Hiras Fashion - Official Affiliate Thread

Hi,

This is Fok, one of the owners and the manager of Styleforum. I'd just like to take the opportunity to welcome you to the Styleforum community.

Cheers,

Fok.

I had my fitting yesterday by Ramesh.  He was polite, very knowlegable, showed me good, better, best samples and explained the difference. I had planned on 2 suits and a tuxedo. I picked one suit at the best level and the tux and 2nd suit were at a slightly lower level. The price quoted was higher than expected so I dropped the tuxedo and paid in full for the 2 suits with a CC, and the cost was converted to Hong Kong currency on the CC receipt.  I was told the charge would be going through in about a week and that I should contact the CC Company and tell them in advance to expect a charge from Hong Kong.  The first suit is to arrive in 6-8 weeks and I am to communicate with Hiras via email about the fit and if any changes should be made to the second suit. Hopeful anticipation of a good outcome, but there is a lot of trust/faith involved with this transaction.   Nice to see that Hiras has established an Official Affiliate Thread where we can all share experiences.  Their Facebook Page does has quite a few posts from them but there are only a few comments to their posts and no customer posts that I have been able to find.

Edited by drcbc - 11/30/12 at 11:00am

Update:  Now been 18 days since my fitting on 29 Nov 12.  The CC charge went through on 11 Dec 12, so that took about 11 days.  Hopefully items have begun production.  

Thank you, I have received an email from Andy Hira indicating one of the suits has been shipped.  This is less than one month from my fitting.  I was expecting a 6-8 week delivery date for the first suit.  Although I am thankful for the "top priority" treatment, it is not something I requested and I hope it is not indicative of a "rushed job" with compromises being made on quality.  These were the most expensive suits I have ever paid for and the "quality" aspect is what I and I would think most of your clients are hoping for. I will provide an update when the first suit arrives.

Update: My first suit arrived a few days ago, right at 3 weeks from my fitting.  It was neatly folded in a box.  I have been inspecting and comparing to all my previous suits and sports coats  bought over the past 20-30 years off the rack.  These included several Brioni and Canali suits, sport coats, and some were double breasted.  The suit I recieved was the charcoal suit.  There was very little wrinkling out of the box and I just let it hang overnite befor trying it with any shirts and ties.  It is the "better" level material and I am happy with the feel and weight.  It fits fine and I don't feel any alterations are needed (one would expect/hope for this on a custom suit) and Ramesh's measurements were right on and the tailors followed them very well. The button holes, lining and piping are hand done and are precise, pleasing and seem sturdy.  Overall, I am very pleased with the quality and I look forward to the black suit with the 'best" level of material. i will be giving Andy the go ahead with production of the next suit.

Update: A few details about the recent suit.  I still am pleased with the fit and material.  I have worn the suit several times and I thought I would share a few pictures of what appear to be areas of tension and puckering from tacking stitches which are attaching the lining or some of the canvas to the outer material of the suit.  I have compared these areas with other suits I have, some from 20 years ago, and none of them seem to have developed these issues. I am concerned that over time due to gravity they will get worse and be more noticable. I thought I would also share the button hole sewing on the sleeve, from of the front of the suit and the lapel for review and comment.  Incidently, there was no stem stitch for the lapel button on this suit, not requested but I thought that a suit this expensive would have one.  I would apprectiate any thoughts other members, moderator or Hiras would offer regarding these issues and what needs to be done. Certainly my next suit, the black "best" level needs some closer attention rather than emphasis on "priority production".

 

Examples of the the tacking stitches showing some tension and puckering of the outter fabric. Thinking this

will get worse with time due to gravity.

Tacking stiches evident on front.  The tacking behind the lapel seems a little tight on the right side.

Details of the hand made button holes of the cuffs, lapel and coat.

Some Details of the Cuffs and buttons, a little irregular spacing is noticeable.

Front and Back of suit.  Wonder about the angle of the Pockets? Most of my suits are more horizontal, if not completely horizontal.

Is this more of a style for English Made Suits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I received my package from Hiras Fashion this Friday on the 28th. I ordered a Grey Suit and a White Herringbone Shirt with a traveling fitter in late November. The total cost is $799 including shipping (Breakdown: Shipping $60, Shirt $120, Suit $619).
 

 

 

Here are my personal stats just for reference.
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165lbs
Chest: 41"
Waist @ Navel: 34"
Waist @ 2" below Navel (where pants rest): 33"

 

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The fitting result is just short of a complete disaster. A lot of the measurements are way off, and some of the details that were requested are missing. Let's break it down.

