Hong Kong Tailors. William Yu tailor and E-Italian

[sumo]

Since this is my first time going bespoke, I want to try different price point before I can decide which tailor should I go to, may be the members in this forum have very high standard, I find my first bespoke experience very rewarding, the fit of these two suits are way better than my 10 RTW suits, my RTW suits are all in the US900 to US1200 range, for me to jump into US1500 to US2000 bespoke suits need some time to adjust. I do enjoy the bespoke experience, so may be no turning back to RTW for me

 

[Svenn]



By the way I drop by Gordon Yao's store to check their suits details. They used 45 minutes to explain their house style and I am so impressed that I ordered another suit from them. But they do not prefer rush jobs and suggested two months to complete the order

2 months?! One of the main reasons to bespoke in HK is for speed, to avoid the 3+ month wait of Western tailors. Chan is fitting me now and is shooting for 7 days; the whole reason I came to HK this time around actually. I tried Yao before and honestly not sure whether he's warranted in extending his time like that...

 

[sumo]

Yao said he can do faster, is just I am not in a rush and want him to take the time to do the suit, I said even two months is OK for me. So is not his intention to do it slow.

 

[GBR]



2 months?! One of the main reasons to bespoke in HK is for speed, to avoid the 3+ month wait of Western tailors. Chan is fitting me now and is shooting for 7 days; the whole reason I came to HK this time around actually. I tried Yao before and honestly not sure whether he's warranted in extending his time like that...

He can do suits in 7-10 days with fittings but any rush job is clearly at the expense of another client.

 

[gumbolo]

Interesting comparisons.

I have tried A-Man, YWY and also WWC.

I myself would tend to pay a little more and get exactly what I need. With AMHC I realized they do extremely classic cuts, but are extremely rude, unreliable and a bit sloppy if you don't control the output. Still, I keep going there to buy shirts and jackets. I love William Yu for his pants, absolutely best in class and extremely well fitted. Not so much the suits (but I don't buy suits these days anyway). My friend, however, who seriously earns three times what I do, loves YWY's suits and shirts and keeps ordering there.

I guess it's really a matter of taste and how you like the guys working with you.

 

[sumo]

It turns out I like Gordon Yao so much I ordered 5 units from him in the last 2 months

 

[vinveritas]

Do have the usual fittings though.

 

[sumo]

They all have two fittings before completion

 

[cheungish]

I have a William Yu jacket to offer guys.! Let me know

 

[cons]

Can anyone recommend one of the "good" tailors in Hong Kong that is leaning more towards the Italian aesthetic (less padding for the shoulders etc)? I am not asking for a Neapolitan style, but it seems that the majority of HK tailors is tending toward the English style, which makes sense given the historical background..

 

[Harry Morton]

For anyone that might be interested, I recently visited E.Italian and recorded my experiences here: www.travellingtailored.com - more info on the final products to come, but for its worth, you may like to check it out if considering Edward Tam when in HK.

Cheers
Harry

 

[TheTukker]

Hard to get a good sense from the pics, but certainly too much pulling in the mid section. Is this half/full canvass or fused?

 

[Harry Morton]

Yes, pics are lacking and of poor quality- will be updating once I return to the uk with better shots and some of the details in close up.
There is pinching in the mid. Hopefully something I can make some attempt to rectify later. It's a full canvass, but the separate jacket I had made (to be shown soon when I get it written) was just half.

 

[duzichong]



Interesting comparisons.

I have tried A-Man, YWY and also WWC.

I myself would tend to pay a little more and get exactly what I need. With AMHC I realized they do extremely classic cuts, but are extremely rude, unreliable and a bit sloppy if you don't control the output. Still, I keep going there to buy shirts and jackets. I love William Yu for his pants, absolutely best in class and extremely well fitted. Not so much the suits (but I don't buy suits these days anyway). My friend, however, who seriously earns three times what I do, loves YWY's suits and shirts and keeps ordering there.

I guess it's really a matter of taste and how you like the guys working with you.

Really interesting.
But anyway, is there any one here can recommend a reputable tailor in Shenzhen? From internet I got a tailor shop named LATLAND who cooperated with William Yu, allegedly. However, I can not find the related thing on William Yu's official website.

Best regards

Allen

 

[Penfold]

I'd be very surprised if any HK tailor wanted to publicise the fact that they were sending customer's orders over the border to be worked on. Even Jantzen, who *must* have their factory over on the Mainland, wouldn't shout about it. Everyone else claims to have their own "kitchen" or workshop or whatever somewhere in the SAR, where a few elderly sifu who learnt their craft in Shanghai now sit, their fingers still skipping nimbly across the cloth as they proudly continue the "Red Hand Gang" tradition... all BS in some way or another of course. One of the cheaper, higher-profile tailors on the Kowloon side definitely does make on the Mainland - is it Browns?

AFAIK there is the fifth floor of the Lo Wu mall crammed full of tailors. If you're lucky you might get someone who speaks rudimentary English. As for canvas construction, pattern cutting, skeleton baste and forward fittings I have no idea. Quite tempted to have some silly garments (shawl collar tuxedo in dragon print brocade "silk" from Western Mkt) made over the border, if I can do it for almost no money and laugh off the result as party clothes. But I'm on the trail of some tailors in North Point now, to see if I can escape the TST/Central/Admiralty price premiums.

Trying to get quality suits made from English/Italian cloth is going to be much harder in the Mainland not least because there are some quite high import tariffs on fabric.