University Year 2012/2013
Mod’Art International Post Grad Diploma
Bespoke and made-to-measure tailoring for men Study of a valuable branch of the menswear market
Presentation of a Master Degree in Fashion and Luxury Management Family name: Chauvin Forename: Arthur Directed by : Roux, Olivier, Professor Presented on the 13th May 2013
SUMMARY
Thanks / Acknowledgements ........................................................................................3 A) Introduction .............................................................................................................4-5
I) Overview of bespoke and made-to-measure men tailoring ..................................6 1. The constituents of tailoring ......................................................................................8 2. Evolution of the profession .......................................................................................13 3. Styles in tailoring ......................................................................................................25
II) Current development strategy in the tailoring sector 1. Consumer segmentation and behaviour ..................................................................33 2. Marketing and communication ................................................................................38 3. Menswear market trends ..........................................................................................47
III) Tailoring as a particular business model 1. Current state of the sector ..................................................................................... 51 2. Opportunities for development ............................................................................ 53 3. Future expectations for the sector: technology, investment, education ................56
B) Conclusion ............................................................................................................62
Bibliography ..............................................................................................................66 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................72
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to : - Olivier Saillard, Director of the Galliera Museum in Paris, for his precious help and answers. - Hugo Jacomet, founder of ParisianGentleman.fr, for his precious help and inspirational work. - Richard Bridgman, editor at large for Materialiste.com and First Luxe magazine for his support and answers. - The friendly staff of Les Nouveaux Ateliers, Smalto and Lanvin, for their time and answers. - Last but not least, thank you to Olivier Roux, brand management and marketing specialist, for his time and his patient and precious help.
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A) Introduction While the first examples of tailoring date back to the XIIIth century in Europe, men's tailormade garments as we know them today have not changed much in the past two centuries. For almost a decade, a substantial renewal of interest could be observed towards hand-made products and traditional craftsmanship, which translated in the menswear luxury sector into three key categories: leather goods, watches and garments. While the growing interest towards bespoke and made-to-measure suits began as a niche-trend followed by true aficionados, it has now grown into a fully-fledged global trend with significant influence on the worldwide luxury menswear market. The location of a product's fabrication has never been so important than in the past decade. Often, it is an argument for higher prices when coming from Europe, particularly Italy, Germany, France and Great-Britain as well as the United States and Japan, which all are countries known for their great craftsmanship in different areas of expertise. In times of economic crisis, local production has become a social and political argument: preserving the workforce and knowledge. On the one hand, consumers from developed countries tend to buy local in order to help restructure their countries' economies and to invest into quality, durable products, while on the other hand, consumers from emerging countries come to destinations with traditional craftsmanship in order to purchase the most luxurious and authentic products on the market. The consumption of such products is often due to the fact that people are looking for more secure, long-term investments in products that are genuinely worth their price. Tailoring gathers the concept of traditional, impeccable craftsmanship, local production and pride, and has been experiencing a growing demand for the personalised, unique luxury that it offers. In this document, the analysis will focus on the particular custom-made aspect of tailoring, and one particular type of garment: the suit. The sector is made of two key sets of actors: traditional tailor houses that practically focus only on tailoring, and luxury brands,
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with or without a tailoring background, which offer a range of bespoke and made-to-measure services.
In a first part, it will be important to define the very concepts of bespoke and made-tomeasure, as well as the key elements that define the notion of tailoring and what they imply. Another important endeavour will be to depict the tailoring sector in its context, historically, economically and geographically. The suit is, alternatively or altogether, a symbol of power, wealth and elegance virtually understood by every Western culture as well as thoroughly comprehended in Eastern cultures. Suits can be of many shapes and are characterised by the attention put to detail, from the size of lapels, to the number of pockets, to the material used for the confection of the buttons. Sociologically, the emergence of suiting arrived along with the strong codification of aristocracy in Europe. The richest had to differentiate from the plebs, the lower classes. Dinner or smoking jacket for evening parties, Harris tweed sports jacket for week-end hunting in the countryside, there was a codified way of dressing for each occasion, and these are just two examples among hundreds in the world of suiting. In this part, the tailor's profession as well as the garments themselves will be analysed within their cultural framework.
The second part of this document will be dedicated to tailoring as a market of its own. It will be looked at through the prism of consumer behaviour and segmentation in order to obtain a better understanding of the market. Moreover, an analysis of the key themes around which tailors communicate, and the marketing tools the firms use to reach their customers, will be conducted. This part will be aiming at describing the different types of consumers throughout the market one the one hand, and on the other hand will attempt to analyse what factors trigger the purchase of such products and services. Furthermore, the use of notions of heritage and craftsmanship by tailors and luxury brands to promote the idea of quality and durable products will be studied. The online development strategy of key actors on the sector will be studied. Finally, in a more global approach, the recent steep growth of the menswear market as a whole will be observed in order to isolate the key trends it implies and the consequences it will have on the luxury sector. In a third part, tailoring will be analysed as a business model, focusing in a first time on its current economic and financial state and the different issues raised by its very particular set of 5
rules and requirements. The development options that are offered to such businesses will be elaborated with the help of three key categories: the outsourcing options, the extension of branded product lines to broaden the firm’s influence and the different collaborations to exchange visibility. Lastly, this part will focus on the future expectations for the sector, analysing what firms will have to deal with in years to come, focusing on three important variables: technology, investment and education.
I) An overview of bespoke and made-to-measure tailoring I).1. Definitions The word suit derives from the French suite, meaning "following", because the component garments (jacket, trousers and waistcoats) follow each other and have the same cloth and colour and are worn together 1. Menswear tailoring is a matter of details. As Jesse Sheidlower, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary expressed in New York Magazine2 “calling made-to-measure suits ‘bespoke’ is wrong, wrong wrong, and it’s particularly offensive when used (as I understand is now the case) by fancy fashion houses that hawk expensive suits to gullible people by saying that they’re bespoke”, which raises yet another issue. The words bespoke and made-to-measure have increasingly been banalised by marketers looking to give their brands a certain legitimacy, and have applied such words to products as various as light bulbs or smartphone apps. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word bespoke is synonymous to custom-made (Merriam-Webster) and is defined as something “made to individual specifications”, which seems to be giving the legitimacy for marketers to use it the way they want, to the great despair of tailoring amateurs and tailors associations in the world.
The easiest and clearest way to understand the three key concepts in tailoring seems to be an explanatory list to sum up the different concepts:
1.1 Bespoke is characterised by:
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Business Suits. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://businesssuits.blogspot.com/
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http://nymag.com/fashion/07/fall/36077/ Michael Idov, 2007 6
- a unique pattern for a unique garment - a quasi-unlimited fabric selections (up to 8,000 choices at Anderson & Sheppard for instance) and determination of all details, including the smallest, from buttonholes to the mounting of the shoulders. - entirely made by hand, takes between 50 and 90 hours of work: time necessary varies according to the different houses - at least 2 fittings (up to 5 in some labels), with a wait time of at least 6 weeks, up to 6 months. - prices ranging from £2,000 (approx. €2,400) to virtually endless prices (gold embroideries, highly precious fabrics, etc.). The average price of a bespoke suit in Savile Row is around €3,500, same applies to Italy and France. Provided that prices decrease along with costs of labour, bespoke suits in emerging country can be much cheaper - but style and quality specificities vary.