Shirt:
My initial impression when I put the shirt on was that it was WAY too big and roomy. Then I remembered that Hiras does take account of shrinkage, so I proceeded to wash the shirt with my "regular" cycle, which is cold wash and low tumble dry. Hence why it's wrinkly in the pictures above. Still, the shirt remains very wide in the chest. You can see the extreme taper in the picture.

Here are a couple pictures of my Brooks Brother made to measure shirt. The fit is close to my ideal fit; you might not be able to see it in the picture due to my phone blocking and the picture quality, but the chest is too tight as I've gained a bit of muscle in that area, but it's still a good reference to demonstrate a good overall fit as all the other measurements are still good.

 

This is a picture of me in the Hiras shirt.

 

If I have both my arms up, I'd look like this.

 

List of fit issues:

• Collar is too tight. Buttoning up the collar feels like a someone has their hands around my neck. Being able to fit two fingers inside my collar is out of the picture.
• Chest is too wide and roomy like mentioned. Comparing it to my Brooks Brother shirt, it is 1.5" wider on each side, 3" total. Taking account of the entire circumference, that's 6"! If my BB shirt fits perfectly with a 39" chest, this shirt would fit well on a person with a 45" chest, which is 4" too much for me. It would be perfect if the Hiras shirt was just 0.5" wider on each side than my BB shirt.

 

• Shirt length is too short. I requested to have this match my BB shirt when I did my fitting, but obviously it was missed. It is 3.5" shorter at the longest point of the shirt, and 2" shorter at the shortest point of the shirt. If I lift my arms, the shirt will not remained tucked in the pants.

 

• Shoulders are slightly too big, about 0.5" more than I like. Although it shouldn't be too big of a deal if the chest was good in the first place, as this wouldn't be as apparent.

 

• Collar stays are sewn in. I specifically requested to have removable stays, so this was also missed. Right now I have soft non removable collar stays sewn in, and it feels very cheap.

 

• Sleeve length is 0.5" too short. In the suit pictures below, you will see that there is no visible cuff at all.
• Cuff width is too wide. I have small wrists and I could slide my hand through the cuff without unbuttoning. My BB shirt cuff width from center of button to the edge of opening is 7.75". The Hiras shirt is 8.25", so it's 0.5" too wide. Also, the button at the cuff slit opening is missing. This seems like a design feature from Hiras, but I don't like it.

 

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Suit Jacket:
What the !@#$ is this? I'm not even sure how this is supposed to fit me.

List of fit issues:

• Notched lapel is 4". This was supposed to be a thinner 3" lapel. Another detail missed. None of my Blazers or Sport Coats have a 4" notched lapel, nor they ever will.

 

• Suit jacket collar is too high. I basically have no shirt collar showing. I barely have 0.25" of collar where I yanked it up as much as possible just for a still picture.

Using this picture as a guide, mine is A or worse. B is pretty much your rule of thumb length, and anywhere between B & C is still good in my books.

 

• Length of the suit jacket is too effing long. I'm annoyed by this mistake the most among all the issues I'm having. It's a whooping 30.5" long, and I actually emailed Hiras beforehand to have it shortened by half an inch, which means it could have ended up as 31"! Like mentioned above, I'm 5'8" tall. How it ended up with a 30.5"/31" length is beyond me. Most people at this height have suit jackets length range from 27-29" depending on their body proportions and the style they are going for.

 

Notice that no cuff is showing on my left arm (mirrored). Even though my right arm is bent, you can tell there is barely anything as well if you look from the side.

 

The discussion I had with my fitter was to have the suit jacket length match the navy blazer I have shown below, which is 28" in length. This is the longest I would ever go for. Later I decided to go for a more contemporary look and requested to shorten the jacket length by half an inch, bringing it down to 27.5". The end product is 3" too much.

 

• The midsection and waist area is too roomy. I'm pretty sure most can tell already just by looking at the pictures and comparing it to the fit of my navy blazer. It needs to be taken in by at least 2" on each side.

 

• Once again, shoulders are about 0.25"-0.5" too big. It's more apparent than the shirt due to the shoulder pads, and it's magnified by the fact that everything else is so big. Overall a minor concern compared to the rest.
• Sleeve length is a tad bit long. This it how it looks even with my arms lifted up, just a little short of cuff (The shirt I'm wearing in the picture is my BB shirt, as the Hiras shirt shows no cuff at all with this pose). Overall, I'm more bothered by the arm and sleeve width. The cut is just so boxy.

 

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Suit Pants:
Fortunately, this is the piece that I'm somewhat satisfied, preventing the entire ordeal from becoming a "complete disaster". The length is good. The waist is perfect. I asked the fitter to match my BB navy suit pants, and they almost did it right. Almost...

