Thom Mahon's MTM - Made in India - What do you think ?

[aj_del]

From http://www.englishcut.com/2011/03/29/the-new-old-way/

Ultimately to create this standard of tailoring at a more attainable cost we’ll have to make them outside of the UK. We’ve looked at many manufactures around the globe and the only people that passed our tests for quality, craftsmanship and more importantly were willing to make our way and to our standards were in a bespoke workshop and training school in Chennai, India.

At the time of our research about eighteen months ago I was introduced to a gentleman and his brother who told me how they had set up a workshop and training school for the local people in their home town. They have a selection of older, highly experienced artisans teaching a new generation of tailors. Their eagerness and passion is absolutely infectious. Anything that could possibly bear the English Cut name had to be thoroughly scrutinized but we were fascinated by their vision for the continuation of true bespoke tailoring . On our initial visit Paul and I were astonished with what we found. In an immaculate, bright and cheery workshop where we found 20-30 young skilled people enthusiastically competing with each other to be the very best in our craft. This was how the trade was when we fell love in love with it nearly thirty years ago. The conditions, pay and atmosphere in this workshop is far superior than many found in London.

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[aj_del]

I think this is the SC being made in the video

 

[GBR]

Fine


As long as he maintains a strict watch on quality, why not? I would certainly use the service, were I wanting to patronise him which I don't or reducing from bespoke to MTM which I won't.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Looks impressive from the info that is out there.

aj: You should try and track down this tailor in Chennai and perhaps go there direct.

 

[aj_del]

^^ AFAIK, Chennai only has one tailor who does canvassed stuff. I would be surprised if Mahon trained staff from some other place. In all probability he worked out an arrangement with them

Coming to second part, if I went to them direct, how will the suit be different from if I ordered with Mahon. Its an interesting topic for discussion. Some would say that I should be able to get 'bespoke' suit made by the same craftsmen who would be doing Mahon's MTM suit and it should be better.

 

[academe]

I think Andre (A Y) has seen the test jacket from his RTW line, which I believe is made in Chennai. See here: http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=217635&page=2 Knowing Tom personally, I don't think he would have made this decision lightly, or without truly believing exactly what he says. He's a very forthright and passionate about his craft... So long as the product is made carefully and the craftsman well-treated, I don't see this as a problem. As I've commented here and elsewhere, I think there are many skilled craftsman throughout Asia. I just think that they're not always properly appreciated (in their home countries or abroad), and there is sometimes an in-built bias against things made in the "developing world". Clearly there are some valid reasons for this bias at times (e.g. poor labour practices in some workshops/factories/etc.), but in other cases I think there is - ahem - stereotyping and culturally-biased generalisations made that are really quite unfair.

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by aj_del

^^ AFAIK, Chennai only has one tailor who does canvassed stuff. I would be surprised if Mahon trained staff from some other place. In all probability he worked out an arrangement with them

Coming to second part, if I went to them direct, how will the suit be different from if I ordered with Mahon. Its an interesting topic for discussion. Some would say that I should be able to get 'bespoke' suit made by the same craftsmen who would be doing Mahon's MTM suit and it should be better.

I don't necessarily think it would "better", in terms of handwork, etc. as I do believe his MTM is made to a very high standard (at least from what I understand)... Perhaps it might fit better because the garments would be cut to your pattern? There's only really one way to find out.

 

[TRINI]

Originally Posted by aj_del

^^ AFAIK, Chennai only has one tailor who does canvassed stuff. I would be surprised if Mahon trained staff from some other place. In all probability he worked out an arrangement with them

Coming to second part, if I went to them direct, how will the suit be different from if I ordered with Mahon. Its an interesting topic for discussion. Some would say that I should be able to get 'bespoke' suit made by the same craftsmen who would be doing Mahon's MTM suit and it should be better.

I'm assuming that it's probably a factory operation similar to a Greenfield. You might be able to get a suit that's constructed as well as a Mahon but I doubt you'd achieve the same fit as if he measured and cut for you himself.

 

[dragon8]

Originally Posted by academe

I don't necessarily think it would "better", in terms of handwork, etc. as I do believe his MTM is made to a very high standard (at least from what I understand)... Perhaps it might fit better because the garments would be cut to your pattern? There's only really one way to find out.

Seeing is believing.

 

[GBR]

Originally Posted by aj_del

^^ AFAIK, Chennai only has one tailor who does canvassed stuff. I would be surprised if Mahon trained staff from some other place. In all probability he worked out an arrangement with them

Coming to second part, if I went to them direct, how will the suit be different from if I ordered with Mahon. Its an interesting topic for discussion. Some would say that I should be able to get 'bespoke' suit made by the same craftsmen who would be doing Mahon's MTM suit and it should be better.

If the supplier were to use Mahon's pattern (which presumably he would not out of contractual requirement) that might be a start but you would also need someone to take the measures and interpret their use with the pattern.

Not simply a case of pitching up at the front door methinks....

 

[A Y]

As academe mentions, I tried out that actual jacket (there's only one right now) this past Sunday when I saw Tom in San Francisco. It's really nice in person, and even though the pictures of it are pretty good, it looks even better in person. He told me a little bit about the training process, and apparently it's a bunch of younger people learning under an older tailor, with Tom and Paul giving them guidance.

I don't know if this group will get to work on other things, but right now my impression is that they are just going to work on English Cut stuff. I do know that Tom's particular about his tailors (the people who actually put the clothes together) as they have to have the right training to understand and put together the things in the way that's particular to the A&S style. And they were training this group to do exactly that.

Tom talked about how enthusiastic they were about learning their craft, and how they'd go back and redo work that wasn't satisfactory (multiple times if necessary). I got the impression that this kind of nose-to-grindstone attitude was rare in western apprentices.

--Andre

 

[TheWraith]

If the quality is high, then I don't think it matters where the stuff is made.

 

[IndianBoyz]

Interesting. I'm pretty sure there are good tailors in North India aswell.

I wonder whether anyone here has experience with London's Ravi Tailor.

 

[dragon8]

Originally Posted by TheWraith

If the quality is high, then I don't think it matters where the stuff is made.

Including China?

 

[imatlas]

Originally Posted by dragon8

Including China?

Why not?