1.2 Traditional made-to-measure (or custom-fit, custom-made) is characterised by: - a ready-made foundation pattern adapted by the tailor (not a salesman or consultant) to the client’s measurements. Many patterns to choose from with different drops (chest to waist ratio). - a very wide array of fabric choice (several hundreds generally). Several detail options: buttons, contrasted buttonholes, lining colour, pockets, etc. - a fabrication process realised at least half by hand - the prices range from around €800 up to €2,500 depending on the amount of handcraft and the notoriety of the tailor
1.3 Industrial Measure is characterised by: - a pre-existing pattern adapted by a sales consultant (not a tailor) to the client’s measurements. Most of the time, basic measurements are taken with a model in the boutique - a limited choice of patterns (generally four or five), fabrics (a few dozens), details (buttons, linings, pockets) - industrial machine construction with possible handcrafted finishes
In Italian culture, bespoke and made-to-measure are referred to with the same two words: su misura, yet the distinction still exists in Italian tailoring culture. In France, the vocabulary 7
distinction is made between grande mesure, which is the equivalent to bespoke, sur mesure which is the equivalent to made-to-measure and demi-mesure which can refer both to madeto-measure and industrial measure.
I).2. Price construction According to industry specialists, the labour price for a made-to-measure or bespoke suit in a developed country is between €25 and €30 per hour worked. Thus for a bespoke suit requiring 50 hours of work, the price of labour is between €1,250 and €1,500, and for a made-tomeasure suit requiring 8 hours of work, between €200 and €240. In addition to this, the price of raw materials is to take into account, with prices ranging from €100 for the cheapest material to over €20,000 for the most expensive cloths. Raw material is generally thought to be worth at least half of the final price of the suit. Then comes into the price the reputation of the firm, with fairly anonymous tailors applying a low mark up of around 2 or 2.5, and renowned one marking up their price by 4 or 5. This is why a bespoke suit with the same cloth could be worth €3,500 or €7,000 according to the importance of demand for the tailor’s services and his reputation.
I).3. The constituents of tailoring 3.1 Service Service in the business of custom and tailor-made clothing for men is of the utmost importance. Not only is the client looking for a product that corresponds exactly to his requirements, he is also coming to the store or atelier for a particular experience. It could be argued that tailor houses e.g. Savile Row tailors are among the first example of what we call nowadays CRM (Customer Relationship Management) as they, from the very beginning, offered impeccable service to the customers. In the case of Savile Row, British tradition of politeness and well-behaving are likely to have influenced the tradition of service in tailoring houses. In the public imagination, the master tailor would be expected to be a rather old man, perfectly dressed, incredibly well-mannered and patient. He will take the client’s measurements on a pedestal to be able to measure the legs and will spend a long time walking around him with his flexible measuring tape. 8
Hugo Jacomet, chief editor and founder of online magazine Parisian Gentleman, explains that “service in bespoke houses is most often exceptional enough to redefine the rather trivial concept of ‘customer service’ by propelling it to a level that I, for one, have never experienced elsewhere, even for much more expensive purchases (such as a vehicle or jewellery)”. In luxury or fashion brands stores, the same rule seem to apply. The client buying a suit has to experience the brand and be at-ease in the store he is in, in order to create a long-term relationship with him, thus ensuring his coming back regularly. In both cases, every client is unique (literally, as the products will be custom-made) and should be treated as such. Very often you will see clients being offered champagne or other refreshments, they will spend a long time discussing their needs. In the bespoke tradition, the client will have a long conversation with the master tailor so he can understand his way of life, and things such as what the client likes to carry in his pockets, what he intends to do with the suit, where and when does he intend to wear it, how often, on what occasions, etc. Once this conversation is over, the product has been spoken for and the measuring part can begin. In a made-to-measure or made-to-order approach, depending on the quality (and price) and reputation of the products and the brand or house, service will be also very important. What will differ is that the customer will be offered to choose between a range of pre-determined cloths, colors, buttons and shapes from a catalogue. Once he has made his choice, his measurements will be taken. In a more modern approach, luxury fashion brands will also offer snacks and beverages to the clients. However, the client will be discussing his needs and what he is looking for with a person from the sales team which will try to give an appropriate response to the customer’s demands be showing him the different products he or she believes could match his requirements. These products are created by a fashion designer or a design team and will simply be mended to the customer’s measures. As it is the case with CRM, the idea behind offering great service is to create a healthy longterm relationship with the customer. The client will enjoy coming back and buying more products from a tailor house that received him well, not to mention that the time spent with the tailor means that he knows best what the client wants for his future garments, and the pattern created for his first suit will enable a faster production of the next purchases 3.2. After-sales service and product care 9
Tailor houses are also a great example of after-sales service. True amateurs of high-quality costumes will always say the same thing: dry cleaning is not an option for such beautiful garments, as it damages the fabric with strong chemical components. Instead, the suit should be cleaned and ironed with care by an experimented tailor. The acceptable rule on the Row is that a suit should be cleaned once a year, by and only by the house which put it together and thus knows the product in its every detail. A great example to illustrate this is product care at Savile Row’s Anderson & Sheppard. Leon Powell, in charge of the house’s product care service, explains that “although the service is not free, our usual customers know very well that in addition to classical product care, we take the time to check everything on the suit: reinforcing the buttons, checking the sewings, etc.” Each suit brought back to its house of origin is brought back to life with incredible care. Prices for such services are, however, only given to customers.
3.3. The tailor’s tools The tailor profession is deeply anchored in the public’s mind, and among the usual clichés one sees when picturing a tailor are his tools. The needles, which need to be particularly fine for delicate and precise work, and the scissors, long and heavy in order to cut through thick cloths. The chalk with which he draws the lines and crosses on the fabric to indicate where to cut and where to sew and the iron, very heavy (from seven to ten kilos), used to crush the edges and shape the vest and pants. The thimble, which, contrarily to the dress-maker’s thimble, has an open-end so he can push the needle through thick layers with his middle-finger. Among the less famous tools (yet genuinely important) are the half-moon, which allows the tailor to shape up the chest, the sleeve board, used to iron the narrow parts and the stamp, which is also used to shape the chest. Lastly, the basting thread is a very thick and strong thread used to sew the different parts together.