List of fit issues:

• The thigh opening is too wide. Overall the pants isn't as tapered as I want it to be. The bottom of the opening is the same as my reference pants, but there is a 0.75" difference at the top. In case if anyone is wondering, the bottom of the Hiras suit pants are not hemmed in a straight line (longer at the heel), hence why they're sticking out. There is nothing wrong with this.

 

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Putting all the fit issues aside, the overall build quality seems decent on the suit. I didn't ask nor want a monogram on my suit but they added it (my name) anyways.

The shirt however, is a different story. The fabric feels cheap and is much thinner with a bit of see through, compared to another BB shirt I have which is also white herringbone (the one in the pictures is oxford). It's also quite wrinkly. The fitter said that these were "easy care" fabrics; I knew I shouldn't have bit the bullet as I never iron my shirts, and all the shirts I have are non-iron. Since the fitter was somewhat pushing for it, I allowed my curiosity get the best of me, as I wanted to try Hiras out and see how well they preform. The shirt itself is $120. At this price point, I could have gotten something off-the-rack with better quality fabrics and fit me semi decently from Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, J.Crew, The Bay and the like, get it altered, and still be cheaper. Good thing I did not go for the $180 range of fabrics that the fitter was upselling me. Bad thing I did not take the cheapest $75 ones instead.

 

Although Hiras uses the word "bespoke" in their label, obviously this is not the case and is just made to measure. Their slogan "fitted to perfection" also falls short in my case. Considering all the issues with my suit jacket, it would be close to impossible to alter it without ruining the proportions. There is just too much work to be done, and even if it could be done, you need a very skilled tailor to recut everything and the cost is going to be very high. It would be quicker, easier, and cheaper just to have it remade. Same thing for my shirt; no tailor can make something that is too short, longer. You cannot let loose a tight collar as well.

One more thing I almost forgot to note about my shirt. There are numbers written in pen underneath my collar. Even after the first wash it's still there. I do realize you normally won't see it since it's underneath the collar, but this bugs the crap out of me. I've never seen a tailor or clothing manufacturer do this. The potential of having ink rubbed onto my ties isn't great either.

If the products I got fits as well as what Hiras male model is wearing (a more traditional fit), I would have been content, even though I prefer a more modern, contemporary look. What I have right now is just simply unacceptable.

I'm not sure if all this is just a manufacturing error, communication error, or measurement error or a combination of everything, it really doesn't matter from a customer point of view. I'm angry and frustrated. I will be contacting Hiras directly with all these issues and see what they have to say about it. We'll see what their true customer service is like, and if they are willing to right the wrongs. If it is possible I would ask for a full refund, but I know there is a no refund policy. I refuse to spend a penny more at this point, including shipping. Having a broken product for the New Years, spending hours taking pictures and typing up this post is already too much.

Edited by Kappuccino - 12/30/12 at 2:22pm

Ajay is one of their top fitters, and has a Hiras last name. I live in Calgary, Canada, which is a small market for them, and I don't think my fitter was very good.

One thing I left out in my main post is information about my fitter. He is an older gentleman. IIRC he's 65. My internal alarms went off when some questions weren't asked regarding certain details of the suit/shirt, and I had to bring it up myself. He was also irritated when I asked him whether the suit will have pick stitching on the lapels or not, which he replied, "Sir, now you are just too particular. You are taking too much of my time, blah blah blah, Yes we do have pick stitching." To be easy, I was quite apologetic and tried to move things forward.

I admit I'm very particular. I can notice every small detail, and this is not just about clothing and fashion. This is just the way I am. However I do realize I can be a huge pain in the ass for some salespeople/tailors. There are certain salespeople at my local Brooks Brother who would never want to deal with me. I only deal with a couple of them, and they are the best.

 

I never expected things to be perfect the first time, but what I have is unwearable and is way below any sort of expectation. At least I'm glad that you have had a pleasant experience with them. Reading through the positive reviews on SF was what sparked my interest of giving them a try in the first place.

 

Anyways, I've already emailed all their management last night, and is just playing the waiting game right now.

Update regarding pictures posted on 12/20/12.  Andy has acknowledged seeing them. He is on holidy and will review with the cutter next week to see what needs to be done. Other posters have indicate cost of suit, so I thought I would add my costs for the 2 Suits.  The Charcoal Grey suit "better material"shown on 12/20/12 was about $1800USD.  My next Black, "best material" suit, to be made soon, was nearly $2400USD.  This is certaibly less than cruizer, Kapucinno or jon54 paid.