English Cut / Thomas Mahon in administration

"The brute covers himself, the rich man and the fop adorn themselves, the elegant man dresses!"

-Honore de Balzac

hectorm
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Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:46 pm

bond_and_beyond wrote: Die,workwear! has an interview with him
Twice during this interview they say that "expanding into Made-to-Measure requires a tremendous amount of capital". That's nonsense.
I´ve known tailors that only do MTM (no cutting of personal patterns, reduced hand work) and their operation, in terms of investment, is basically the same of a bespoke tailor. if anything, the MTM allows them to churn more garments within a given period and to have more frequent (maybe smaller) payments.
If a bespoke tailor wants to scale his business, and he has the clients for it but not the time, he doesn't need to go the MTM route. He can just cut the patterns himself and give them to other artisans to put them together by hand. This is still bespoke and that is what Mahon did with the Indian tailors trained by him. There is some need for some additional work capital under this model, but nothing tremendous.
Of course, expanding into RTW or creating a brand while opening other branches abroad, is another completely different story altogether.
Concordia
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Mon Sep 04, 2017 11:22 pm

Hard to know the truth without more details, but English Cut may have hoped for more control over the factory part of MTM than is typical. If nothing else, they had expanded to a few fairly expensive retail sites. None of which is a big deal to Ralph Lauren, but it could be quite a pill to swallow for a small Cumbrian artisan shop.
hectorm
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Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:26 pm

Concordia wrote: ... it could be quite a pill to swallow for a small Cumbrian artisan shop.
Yes, those one-man shows are pretty tight operations. It's enlightening that Mahon recognizes this fact when he acknowledges that he himself cannot afford to wear bespoke suits.
My late tailor used to say the same thing. Apparently he was always breaking even and could not allocate 50 or 60 hours of his time to hand-make a suit for himself and forgo several thousand dollars of revenue that payed his bills.
old henry
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Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:00 pm

Making myself a suit costs me as much as it does my customers. Hectorm is right.
aston
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Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:20 pm

Let's say the cloth and trimmings cost £350 tops. The 60 hours of labour substantially more. Then rent, light, heat, etc, and maybe even some profit. Not a easy business model.
troutonthefly
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Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:01 pm

Years ago I stumbled upon Tom's website, and I turned to English Cut at that time to begin my bespoke journey. I flew from Minneapolis to Chicago to meet with Tom, and once my wife and I met him in New York when he hosted cocktail party.

After one suit and one jacket he removed Chicago from his itinerary. Flying to the coast made seeing him too difficult, so I moved to Steed for my bespoke needs.

I'm sorry to read this thread, and I wish Tom well in his new endeavor. Whatever the story, I'll remember my brief relationship with Tom fondly, and simply thank him for his assistance.
davidhuh
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Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:50 pm

bond_and_beyond wrote:
davidhuh wrote:
old henry wrote:Everything I have seen these people do has been very very nice. Sad to see this.
Indeed. There is living proof in my closet. I have a Brisa coat in the works... :shock:

Cheers, David
Will you still receive it or is your deposit lost?

BB
Gentlemen,

happy to report that my cloth was found, my deposit is not lost, and Mr Paul Griffiths who is working as coat maker at English Cut since ever prepared a basted fitting within a few days. Fitting with Mr Edwin DeBoise at the Chiltern Street store today, where I happened to meet a very nice fellow member 8) . My most sincere thanks go to Mr Griffiths. I'm in good hands.

Cheers, David
Concordia
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Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:57 pm

davidhuh wrote:

Gentlemen,

happy to report that my cloth was found, my deposit is not lost, and Mr Paul Griffiths who is working as coat maker at English Cut since ever prepared a basted fitting within a few days. Fitting with Mr Edwin DeBoise at the Chiltern Street store today, where I happened to meet a very nice fellow member 8) . My most sincere thanks go to Mr Griffiths. I'm in good hands.

Cheers, David
Wait, Ed is fitting English Cut stuff?
couch
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Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:40 am

Let's just say it's an ill wind that blows no good. Paul Griffiths and Edwin, Matthew, and Co. are demonstrating sterling character. More details about this melodrama will be made publicly available when they are ready to do so.
davidhuh
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Thu Dec 07, 2017 11:28 pm

Concordia wrote:
davidhuh wrote:

Gentlemen,

happy to report that my cloth was found, my deposit is not lost, and Mr Paul Griffiths who is working as coat maker at English Cut since ever prepared a basted fitting within a few days. Fitting with Mr Edwin DeBoise at the Chiltern Street store today, where I happened to meet a very nice fellow member 8) . My most sincere thanks go to Mr Griffiths. I'm in good hands.

Cheers, David
Wait, Ed is fitting English Cut stuff?
Dear Concordia,

this happened yesterday, indeed 8)
When you call English Cut in Brampton, a lovely lady will respond for both companies.

Cheers, David
DFR
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Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:21 am

Tom Mahon is now working at Redmaynes as Head Cutter.
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