Bespoke brand suits downturn budgets

A new men's tailoring brand looks set to offer thrifty executives the best of both worlds: quality and value for money.

Suit-Shop is the brainchild of Adelaide-raised, St Martin's London trained tailor Patrick Johnson, who has brought his expertise back to Australia following a five-year "love affair with Saville Row", which saw him open bespoke tailoring shops in London's key rag trade locations.

Johnson, who officially began trading under the Suit-Shop banner earlier this month, said he was undeterred by the prospect of launching a bespoke brand in the midst of a slow down.

"When the down turn hit London, businessmen started focussing more on quality than quantity. So instead of buying four or five fairly ordinary suits, they were buying one or two really good ones. I think the same rule will probably apply here."

In order to attract new business in Australia, he had deliberately downgraded his price structure, he added.

"The prices in Australia are basically the same - dollar for pound - as those in the UK. So my bespoke suits start at $1100, with shirts at around $250 and jackets at around $795."

Headquartered in Melbourne and with offices in Sydney and Adelaide, Johnson plans to open stores around Australia by 2011, but is currently building up his business by offering a "travelling tailor" service.

"People come and see me or ring me, and then I visit them and take around 43 detailed measurements from all over their body. I put a suit on their body and then adjust it on them to give them an idea of what my tailoring is about, which helps manage their expectations. I then send their suit to a work shop which makes it up, making generous allowance in the seams for further adjustments."

Boasting premium fabrics from Italian mills and European assembly and finish, the suits took around six weeks to complete, he said.

"I've never been big on advertising, but I think word of mouth achieves good results, particularly in the tailoring world. I'm offering a good service at a good price. You do get tailors who come in from Hong Kong and offer suiting, but really what they're offering is a range of ready-made suits that then get adjusted. Unless you're very lucky, they're never going to look as good and fit as well as a truly bespoke suit."