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Scheduled to be in Shanghai for roughly two months, I have already asked some of the colleagues in our office for recommendations on the following:
- bespoke suits, low / medium / high price range;
- bespoke shoes.
Having been here before two times already, I do have an indication of where prices and quality of craftsmanship stand. At the moment the situation is as follows:
Tailor-made suits and shirts:
There are 'markets', as they call them, where inside you can find from 50-200 booths. From what I understand so far, these actually relate more to 'cutters' than to tailors. The very positive thing there is that the value-for-money is high and that they can do for you any kind of design (even if you print, for example, the latest suit design by a well known brand and bring it to them).
The negative is that you have to let them know every detail (i.e. you cannot leave anything in chance, there have been cases where people got a very nice suit but the internal lining was red).
Prices in these markets/booths range at the average of CNY 100 for shirts and CNY 1,000 for suits (that is 10 and 100 Pounds Sterling respectively). I am told that the quality is very good indeed for what you get.
The bonus is that in some these booths there are tailors/cutters who make leather bespoke jackets/coats. A colleague showed me a sheepskin leather jacket he had made 3 years ago for 90 Pounds and uses it mainly when he rides his Ducati back in Italy. Very nice stuff for the price he paid.
On the medium to high price range, I am aware of two tailors. I was quoted already around 6,000 CNY for a Loro Piana cloth suit, and 12,000 / 9,000 CNY for two different qualities of Zegna cloth suit. These three quotes are without bargaining, and from what I know so far there can be at least a 10% discount on these rates (I actually plan to go for a 40% discount as I intend to make two suits, a cashmere jacket and a dozen shirts).
The shirts with these two more expensive tailors go for 500 CNY or 980 CNY, depending on whether we talk about few of the Italian or English cotton samples respectively which I have already been shown. These prices are, again, without any bargaining (and I am sure there is a lot of room for that).
Dealing with these tailors must have a lot of room for bargaining as I now recall an experience I have had in Hong Kong, back in 2007, when I had two Zegna suits made to measure at a well known and expensive tailor chain (Tai Pan Row).
In any case I will revert with more info, experiences or data & possibly pictures in due course.
Bespoke shoes:
A colleague here was wearing yesterday a pair of Chinese-made short boots, leather used was veal. Think of something like short-boot styled lace-up Oxfords in very light brown colour. I do not know the prices but I've got the address of the specific market/booth no. where I can go and have such bespoke shoes made, so I will revert in due course as well.
- bespoke suits, low / medium / high price range;
- bespoke shoes.
Having been here before two times already, I do have an indication of where prices and quality of craftsmanship stand. At the moment the situation is as follows:
Tailor-made suits and shirts:
There are 'markets', as they call them, where inside you can find from 50-200 booths. From what I understand so far, these actually relate more to 'cutters' than to tailors. The very positive thing there is that the value-for-money is high and that they can do for you any kind of design (even if you print, for example, the latest suit design by a well known brand and bring it to them).
The negative is that you have to let them know every detail (i.e. you cannot leave anything in chance, there have been cases where people got a very nice suit but the internal lining was red).
Prices in these markets/booths range at the average of CNY 100 for shirts and CNY 1,000 for suits (that is 10 and 100 Pounds Sterling respectively). I am told that the quality is very good indeed for what you get.
The bonus is that in some these booths there are tailors/cutters who make leather bespoke jackets/coats. A colleague showed me a sheepskin leather jacket he had made 3 years ago for 90 Pounds and uses it mainly when he rides his Ducati back in Italy. Very nice stuff for the price he paid.
On the medium to high price range, I am aware of two tailors. I was quoted already around 6,000 CNY for a Loro Piana cloth suit, and 12,000 / 9,000 CNY for two different qualities of Zegna cloth suit. These three quotes are without bargaining, and from what I know so far there can be at least a 10% discount on these rates (I actually plan to go for a 40% discount as I intend to make two suits, a cashmere jacket and a dozen shirts).
The shirts with these two more expensive tailors go for 500 CNY or 980 CNY, depending on whether we talk about few of the Italian or English cotton samples respectively which I have already been shown. These prices are, again, without any bargaining (and I am sure there is a lot of room for that).
Dealing with these tailors must have a lot of room for bargaining as I now recall an experience I have had in Hong Kong, back in 2007, when I had two Zegna suits made to measure at a well known and expensive tailor chain (Tai Pan Row).
In any case I will revert with more info, experiences or data & possibly pictures in due course.
Bespoke shoes:
A colleague here was wearing yesterday a pair of Chinese-made short boots, leather used was veal. Think of something like short-boot styled lace-up Oxfords in very light brown colour. I do not know the prices but I've got the address of the specific market/booth no. where I can go and have such bespoke shoes made, so I will revert in due course as well.
.....