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Hand-sewn suits on the fringe

The Young Reporter (2007, January), 39(04), pp. 9.
Author: Karen Ko Ka-wai. Editor: Stephenie Hui Shuk-kwan.
Permanent URL - https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/bujspa/purl.php?&did=bujspa0015661

KAREN KO KA-WAI

They use needles and threads while others use machines. They take exact measurements while others would just bother to know size numbers like 40, 42, 44 up to 58. Their works are unique while others' products are relatively ordinary.

They are the traditional tailors, making suits by hand in a trade that could be dying.

“We can't actually survive,” said Hui Kong Leung with one such shop Swiss Tailor.

The industry of ready-to-wear suits has been growing and its tailor-made counterpart now only takes up 10% of the market, according to Mr Hui.

To have hand-made suit could take a minimum three days up to two months, making many prefer the ready-made for convenience and generally cheaper pricing.

Meanwhile the popularity of international designer labels has also affected the old trade. Many men, especially the yuppie types find wearing brands like Armani, Prada, Hugo Boss and Gucci, despite their hefty prices, much more “cool” than anything tailor-made.

Mr Hui said, “Only people who are used to their family habit of ordering tailor-made suits and people who have dress sense will come to us.”

Mr Poon, the Managing Director of another old-timer tailor A-Man Hing Cheong Co Ltd, noted the lack of new blood in their profession, and that most young people simply did not seem interested . “People wish to earn as much as they can once they graduate. If they have time, they would rather go for fun,” Mr Poon said.

He added that the filigree work complete with long hours also tended to discourage the young from entering the sector.

He said their shop opened from 9 am to 7 pm all year around without one single day-off.

But Mr Hui also acknowledged that it was hard to make a reasonable living with this trade because business could fluctuate much according to seasons, adding that there was only a very short period of peak season in a year.

Lam Chuen-shek, a Sales Manager of Kwun Kee Tailor Co Ltd, said young people nowadays were perhaps too pragmatically minded to be interested in the art of tailoring by hand.

But Mr Lam believed the trade’s skills and techniques would survive on as westerners remained keen to preserve the art.

“With fewer tailors in the future, the prices of tailor-made suits would rise”, and such suits would become more of a rarity and luxury, Mr Lam said .

Ajusserus Lee Ka-wang, a student from Institute of Textile and Clothing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said he would not consider becoming a suit-tailor.

Having an inspiration of becoming a fashion stylist, Mr Lee said he would only learn tailoring by hand when he was free.

“Being a suit-maker is too specialized,” he said.

Bernard Chan, a legislator and a fan of A-Man Hing Cheong, said traditional hand-made suits might not attract everyone. But he believed there would be still a niche market.

Mr Hui of Swiss Tailor emphasised the uniqueness of hand-made suits.

“You may often find someone else wearing the identical ready-made suit you have on at some occasion. But this won't happen with hand-made ones,” he said.

Edited by

STEPHENIE HUI SHUK-KWAN

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