3.4 The different professions Tailoring requires such important know-how that a large number of stages and variety of skills are required. Eight separate professions can be found within a tailor house. First, of course, is the tailor himself. Tailors can be ranked differently, the master tailor being the one in charge, the person who meets and measures important customers, and the person who decides of the general design of the products. He helps customers pick the fabrics and 10
choose between shapes, takes the measurements and runs the different fittings. He coordinates the fabrication of the clothes and distributes the different tasks among his staff. The cutter is also a ranked profession, with a strong tradition of apprenticeship and master cutters being most respected within the workshops. From the measurements he obtained through the tailor, he designs, draws and cuts the patterns. To do so, he is helped by models which will help him cut the clothes’ different pieces. He is also the one who adjusts the patterns of regular clients whose morphology would have changed (weight gain, for example). The finisher is in charge of preparing the necessary supplies to produce the clothes, i.e. pockets bags, linings, buttons. He then sends his work to either the apiéceur, the culottier or the giletier. The apiéceur will deal with the assembling and shaping of the jacket and. He will be the one preparing the different steps of productions: first fitting (one canvas), second fitting (collar and sleeves included), third fitting (finishing touch on the jacket). The putting together of the sleeves is the most delicate step. He can either work at the tailor house or from home. Both the culottier and the giletier can also either work from home or at the tailor’s. The first assembles and shapes the trousers, while the other works on the vest in the case of a threepiece suit. The buttonholer creates, as per his name, the button slits on each product and sews the buttons at the very end of the production. Last but not least, the noiriste is specialized in confectioning formal and evening wear, such as what the French like to call smoking, the British dinner jacket, and Americans like to call tuxedo. I).4. The fabrication process 4.1 Measuring process The measuring process is key to the creation of a perfect garment, and takes weeks of practice to be fully mastered. The key elements that should be analysed and that are difficult to measure are the person’s stance, the shoulders’ slope, the shape of the torso, the shape of the belly area and the seat shape. In addition to these features, an average of 24 different measurements have to be taken, from neck to crotch, trouser’s outseam or half back length.
The fabrication process varies from one house to another. After reading documents provided by numerous tailoring houses explaining how they put together the bespoke suits. While 11
tailors like to promote that they need an average of 50 to 70 hours to create a bespoke garment, industry specialists - who prefer to remain anonymous - who work within tailor houses explained that once the pattern is made, it only takes 25 hours. The 50 hours claimed by tailor houses are only in the case of a first-made suit. Here is a simplified and englobing version of the fabrication process of a bespoke suit. 4.2. Pattern Cutting: firstly, the client with the help of the cutter selects the cloth from a range of over luxurious samples for their suit. Upon choosing the fabric, the particular style that the client desires is then discussed with the cutter who then will take the client’s own individual measurements. 4.3 Cloth cutting: after the paper pattern has been cut, it is then chalked around and the suit is cut by hand on the selected cloth. Extra cloth is left at certain seams (inlays) to allow for possible fluctuations in the client’s weight, thus enabling the suit to be altered, if required in the future 4.4. Trim: particular materials are then added to the suit i.e. natural wool, canvasses, horse hair, and linen (trimming). These are used within the construction of the garment to give the suit its silhouette. 4.5 Putting together: the garment is then assigned to a particular tailor where it is canvassed by hand and readied for the first fitting. the selected tailor will then stay with the client during their time as a customer thus giving consistency to the feel and look of all the customer’s future garments. 4.6. First fitting: during the first fitting the garment is fitted by the highly trained cutter. The cutter then starts to alter the suit to the client’s posture. 4.7 Marking up: after the first fitting the garment is then completely taken apart and re-cut and given back to the tailor to be prepared for the next fitting. 4.8. Second fitting (up to 5 fittings): the next fitting is where previous alterations and amendments are refined as to give the suit its exceptional fit and comfort. the suit is checked over for break over shoe, sea of trouser and drape. 4.9. Button hole: after the final alterations have been made, a tailor will hand-make the buttonholes and hand finish the suit inside and out using fine hand silks, thus giving the suit pure natural fibers and lasting finish. 4.91 Precisions While this applies to Bespoke clothing, the fabrication process for made to measure can vary. The most common approach among luxury ready-to-wear brands is to take the clients 12
measurements in store and to send the product to be mended by a specialized firm located elsewhere. The location can vary from the same country (e.g. Gucci in Italy) or to countries where labour costs tend to be lower i.e. some brands, albeit luxury brands, are thought to be sending their products to be mended in China in order to have lower costs. However, a list of these brands is nearly impossible to find as they would - understandably - like to maintain this a secret. When industrially cut or mended, the products can be either laser-cut, then hand-stitched or sewn by automated machines. As explained by Paris-based tailor Gérard Sené in Dandy Magazine (2005), there is also the option of thermobonding to iron-on the different parts of the product. Although he does not use it himself, he says thermobonding has changed a lot compared to what it was fifteen years ago and it is now a suitable option for tailoring. In fact, according to him, the young generation has an eye for detail: the thick lapels, thick canvas mounts do not suit them; they want lightness and flexibility, a somehow practical product, clothes that do not wrinkle. “Today, we master these techniques perfectly and managed to do absolutely sublime clothes. Traditionalists haven’t paid attention to all these people and all these niches at first, [and today] the ‘fashionists’ have become incredibly important - they sell millions of suits across the world and all of them have in common a certain type of fabrication.” Evidently, this is a sacrilege which would certainly hurt the hears of true bespoke amateurs, yet it is the reality of the market: cutting off production costs, increasing productivity yet being able to promote a custom-made product. It could be argued that such products can actually be considered as ready-to-wear , since they could be purchased the way they are presented, they are just a model adapted to the client’s measures. Unlike bespoke products which, same as haute couture for women, are the result of years of training, products that only human hands can create: if haute couture deserves its own week and organization, should traditional tailors be entitled to one as well? The key issue is that in Haute Couture, style changes every season, while in tailoring, it only changes according to the consumer’s wants and needs. Society and market changes have brought tailoring to an evolved form. The next part of this document will describe the evolution of tailoring and bring elements of response to the few questions that started to come out of the previous reflection.
I).5. The evolution of tailoring 5.1. Tailoring in England 13
The British changed their decorative and delicate court style to adopt more practical garments. The costume of the aristocracy and the newly rich mercantile class progressively became less extravagant during the 18th century, and quite more somber and sober. In the early years of the 19th century, sobriety reached even to the court circle itself and the royalty dressed in a manner almost identical to the rest of the lower classes. By the beginning of the 1950’s, the age of stovepipe hats, umbrellas, and frock coats, so typical of British style, was firmly in place. British tailors, particularly those in London, started to impose their style on European fashion. For years, they were trained to use wool as their fabric of choice and experimented to develop techniques for adapting the cloth as close to the body while correcting the body shape of the wearer. The tailor could now basically develop a new aesthetic of dress by mimicking the real body and improving it at the same time. Men became Gentlemen (a term coined in the 19th century) and frowned upon extravagance in favor of discretion, simplicity and the perfection of cut. Modern dressing was, in the end, the epitome of modernity in England.
