Re-badged ?

Talking with a coworker who used to work at Mens Warehouse who said that most off the rack suits are made in one place then sold to different companies who then just stick their label on them. So a suit at Mens Warehouse or one sold under a store name (Nordstroms, Bloomingdales etc) or an Armani are the same thing. True or false? Any retail experts out there that KNOW for sure? BTW we both work for the government and are not promoting or panning ANY store or brand. Personally I think it sounds like a sales line. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

Originally Posted by spacepuppy

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Talking with a coworker who used to work at Mens Warehouse who said that most off the rack suits are made in one place then sold to different companies who then just stick their label on them. So a suit at Mens Warehouse or one sold under a store name (Nordstroms, Bloomingdales etc) or an Armani are the same thing. True or false? Any retail experts out there that KNOW for sure? BTW we both work for the government and are not promoting or panning ANY store or brand. Personally I think it sounds like a sales line. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

Obviously false to the extent that a mens warehouse suit is made by the same people as make an Armani etc but it would not surprise me that some pseudo Italian (Chinese) factory puts out the suits for the mens warehouse/3 day suit brokers/"mantoni"-type brands of the world.

If you stick around here long enough, you will become intimate with the many quality suit manufacturers that exist and for whom they make other than their own brands. Examples would be Corneliani for RL Blue Label, Cantarelli for Faconnable, Vestimenta for Armani (I think) etc etc.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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(Chinese) factory puts out the suits for the mens warehouse/3 day suit brokers/"mantoni"-type brands of the world.


i see these all over the place but never went in because they were always closed when i had the availability. was going to check them out but they only carry these no-name brands? i heard they carry versace, canali, type level suits at good prices?

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

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i see these all over the place but never went in because they were always closed when i had the availability. was going to check them out but they only carry these no-name brands? i heard they carry versace, canali, type level suits at good prices?

Never been to one and only heard about it here and my understanding was that it was a mens warehouse type of place.

so the 'open for only 3 days' is a psychologic gimmick to make it sound they are exclusive and hard to get?

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

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so the 'open for only 3 days' is a psychologic gimmick to make it sound they are exclusive and hard to get?

someone here posted that their sales line is that since they are only open three days, it saves on rent/utilities/employees and they pass the savings on to you

Hey! I have a Mantoni and it is a nicely made suit with nice fabric and half canvas and made in...oh. :sad:

Originally Posted by bigbris1

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Hey! I have a Men's Wearhouse and it is a nicely made suit with nice fabric and half canvas and made in...oh. :sad:
Is it nicer than the Lauren one?

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Is it nicer than the Lauren one?

I have 2 Lauren suits, a tan cotton and a grey birdseye and both are the best fitting suits I own overall. At under $150 each new I am very pleased and received more than my money's worth already. I can post pics if you'd like

Originally Posted by bigbris1

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I have 2 Lauren suits, a tan cotton and a grey birdseye and both are the best fitting suits I own overall. At under $150 each new I am very pleased and received more than my money's worth already. I can post pics if you'd like

Yes! Can you post pics of you in them? or hanging, whatever pleases you. I would like to see both suits. Thank you Bris, if you have the time.

youre lucky to be fit well in lauren suits. i put one on and i look like an absolute turd. at least in rlpl suits, i look like a turd in an rlpl suit

Originally Posted by edmorel

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someone here posted that their sales line is that since they are only open three days, it saves on rent/utilities/employees and they pass the savings on to you

i heard that too. it is a lie. they sell lauren suits for 300 dollars.

^ to the OP, it is definitely true that the same factories make for so many labels. don't confuse manufacturing with branding. "lauren" for example is not a maker but a brand. same for "calvin klein." none of this is a secret.

men's wearhouse is not a maker. they don't make the suits they sell. they buy them from someone and put various labels on them to appeal to different customers. some of these labels they make up themselves. others they rent from companies that are in the business of maintaining a brand name worth renting (e.g. calvin klein, lauren).

just because the same factory makes suits for different clients who brand them differently, does not mean the suits are made to the exact same standard. at the low end of the market, however, it's not likely that there are huge upgrades available from the factories that bang out the products sold under various brands at MW.

products from the same factories can be branded several ways to recommend the product to different consumers, who are conditioned by advertising. a polo shirt branded "lauren" might appeal to the schlub who aspires to spend time at a country club. the same polo shirt branded "sean john" might appeal to the schlub who thinks he's uh like sean john. they could come from the same factory and be made to the same standard, sure. ditto for suits.

biggest point to take away for the consumer is there is little reason to expect consistency from low-end brands from year to year. just because bigbris found a killer lauren suit, that's no guarantee that the next lauren suit you see was made by the same people to the same standard.

even when people know better, they still act like the identity of the suit is in the brand name and not in the suit itself. this is why branding is such an effective way to sell dreck. it's easier to make a snap judgment based on a label than it is to assess the quality of the item itself.

so i guess a bunch of posters will google the **** out of bigbris' lauren suit and go score something that looks kinda the same & has the same label. and feel pretty satisfied about it.

^^^what he said. This is true of all products in general. Suits, pants, shirts, ties, shoes, washers, dryers, furniture, lawnmowers, etc. You can never tell. You might have Factory A in China that makes Suit 1, Suit 2 and Suit 3...all exactly the same just with different labels attached. Meanwhile, Factory B in Mexico is making Suit 1 because Factory A in China can't meet production needs. And all the while both factories are also making other suits to different specifications for other customers.

I was involved in the boating industry in the late 80's early 90's and Outboard Marine Corp (OMC) had their high-line Johnson and low-line Evinrude. All of these motors were built on the same assembly lines. Some models (rated by HP) were identical except for the color and decals (and price). Other HP models they used some plastic parts in the Evinrudes and metal parts in the Johnsons. I'm sure it is like this everywhere in manufacturing.

Something interesting I learned at a job selling heating equipment is that several lines of hot air blowers are made at one factory for different brands using the same parts, same assembly line etc. They are not separated until they get to quality control. The ones that get top scores get the more expensive brand's badge, the ones which barely pass get the cheap brand's. So you might have the same factory, the same production line, the same workers etc. but still have different quality.

Not sure if this is also true with suits, but it does make sense and wouldn't surprise me.