Dress With Style
Is it the one over by the Buddha on Lantau?Dr T wrote:Nearly passed out. I was in a Hong Kong discount Mall - and there was a shop - Gieves and Hawkes of Saville Row, discounting everything by 70%.
The new company thats brought them is sure making an effort to devalue the brand.
Im sure that's right - there seems to be an idea that tailors should come to specialise in elements rather than the entirety : didn't the Duke of Windsor go one further and have his coats made by Scholte and trousers by another tailor altogether?gegarrenton wrote: How many suits of Savile Row were done by an individual? .000001% tops?
It's also for consistency of the finished product.Melcombe wrote: Subdivision of labour must tend to efficiency, albeit at the cost of artistic control over the entirety of the project.
I will say it's Italy, but then again, I'm going on a small sample size.Dr T wrote:Just off to Hong Kong and then Shanghai - will I be ordering a suit there - I dont think so i still believe the best tailoring in the world is in the UK
My read is that they are trying very hard to upscale the brand, but whether they succeed or not will take a long time to see. Currently, the Chinese are just not buying their idea of luxury, because it takes time to understand. Having these discount shops and having a long run of time making sub-par RTW don't help either. I believe their current RTW do look half decent, and it's not selling well, so an opportunity for the ones interested to grab them at bargain prices during the sales.Dr T wrote:Nearly passed out. I was in a Hong Kong discount Mall - and there was a shop - Gieves and Hawkes of Saville Row, discounting everything by 70%.
The new company thats brought them is sure making an effort to devalue the brand.
I guess throughout history, any business (and yes, Savile Row is still a business, let's not over romanticize it) will try to appeal to the new source of money. Currently, China is where it's at, so it's only natural. I was surprised by your comment because A&S is still generally unknown to the Chinese community, but that will change over time.hectorm wrote:Dear pur_sangpur_sang wrote: Is A&S targeting the Asian customers specifically? I bought a suit from them (incidentally, I am Chinese), and I am not that happy.
I wrote a few superficial lines regarding A&S marketing strategies which you can read in another thread (R.I.P. Kilgour). More or less what I said was that the marketing and management strategies undertaken by the Rowlands at Anderson & Sheppard have been very successful being consistent for almost 40 years (Anda during the last 10).
They had a very good move to the newer more friendly but still classy shop on Old Burlington. And a smooth move also when they needed more revenue and begun with some RTW trousers and the haberdashery on Clifford St. (the latter attracts lots of women as well).
Regarding the targeting of rich and young Asian customers is not new in the Row (see Henry Poole opening the front stores in China, for instance). In the case of A&S, I don´t know how explicit they want to publicize it (might not be politically correct), but the courting of rich younger clients from Asia who are willing to pay the difference for a still real British house (not of global property) is undeniable.
I have talked about this in other posts, but I just don't think the back of the coat looks right. The cutter blame the fabric being too light, but it will be nice to say that in the beginning rather than saying it's a really great fabric. Honestly, the whole experience from start to end feels like a manufacturing plant. My Italian tailor/cutter is MUCH better (he even offered to wash my white shirt with a bit of Bolognese damage), but travel to get there is difficult.Badden wrote:What didn't you like about your A&S? I have used them for the past 5-6 years, and been very happy.pur_sang wrote:Is A&S targeting the Asian customers specifically? I bought a suit from them (incidentally, I am Chinese), and I am not that happy.hectorm wrote:Rich and young new Asian customers -groomed by Anderson & Sheppard for instance- seem to prefer their bespoke suits made by an English owned firm and exclusively in London premises.
Dear p_s:pur_sang wrote: I will really like to try Mr. Hitchcock just to get the all round view, but I don't really know how I go back to A&S and demand to change my cutter. In hindsight, maybe I should have insisted on Mr. Hitchcock, but then again, I'm not sure the results will be much better.
Chittleborough & Morgan seem to do very much on the premises. Mr. Morgan speaks of "our team" and coordinates everything with his people. When I had my very first fittings, he asked me to come back later the same day or the next day for an additional fitting. In the meantime "the team" had altered some details on both jacket, vest and trousers. This happened at the first and second fitting, but not at the third.Dr T wrote:If we take the Saville Row area - how much of the Bespoke suit or shirt is make on the tailors premises? You would assume all as its bespoke - but is it. When selecting a tailor its always a good idea to find out exactly what they do and whats done by other companies -the results are interesting -Whats your experience.
My advice would be that you insist on getting a clean back of your coat. You are the customer and in bespoke it's essential to have a good relationship with your tailor(s). If you tell them in a friendly but very explicit way that you are not satisfied, it means you'll give them a chance to do something about it.pur_sang wrote:Makes my decision much easier now. Guess I won't be revisiting them anytime soon.
...and Huntsman in ruins, with tailors leaving all the time.Dr T wrote:Its not a good year. Mr Hitchcock retiring from A&S and my tailor Ken Austin is retiring from Benson & Clegg this September.
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