One of our members put forward an interesting question regarding the future of bespoke tailoring.
It is not the interest in bespoke clothing that has dwindled or even the numbers of those who would wish to purchase it but rather the number of those who can afford to pay a tailor to make clothing by hand. Tailoring had its hay day when there was no middle class and tailors were paid pennies for their work.
In order to help promote and support many of you who aspire to provide a bespoke tailoring service in your area, I have decided to share a very valuable resource. In 2012 I travelled to China and trained a workforce in the cutting and making of Savile Row suits. This was nothing new Savile Row tailoring houses have been aligning themselves with Chinese workshops for years allowing them to access low-cost labour with consistent quality manufacturing. Many falsely believe it is the low cost that China provides that makes it so desirable to Savile Row houses. But it's actually the consistency. Sadly the quality of handcraft tailors on the Row is often questionable. Recently I received some national media attention which has sparked an interest in people across Ireland who wish they could dress better. Rather than set a price point that is far above what they could reasonably afford I have reached out to my Chinese contact and rekindled a working relationship. James the master tailor has received copies of my video series as well as a set of block patterns cut by my hand in my system. I have instructed James to allow anyone who hails from my academy or followers to my forum to be allowed access to these patterns should they decide to use his workshop for production. I don't know the exact pricing but I believe a suit costs in the region of $300- $400 including cloth and trimmings. The forms in both English and Chinese are needed to order clothing. Luckily for you, we have already developed those.
They are posted below available for download as a PDF.
One could even just use this resource to fill their wardrobe with bespoke suits as there are no minimum order requirements. You can request pocket baste try-ons and even send on your own cut patterns if you wish. All you need to do is email James at
13923735509@139.com and request the price list for your country. Be sure to mention Rory Duffy so you can assess the handcrafted line and block patterns. James also offers suits made by machine for an even lower price. I hope this resource will allow many of you to follow your dreams and start offering affordable bespoke suits in your area.
I have been astonished by the quality of garments which are being produced by tailors in China/Korea/Asia recently. They put Savile Row to shame in some instances (particularly Huntsman - some of their publicly visible work is shamefully poor in my view).
So would this be kind of Ike MTM?