5.1.1. History of Savile Row Located in the Mayfair area of London, Savile Row has been the historical street for men tailoring for over two centuries. It is the area that has always put London, in many people’s mind (except Americans who, for the major part, seem to believe italian craftsmanship to be the reference), as the world capital for menswear. The history of Savile Row started with the first Count of Burlington, sir Richard Boyle, who bought a house from poet sir John Denham. In 1718, the third count of Burlington initiated the building of the Burlington House, a neo-Palladian palace inspired by his journey through Europe. The street we know today as Savile Row (named after lady Dothy Savile, the count’s wife), was created over the orchards behind the palace which is today house to the Royal Academy of Arts. Until the end of the 18th century, Savile Row was already home to few tailor houses which were however situated only on the left side of the street, with the famous Gieves & Hawes at 1, Savile Row. The left side of the street was still part of the gardens of Queensberry. It is only after 1848 that tailors started to move progressively into Savile Row, formerly settled in surrounding streets such as SackVille Street, Cork Street, Conduit Street, Hanover Street, Princes Street, Bond Street and Maddox streets. In the year 1848, Henry Poole marked the history of the Row’s bespoke tailoring. Poole decided to convert the old building he inherited two years earlier from his dade into a sumptuous exhibition salon. This 14
salon, formerly turning its back to the Row, was now facing the street and was accessible from 32, Savile Row. And this is how Poole obtained the honorary title of “founder of Savile Row”. In 1951, Henry Poole’s and Co’s large façade was extended from n°36 to n°39. Outside of London can also be found an estimate 100 bespoke tailors across the United Kingdom.
5.1.2. Disrupting the order On the one hand, Savile Row comes across as the most traditional example of British heritage. Yet, on the other hand, as modern British history has testified, may it be in Music, Arts or Politics, there has always been key actors trying to disrupt the established order. Among the most influential and one of the tailors who have marked Savile Row’s history is Tommy Nutter. Nutter was known as “the rebel on the Row”, was responsible for introducing fashion to the golden mile of traditional tailoring. It was the first firm to dress women as well as men. He made suits for numerous members of British rock aristocracy, including Eric Clapton, Elton John, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones, yet his proudest boast was that he dressed the Beatles for the iconic Abbey road album cover. He is also famous for dressing Mick and Bianca Jagger on their wedding day. As mentioned in Dazed & Confused piece on Tommy Nutter, according to Mason, Tommy Nutter created “the most copied suit in fashion history: the three piece ensemble photographed on Bianca -Jagger - as she was strolling through Heathrow Airport wearing a bowler hat and carrying a cane.3” Tommy Nutter’s influence can still be felt today on a variety of levels. Former Gucci artistic director Tom Ford often mentions the Savile Row rebel as a key influence, and his typically wide lapels are thought to have been borrowed from Nutter. In the 1990’s, another new-comer on the Row made a strong impression and positioned himself as a disruptive designer on the traditionalist area. Ozwald Boateng was, to start with, the first black - of Ghanian descent - tailor to become famous. His style was also very different from what was offered on the Row at the time. Boateng offered ready-to-wear as well as bespoke services, in a range of bright color and printed fabrics unheard of before in the little world of Savile Row. Very denigrated at first by his fellow tailors, Boateng was quickly brought to success thanks to a young wealthy clientele looking for innovative,
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Annex 1 15
custom-made designs: the newly-rich white-collar from the City, London’s booming financial district.
5.1.3. New establishment In the mid-90’s, besides the few outsiders we mentioned earlier, things weren’t looking too peachy for Savile Row. High-end designer labels were slowly nibbling away at the storied street’s market, with Giorgi Armani furiously branding the whole affair “a comedy, a melodrama stuck in the past” as he prepared to launch his own custom tailoring service, and Tom Ford bemoaning its “lack of romance; you get sat in a grimy little room and nobody brings you coffee, let alone a Martini4.” The general sentiment was increasingly palpable: the Row was crippingly unable to keep up with contemporay tastes - and rents. As explained by London-based real estate agent Mike Jones to the International Herald Tribune (2006), “among the greatest problems the businesses face (...) are rents, which on Savile Row have risen an average of 57 percent over the past 10 years”. With powerful international brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch starting to invest in the area, it seems rent prices can only go up. But the New Establishment, with tailors such as Richard James, Timothy Everest, and more recently Thom Sweeney, Cad and the Dandies, Norton & Sons (along with E. Tautz) have managed to bring some life back into the Row with a younger approach to tailoring, which lead to a younger clientele coming to the neighbourhood. It is true that Savile Row seems a lot more positive than a few years back. With Richard James loudly trumpeting a turnaround in profits to trade journal WWD (May 2010), and the activities of the Savile Row Bespoke Association (formed in 2004 to fight against the Row’s potential obsolescence) nourishing a sense of community and helping to address the industry’s overriding problem - a shortage of skilled workers - with various initiatives and sponsorships including an official award for apprentices.
5.2. Tailoring in Italy Although its roots are fundamentally English, tailoring has always been key to Italian fashion. The sartorial custom dates back to the early 19th century when the tailors of Naples served the Bourbon monarchy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Most Italians say that the best tailors today still come from Naples or Sicily. The designer Antonio Fusco, who comes closest to
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Man About Town, Autumn/Winter 2010 16
marrying the artisan tradition to an industrial structure, was born in Naples, while Domenico Dolce of Dolce & Gabbana learned his craft as a child in his father's tailor shop in Sicily. One of the first renowned houses in Italy was Castangia, which opened in 1850, before the country’s unification. It successfully entered the market of personal tailoring and today still is an exclusive brand. Somma Spa, which started in 1865, is also a well-known Italian tailor with century-old traditional know-how.
At the time, the wealthy Italian customers of personal tailoring were still going to Savile Row, because in spite of its very good craftsmanship, the image of Italian tailoring was rather sleazy, often associated with shiny fabrics and skinny fits, worn by rather extravagant individuals. Things started to change with the arrival of Ermenegildo Zegna which opened a textile school in 1910, in Biella, followed two decades later by the opening of a successful textile factory.
During the same epoch, Domenico Caraceni opened his sartorias which have now become some of the most celebrated houses for Italian tailoring. By the 1930’s, Italian tailors started to gain greater respect, which further improved with the opening of the Canali tailor house. Canali was renowned for precise cutting, a heavily canvased construction, collars rolled by hand and hand-mounted sleeves, putting Canali at the top of Italian men’s quality suit-makers. Other names make for Italian tailoring history, with for instance Vincenzo Attolini, inventor of the boat pocket and the closed sleeve. Corneliani also emerged in this decade. Not only was the Italian suit to stay, it was here to rule. An even better turn of events for Italian tailoring after World War Two was the entrance of Ermenegildo Zegna in the suit-making market. By the end of the war, master tailor Nazareno Fonticoli (trained in Savile Row) decided to launch Atelier Brioni with Gaetano Savini. Brioni did no less than revolutionise the world of tailoring by showing their collections on runways in 1952, and quickly imposing the firm’s products on the American market, starting with New York. Italian tailoring grew faster and bigger than in France or Great-Britain, and new renowned houses came to life with Kiton in 1956, which has since become a historical brand in the ready-to-wear suit market. Another brand was Armani, launched in 1975 with a very particular style: lowever-buttoned, unstructured jackets popularized by Richard Gere in American Gigolo in 1980.
