, while another may leave wearing a funky double breasted jacket with a man-skirt.
I believe hand crafting is vital for the collar, armhole, chest and lapels. Less important, in my opinion, are hand sewn buttonholes and hand stitching on the canvas before it is attached to the suit, i.e., if using a machine for these purposes will reduce the overall price.
Another major factor related to quality is canvas, which provides structure to the suit. Canvassed suits will have a piece of cloth (canvas) between the inner and outer layer of the fabric to help provide shape to the garment.
Due to all these disadvantages, well tailored suits should have a full floating canvas made from high quality material infused with horse hair which is meticulously hand stitched onto the suit. As a quick test, put your hands on the suits at the shop your are visiting, and see if you can detect whether the material inside the suit (the canvas) is glued or not. Many times you can detect whether there is loose material (preferred) or glued material inside the jacket, based on a commonsense tactile assessment.
A half canvassed suit will have a floating canvass for the top half of the suit to ensure an aesthetically pleasing look and provide comfort to the wearer, and utilize a fused canvas for the less important lower half of the suit. In theory, a half canvased suit can provide the wearer with a luxurious garment at a more affordable price with few disadvantages. The price difference between a half and full canvased suits varies from country to country (but to my surprise in some countries the price differences can be quite negligible).
The third option is the unstructured suit. Unstructured suits are crafted without the use of an inner canvas. It takes a great amount of skill to be able to create a suit, shape it, and fit it properly onto a person without the use of a canvas, typically so pivotal within the whole tailoring process. The unstructured (non-canvassed) suit was first invented by Italians tailors, but unfortunately, within SEA it is difficult to find a tailor capable of crafting an unstructured suit. The exception is Japan, who seems to have tailors capable of crafting unstructured suits, but outside of Japan, I would be cautious. It's hard enough to find tailors who are capable of making full floating canvass suits, let alone unstructured suits.
I have compiled a bespoke suiting price guide for several countries for an overall picture of what you may find in SEA. I've excluded Japan from the guide since the country is simply an outlier within SEA. Indeed, bespoke tailors in Japan can provide outstanding quality bespoke at steep prices, yet the point of this guide is to explore excellent tailoring at very affordable prices.
In terms of fabric, suppliers within SEA will sometimes offer special deals such as three suits for the price of two. Holland & Sherry is quite proactive with these sort of deals. Keep a lookout for any significant bargains of this kind.
Some SEA countries will have many tailors and tailoring houses to select from, while places like Singapore and the Philippines may be limited in selection (besides high level salons who work with traveling bespoke tailors from France or Italy). Also, certain countries will have a larger concentration of Italian-style tailors, while in other countries, British-style tailors dominate.
I have taken into account these factors in this review to help as many people as possible, including those of you from Europe and America who want to commission a more affordable bespoke suit, expatriates working within various SEA countries, and various people within SEA or neighboring countries seeking to commission a bespoke suit.
* The person conducting the consultation and taking measurements may not be the person who creates the pattern and cuts the fabric for you (this is typically a made-to-measure practice, not a bespoke practice). This point is a significant factor that can lead to disastrous results. Any cutter/tailor worth his salt knows the importance of being familiar with the physique of the client!
In SEA however, the first fitting may bypass the basted fitting stage and provide you with a suit that already has sleeves attached and shoulders lightly padded, but without buttons attached. One of the most unfortunate aspects I have found in SEA bespoke tailoring is the tendency for tailors to simply stand back during the fitting process, and wait for the client to identify flaws or issues themselves! This can be an incredibly difficult task for most people.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to explore bespoke tailoring within Indonesia and Vietnam, and will discuss in relative depth for both countries. I hope to also explore bespoke tailoring within other SEA countries in the future to expand and refine this guide.
I will attempt to provide guidance for tailors within each SEA country, but please keep in mind that I'm merely attempting to steer you in the right direction. You will still need to engage in a thorough discussion with your chosen tailors in order to ensure the best final outcome.
Laxmi Tailors was founded by M. N. Advani when he migrated from India to Indonesia in 1947. Two years later, in 1949, Mr Advani, together with his son G. M. Advani, opened the first ever Laxmi Tailors shop in Pecenongan (Jakarta).
I'd describe the Laxmi style as closest to Northern Italian. The overall cut is definitely Italian, but features which are usually present on Italian suits could be missing unless you request them specifically. The standard armhole cut is not particularly high, but can be made higher upon request.
While Laxmi is not able able to craft unstructured suits, they are able to make functional sleeve buttons and Neapolitan features such as kissing sleeve buttons (but are unable to make them both kissing and functional at the same time!).
The shoulder style is soft but lightly padded and the atelier is able to make Spalla Camicia and Con Rollino Italian shoulders. Laxmi claims to also craft British style suits, but I have no experience with this type of crafting. Finally, they use viscose fabric lining for their suits.
As for shirts, they have a good collection of Egyptian cotton from brands such as Soktas, a Turkish based fabrics company, and can get fabrics from Soktas manufactured in India to provide luxurious yet more affordable Egyptian cotton shirts.
Commissioning a suit from Laxmi requires 3-4 weeks for completion. Both the staff and the owner are fluent in English and in some forms of the Indian language. I highly recommend you visit the head office at Pecenongan for a consultation with the general manager Rahul, who typically will be there to go through style options, using an iPad to provide reference pictures. I highly advise you to have a good idea of the type of suit you would like to commission and to bring along some photos for reference. Rahul also is attentive enough to ask for details, like the type of canvas you prefer.
After you decide on what to commission, a tailor will take your measurements. Unfortunately the tailor taking your measurements might not be the same person who will cut your suit. I noticed the tailor taking my measurements did so quite loosely and didn't use any tool to measure my inseam, however the end result turned out to be very satisfactory. After your measurements have been taken, your choice of fabric will be ordered. Once received, your pattern will be created and your fabric cut on the premises. The cutter will actually do the cutting in front of the store. Various tailors will then construct the suit and once ready for fitting, the consultant and a tailor will accompany you to take note of any adjustments required. From my experience, the staff at Laxmi Tailors has a genuine desire to provide clients with the best final product, and as long as you have the time, they will keep making necessary adjustments.
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