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In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a moment when Hollywood invaded Italy and the Roman tailors Brioni, Carlo Palazi and Bruno de Angelis flourished, dressing such movie stars as Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable and Tyrone Power. But when the movie business fizzled, so did the custom clientele. Industrially produced clothing, and the growth of fashion as big business, took hold in the 1970s and eventually Today, Italian suits come with a long heritage of illustrious creators and the Made in Italy label on a suit is globally perceived as a guarantee of quality and fit. brought about the rise of designers like Armani, Gianni Versace and Gianfranco Ferre. Therefore, Italian fashion houses with a tailoring heritage are among the most successful in the world: Kiton, in Naples, Brioni in Rome and, Ermenegildo Zegna in Milan, and, most successful of all, Giorgio Armani. Gucci, under the impulse of former artistic director Tom Ford, also successfully launched a bespoke and made-to-measure offer for extremely wealthy customers. The impact of Giorgi Armani, who managed to blend tailoring and fashion, is undeniable. The man is now head of a fashion empire which was firstly built on tailoring. According to Savile Row tailor Richard James, "before Armani, people thought of England as the epitome of tailoring, and then Armani stole the spotlight. Suddenly, Italian was glamorous and English was fuddy-duddy." In the 20 years since Armani became a household word, the whole world has come to associate Italian-tailored clothing with luxury, quality and style. In Italy, the tailoring tradition is not centered on one specific area or city, but it is made of a multitude of workshops, some - quite - larger than others, spread across the country. Each city has its own approach to style and details, the most famous example being Naples, where the smoothly falling, unpadded shoulders can instantly be recognised by expert eyes, whereas the Roman shoulder known as con rollino is a completely different, rolled up shoulder. Maurizio Marinella, of necktie company E. Marinella, explains that “Naples, in its backwardness perhaps, compared to many other cities such as New York, London or Paris has maintained a spray of many small craft workshops". With its old-fashion charm, Naples also has maintained an old way of doing business. While the industry has moved up north or towards central Italy, the roots of sartorial art are still base in Naples. The key tailoring cities are Milan, Rome and Naples, as well as Florence and the regions of Sicily and Sardegna. 18
5.3. Tailoring in France Historically, London has, for as long as modern history goes, been the capital of menswear, while Paris was always more oriented towards women’s fashion. Yet France has grown a strong culture of made-to-measure, with still a rather long list of famous tailors. Tailoring in France often goes hand in hand with politics and a sense of bourgeoisie similar to what could be observed in the United Kingdom. As mentioned by medievalist Sophie Cassagnes-Brouquet 5 : "traditionally, the tailor worked to order / on demand for a well-off clientele, nobles, bourgeois and the clergy. It is not until the 13th century dans the development of cities that we saw the profession grow. Fabric remained an expensive product and most people bought second-hand clothing. Until the end of the XVIIIth century, Frenchmen had a very personal tailoring style, which progressively merged with British style with what some like to call “anglomania”, and, as expressed by French author Honoré de Balzac, “before the drape won against the silk”6, referring to the traditionally thick woolen fabrics used by the British being preferred to the refined silk previously used in french tailoring. In France, made-to-measure tailoring could be separated into three different sections: luxury fashion houses with menswear lines which also specialize in tailor-made products; traditional, often historical tailor houses, and business-oriented industrial made-to-measure stores which tend to offer more affordable products for bargain seekers. Within the first category lie among what France counts of most luxurious and famous brands, often members of the Comité Colbert: Lanvin, Dior and Hermès for instance all offer tailormade products for selected clients in only a handful of retail locations. Lanvin is the only fahsion house with genuine in-store grande mesure craftsmanship, while Dior only offers made-to-measure and Hermès outsources its grande mesure production in Italy. The second category regroups many famous names in French tailoring e.g. Francesco Smalto, Camps de Luca, Arnys, Cifonelli, all of them based in Paris as the country is known for having its political and economic power centered in the capital city. In France, tailoring is considered as a métier d’art : a tailor’s work is a work of art which should be protected in order to remain in the country’s patrimony for the years to come.
5
Métiers d’Arts n°250, Avril 2010
6
Arnys et le Style Français (21/05/2010), LeChouanDesVilles.over-blog.com 19
The history of tailoring in France could not be told without mentioning Arnys, the first tailor (and one of the first clothing stores) to settle down on the left bank, on the Boulevard SaintGermain. According the the Figaro, one of the reasons to Arnys’s success comes from its proximity to the Lipp brasserie, further down on the Boulevard. “Arnys (...) is a place of odd encounters. One can come accross socialist MP Pierre Moscovici as much as on the Prince heir of Thailand. In the Early months of 2013, LVMH-owned Berluti bought over the store in order to create a Berluti store. However, Berluti has decided to keep the staff and maintain the tailoring services at Arnys; this example will be developed later on in order to underline the new interest of luxury giants into traditional tailoring. The profession counts a lot of immigrants: Armenians, Spanish, Jewish Poles and, mostly, Italians. Italian tailors who migrated to France in the early XIXth century have helped improve the reputation of French tailoring. Among the most famous, the Cifonelli family, who first settled in France in 19267, and Francesco Smalto, who arrived in France in 1962 and grew as one of the most important tailors in France. Dozens of stories involving politics or celebrities have been happening along with the evolution of these tailors. About Cifonelli, for instance, french newspaper Le Figaro tells the story of April 28th, 1988, a few days before François Mitterand’s re-election as French president : “Antenne 2 broadcast live the debate between Mitterand and his rival Jacques Chirac. A refined aesthete notices a common point to the two candidates: their Cifonelli-branded suits. In the 1950’s, the unstoppable growth of ready-to-wear started. Consequently, French law decided to intervene in order to protect the term tailor against abusive use. The Groupe des Cinq protests for a masculine haute couture and thus start presenting two collections each year. Among them, Spanish tailor Camps and Italian tailor De Luca from the house Camps de Luca. The house educated hundreds of young men to the art of tailoring: among them, Francesco Smalto, Claude Rousseau and Gabriel Gonzales perfected their craftsmanship and later brought up their own businesses. Among the biggest hits on the tailoring industry was the creation of the Pierre Cardin jacket. Cardin, at the time precursor of ready-to-wear, did no less of a small revolution with his double-slitted jacket which marked the end of an era dominated by personal tailoring.
7
http://www.cifonelli.com/Histoire.html 20
Today however, the regain of interest in France towards custom-made garments can be noticed as in other developed countries, with French houses gaining new, younger customers looking for a way back into their history.
5.4. Tailoring in the United States In the United States, tailoring is a history of being influence and influencing back. As for many cultural aspects of American culture, in a first time, anglo-saxon and european influences were undeniable, while in a second time, the American cultural machine transforms it and re-appropriate the culture to, at their turn, culturally influence a large part of the world. The country counts several traditional tailors of anglo-saxon influence, notably in New York and Chicago, as well as international and American-grown luxury brands - with or without a tailoring background - offering custom tailor services. A mere google search for ‘Chicago bespoke tailors’ or ‘New York custom tailors’ gives dozens of results and addresses for stores promising the perfectly fitting suit. Traditional bespoke tailors can be found all over the country with a particular concentration in New York and Chicago where anglo-saxon influence is the strongest. Nowadays, most of the tailors from the CTDA (Custom Tailors and Designers Association) create garments with a strong British heritage, while thirty years ago the majority of tailors where inspired by the Italian style. Two particular names come to mind when thinking of American tailoring, and both have a strong international resonance: Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren. Brooks Brothers is famous for dressing several different American presidents, among which John Kennedy, but also Barack Obama more recently. Their most famous creation and typically American garment is the sack suit, characterized by the larger size of the armholes and a more flowing garment due to little us of canvas mounting. Brooks Brothers today offers made-to-measure services in the majority of its flagship stores across the United States, Europe and Asia. Ralph Lauren has managed promote to the world a style that is so typical of east-coast American bourgeoisie from the Hampton's. With their Purple Label, Ralph Lauren offer a range of made-to-measure suits with a strong Savile Row inspiration combined with the relaxed attitude typically American. Furthermore, both Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren are famous for being among the leading ambassadors of the Ivy League style of students from the
21
most prestigious universities across the country, among which Harvard, Princeton and Stanford.
Additional significant countries
5.5.1 Japan In Japan, strong social and workplace norms resulted in a very prominent suit culture, with the figure of the suit-and-tie japanese salary man, often mocked by younger generations, but still deeply anchored in Japanese collective norms. On the one hand, the japanese have a history of tailoring with their very own and precise techniques (as for many crafts in a country that only opened up to the world starting from the 1950’s) and on the other hand, a strong appeal towards Western traditions as it can be seen with the incredible success of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton in the country. It is thus no surprise that British embassy in Tokyo welcomed a exclusive exhibition on British tailoring craftsmanship organised by Savile Row-expert James Sherwood with the help of Anderson & Sheppard. In the West, personal tailoring has turned into an exclusive privilege of the upper classes, while in Japan, middle-class workers can sill find affordable local quality suit-makers. At the beginning of the 1900’s, a broad majority of Japanese suits were custom-made, and the less fortunate ones wore the same suit every day. In Japanese culture, tailoring had such an important place that off-the-peg suits were unthinkable until the 1960‘s when a shift in attitudes started to take place due to the development of local fashion brands with a nation-wide influence. Today, as in many developed countries, a majority of Japanese men wear ready-to-wear suits from such stores as Aoyama and Aoki. However, Tokyo is still home to hundreds of local, traditional tailors. Department stores remain key locations for tailor-made suits, which will be developed further into this document with the example of Isetan. 5.5.2 Hong Kong When the British occupiers of Hong Kong learned of the artistic skills of Chinese tailors, they began to teach them the art of British custom tailoring. When the British started to occupy 22
Hong Kong, they discovered the Chinese tailors’ wide array of skills, in addition to which they taught them the craftsmanship related to British bespoke tailoring. Today Hong Kong is a great center for custom tailoring. Hong Kong tailoring is a blend of British style and tailoring skills mixed with the artistry and hard work of Chinese tailors and the low price of labour so typical of Asian countries. Before becoming the giant capitalistic city that we know, Hong Kong was the city of penniless refugees whose only hope for advancement came from traditional skills, among which tailoring. The city is home to a large number of Indian and Pakistani renowned bespoke tailors, and a lot of the remaining tailors in Hong Kong are simple providers of what is commonly called “24-hour suits”, mostly for tourists with limited time who want to be measured and be able to pick up their suit the day after before boarding their plane back home. Hong Kong, along with China and India, have also become a great place for Western brands sometimes just take the measurements of the clients and have the products made halfway across the world for cheaper production costs. Nevertheless, some of the world’s most renowned tailors still exist in Hong Kong. For instance, Raja Fashions, celebrated as the “scourge of Savile Row”8 by publications ranging from The Spectator to the Washington post, via the Times of India. The owner, Raja Daswani, is a charismatic third-generation millionaire tailor from Hong Kong who is, according to him, “on a mission to rescue the badly dressed and overpaying British customer”. With its close and accessible network to the exquisite fabrics of the Far East, this house offers a Savile Row experience overseas. With bookings being made up to three months in advance, the house boasts an international clientele. Hong Kong tailors are also quite famous for traveling to Europe and the United States, staying in different hotels and receiving customers to take their orders which then are produced in Hong Kong and sent back to the customer. The drawback in this case is that no fitting can be made, and the only option for alteration is to send the product back with one’s own recommendations. In the end, tailoring seems to be made of two key elements : a successful blend of British and Cantonese craftsmanship and materials, combined with cheaper labour, hence lower prices.
8
The Top 10 Tailors | Insignia, http://www.insignia.co/voice-of-luxury/insignia-top10/the-top-10-tailors/ (accessed May 12, 2013). 23
5.5.3 Singapore The history behind Singapore’s tailoring tradition is in many way similar to Hong Kong’s with a blend of European and mostly British and South-East Asian and Chinese traditions.
5.5.4 China In China, Shanghai in the 1930’s was sometimes referred to as the “Paris of the East” and was famous for the great craftsmanship of its Chinese tailors. Many of these tailors fled to Hong Kong before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Along with the country’s economic reforms in the late 1970‘s, as well as with the fast-paced growth of its luxury market in recent years, the demand for tailor-made products skyrocketed. Today, tailoring and bespoke fashion are roaring back to life in China. In Beijing, the business has also experienced an increase in demand. Guo Pei, a local tailor, explains to China Daily that he “didn’t feel the pinch during last year’s (2008) economic turmoil. The business increase by 30 percent year on year in 2008. A new social class of nouveaux riches with specific luxury tastes have been fuelling this growing demand for high craftsmanship products. It has been observed with watches, haute couture and, now, luxury menswear. Most decent-sized cities throughout China can be expected to have several skilled tailors with access to good quality raw materials.
5.5.5 Germany Tailoring tradition is also present in Germany where the Cameron Buchanan, managing director of Harrisons of Edinburgh, explains to the Financial Times that “the centre of tailoring has shifted from Munich to Düsseldorf, where the likes of Radermacher and Westhoff are among the top names. Düsseldorf is a a good centre for bespoke tailoring because it has a high concentration of Japanese businessmen”, emphasizing once again the appeal of japanese people towards European craftsmanship. Hugo Boss is not to be forgotten, with a very strong tailoring background and a worldwide influence. Hugo Boss specialise in made-to-measure with their Selection line, the production of which is outsourced in Italy.
5.5.6 Other european countries Austria is home to several historical tailor houses such as Blecha, Knize or Niedersuess in Vienna. Scandinavian countries are not left apart with for instance Sweden, that counts 24
several Savile Row-trained tailors among which Bauer, founded in 1863 in Stockholm, Denmark with Peter Undén, Ben Wennerwald and Tobias Enk in Copenhagen and Norway with Heitmann & Henriksen in Oslo.
5.5.7 India and Pakistan India and Pakistan are immense resources for skilled tailors who emigrate throughout the world, in the US, in Europe, in Australia as well as in touristic places in South-East Asia such as Thailand and Hong Kong. With the quick growth of the luxury market in India, it is likely that Indian tailors that emigrated will go back to their country to practice their art as Chinese tailors in Hong Kong have done in recent years. Last but not least, Australia is also home for traditional bespoke tailors with an anglo-saxon background inherited from British colonisation. J.H. Cutley in Sydney is one of the tailors with the best reputation in the country. Australia is also celebrated for its raw material, merino wool in particular, with Italian brands Ermenegildo Zegna throwing a Wool Trophy every year.
5.5.8 Precisions In fact, practically every capital city in Europe can flaunt at least one traditional bespoke tailor, and so can many of the emerging countries such as Brazil, Mexico or South Korea. The idea in this document is to provide a glimpse into the global state of the market in the world, an exhaustive list would require a more detailed and less analytical approach of the topic. I).6. Styles in Tailoring Different types of shapes and designs in tailoring are often referred to as styles. The most famous styles being British, Italian, American and French.
6.1 British Style British design is recognizable by their use of heavier fabric e.g. tweeds and scottish wool with only slightly padded shoulders. British style is thought to be more conservative and traditional and doesn’t often go far from the usual navy blues and blacks, although countryside outfits are often more elaborate and a bit more original. The quintessence of British style seems to be London and Savile Row, although tailors can be found throughout the United Kingdom, the most renowned houses are to be found in London. 25
6.2. Italian style The Italian designs are characterized by their use of lighter fabrics, mostly due to the warmer weather compared to their fellow european countries with colder climates. The Italians entitle themselves to create bolder designs with larger shoulders to emphasize the manliness of the men who wear them. The tradition of sartorialismo and sprezattura (defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “studied carelessness”, a typically italian nonchalance) in Italy are strong components of the country’s culture. The italian silhouette, as much as it has evolved through the decades, has always been more extravagant and tended to be more close to the body, with a narrow waist, over compensated by a large shoulder area.
6.3. The constant opposition between Britain and Italy British and Italian tailors have always maintained a love-hate relationship and every decade or so, one style becomes more prominently fashionable than the other. Lucio Nigro, head of Naples-based tailor Sartorio, describes savile row as “inward-looking, too stuck to the past and to its conventions”, while explaining that “people do not change their suit three times a day anymore, or wear smoking jackets. They want a lightweight comfortable suit which they can wear all day 9.” Besides the details (lighter or thicker fabric, padded or unpadded shoulders, etc.) the difference between the two revolve around a certain idea of the lifestyle: while the Italians see the suit as a clothing to put oneself at light and something comfortable for a day-long use, British tradition sees suits as a “Modern Day armour: it's hardly protecting, but it's something you feel comfortable in and you can fight the world in” as London-based tailor Charlie Allen puts it10 . Enthusiasts of Italian tailoring also like to point to the fact that James Bond, the ultimate British cliché known worldwide, does not wear suits made in Britain, but made by Brioni, the Italian tailor from the Abruzzi region. 6.4 American style American tailoring has been highly influenced by British tradition, yet it has grown an identity of its own. For example, the sack suit, created in the country, has been a success 9
British tweed suits the Italians - Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1539297/ British-tweed-suits-the-Italia ns.html (accessed May 12, 2013). 10
BBC 4 - The Perfect Suit, directed by James Sherwood (2010) 26
throughout the world. The Ivy League style of students and alumni from the most renowned American Universities e.g. Harvard, Stanford, Princeton is also specific to the American style in terms of suiting. As for bespoke and made-to-measure per se, such brands as Ralph Lauren with its Purple Label and Tom Ford’s bespoke services would be the key actors in terms of American style influence worldwide. There is also a strong community of traditional bespoke tailors in Manhattan, New York that Wall Street’s and Business lawyers’ favorites. The influence of immigrant Italian tailor on American style is undeniable. In US public imagination, Italian is synonymous with quality and style, fashionability and high luxury. Today, many high street ready-to-wear brands such as Gant with their Rugger line or J Crew revisit this American style in their collections.
6.4. French style French tailoring style is more understated, discreet. Always very luxurious, it shall not be too obviously so. French bespoke (grand mesure) tradition is considered as the equivalent to women’s haute couture: unique pieces created for only a handful of selected and selective customers. In terms of colors, French tailored suits are more often in ranges of light grey and navy blue colors. The French style in tailoring has been influenced from all over Europe: Jewish tailors from Austria, Italian and Spanish tailors emigrating to the country. There doesn’t seem to be a French style as well defined as the British and Italian styles, yet France is always referred to as one of the four important countries in tailoring. French tailoring is often defined by the word chic, which is among the French words although its roots are German - that have been quite successful linguistically around the world. Chic actually means more than the simple idea of French art of the living. As Hugo Jacomet explains it in the Parisian Gentleman, “it can be argued that French chic stand in the middle road between English austerity and Italian exuberance. Chic is a mix of natural quality and an eye for detail, and its stance if a form of conventional eccentricity.”
6.5. Details A popular saying states that style is in the details. In tailoring more than in any other area of the fashion world, details make a suit and can sometimes justify hundreds to thousands euros of price difference. Key details on a suit are: the lapels, the shoulders, the pockets, the buttonholes, the lining, the vents, and the thickness of the fabric. 27
6.5.1. Shoulders As far as shoulders are concerned the key difference is between the heavily padded British shoulder, and the light, slightly padded or unpadded Italian, or Neapolitan shoulder. Different variations of shoulder styles can be found, with for instance the Roman con rollino and the Neapolitan spalla camicia11 (meaning the sleeve falls on the shoulder as a shirt would). Some tailor huoses have their very own shoulder style, such as Cifonelli in Paris or Anderson & Sheppard in London.
6.5.2. Lapels Three key variable apply to the lapels: - their width, with a current trend in ready-to-wear for narrow lapels while designers such as Tom Ford opt out for wider ones - their shape, with three key variations : peak, notched or shawl (collar). While peak lapels are traditionally used for double-breasted suits, they are starting to be used more regularly for simple two or three-buttons suits. A shawl collar is almost exclusively used for evening wear such as smoking jackets, or as Americans like to call them, tuxedos.12 - their height: a lapel can be placed at different levels on the jacket. Usually, a standard height for the lapel is starting under the front top pocket to end under the shoulder, yet innovative designers such as Ozwald Boateng like to place it higher, almost at shoulder-level.
6.5.3. Buttonholes Among the buttonholes, the most commonly used and appreciated is the milanese buttonhole 13with
a side that is slightly rounded and wider. Besides their place on sleeves (there can be
between one and six buttons on a sleeve), buttonholes are also often placed on the left lapel and can be done in a contrasting color.
6.5.4. Pockets The list of available pockets is long : inside pockets, front pockets, trousers back and front pockets... and the number of possibilities is almost endless. For trousers, options include 11
Annexes 2 and 3
12
Annex 4
13
Annex 5 28
flaps, buttoned flaps, no flaps with buttons, slit pockets, buttons and zips for the fly, etc. Concerning the jackets, options include jetted pocket with flap for a lounge suit, jetted pocket with no flap for a dinner jacket, patched pocket for a sports jacket, inside pockets, etc. The key elements14 that vary from the pocket is the possibility to choose them with or without flap, to choose their size and the number of pockets available, with for example a small pocket used for currency notes, called the ticket pocket, and, in recent years, a new trend appeared for inside pockets made to the size of a cellphone. Pockets can dramatically impact on the visual aspect of the suit and the shape of the trousers.
6.5.5. Lining The list of possibilities for lining is only as long as the list of available fabrics. Usually in silk, lining can be of any color although traditionally the color should not be too contrasted with either a different shade of the same color or a blending color. In more innovative designs, printed lining can appear on jackets; British designer Paul Smith is famous for that. Many houses also offer a personalised lining, with the incrusted with the customer’s name.
6.5.6. Vents There are three main possibilities15 for vents, one middle vent, which is typical of American style, two side vents, preferred by British tailors, or no vents, often used on dinner jackets. The size of the vent is often decided by the tailor according to the height and waist size of the customer, and some houses are known for preferring longer vents.
6.5.7. Cloth Fabric thickness is expressed in µm (1000 micron = 1 millimeter) and fabric quality is expressed according to rather complicated codifications. Wool quality ranges from 80’s to 250’s. The finer the wool is, the bigger the number it is attributed will be. In short, these codes enable the customer and the tailor to know about: the quality of the wool and its thickness. Recently, a global trend has been to always find thinner fibers to create very light products. and show tailoring skills. However, tailors tend to dislike such products as they usually cannot ensure durability of the products and in the end, the tailors are often the ones being blamed.
14
Annex 6
15
Annex 7 29
Customers use catalogues to choose between often several hundreds of different cloths16.
II) Current development strategy in the tailoring sector II). 1. Consumer behaviour analysis 1.1. Categorizing personal tailoring among types of luxuries There is a variety of luxury products, from leather goods to watches through spirits and accommodation, and luxury can be sub-divided into four categories: exceptional luxury, prestige luxury, high luxury and affordable luxury. Bespoke and high-quality custom-made garments would sit into the category of exceptional luxury. In fact, prestige luxury refers to the notion of prestige which has more to do with actual branding and projected brand image than with quality and craftsmanship, more with the level of celebrity of a designer or a brand than with the actual skills of the person who created the product or service. Exceptional luxury revolves around the notion of a unique know-how, a localized and cultural craftsmanship which can be linked to a country e.g. French wines from the Bordeaux area. Historically, such products would have been created to the demand of members of the highest layers of the society and often were unique pieces for which the distinction between handicrafts and actual art was very thin. However, today’s growing demand for such products implies a multiplication of these products yet the fabrication process remains unchanged. As explained by French designer and marketing expert Gérard Caron and founder of the first Design-Marketing agency in France, “the best communication for this type of products remains word of mouth between insiders who share the hot spots between themselves 17”
1.2. Personal tailoring within Maslow’s hierarchy of needs If we wanted to place bespoke tailoring as a whole product category onto Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs18 it would sit into the two following levels: love and belonging as well as esteem and self-actualization. Firstly, resorting to bespoke or made-to-measure services lies in the category described by Maslow as love and belonging: a nice suit is purchased to look better, to be seen as more attractive, and, more importantly, to belong to an elite, to be taking part in something larger 16
Annex 8
17
Prodimarques.com, Magazine n°53 - Les marques de luxe, quel luxe ?
18
Annex 9 30
than oneself. In a way, it is similar to a school uniform for instance, it provides a sense of love and belonging by looking the same way as others. However, purchasing such a product is also often about buying a unique product, therefore putting the self over the rest of the crowd, this is why bespoke consumers can also be classified in the top level of the pyramid. Indeed, selfesteem and self-actualization are the key triggers to the purchase of a suit, and even more a tailor-made one. A suit in modern society is seen as the clearest form of professional power: a man who buys a bespoke suit wants to prove his success to himself and the world. Few things scream “I made it” like an expensive bespoke suit.
1.3. Influence of clothing on the cognitive process Clothing has a strong influence on the cognitive process. In an article published in the New York Times in 2012, researches came to the conclusion that clothes with a strong unconscious meaning strongly influence the person who wears it. For example, it has been observed that a person wearing a lab coat will focus more and succeed best at resolving maths problems than a person who is not wearing one, or a person who is wearing one but know it is not the coat of a scientist. The same experience could be applied to a suit or a bespoke suit. Would a man wearing the suit of a CEO be more organised and prone to giving orders? Would a man knowing that the suit is bespoke feel more powerful and behave in a more confident way? While this study proves the impact of certain clothes on the cognitive protest, a more relevant approach for tailored suits would be to see how they impact the behaviour of the person wearing them.
1.4. Consumer behavior: purchase triggers A fundamental question that should be raised when drawing an analysis of bespoke tailoring regards consumer behaviour: why do people purchase such products?
1.4.1 Morphology The first, most pragmatic reason is their morphology. People that have body shapes which do not match the ready-to-wear standards will turn towards made-to-measure and bespoke options. Such body features include too narrow or very large shoulders, a large waist, a round stomach area, unusual arm or leg length. What shall not be forgotten is the fact that men, a lot more often than women, look primarily for comfort and convenience. Therefore, a tailored suit appears as the utmost form of comfort 31
as it is made specifically with in mind the idea of allowing movement and facilitating everyday life.
1.4.2. Experience Another reason is service, and the search of a special experience. This notion would appeal to affluent, typical luxury consumers as well as aspirational consumers who want to dive into a world that is out of their reach. In fact tailoring services and more accessible made-tomeasure services have, as mentioned earlier, a reputation of exceptional service. Moreover, service is actually an essential variable in their business value. People come to tailors in the first place to be welcomed as VIP, to spend quality time and take as long as they want to select the fabric, discuss the design of their future costumes, etc. As mentioned by Michael Ivov, journalist at NY Magazine, “the astronomical price point and the preindustrial toil that justifies it - a typical custom suit takes 50 hours of highly skilled labor - appeal to three sorts of customers: the extremely wealthy, the status crazed, and those so minutely particular in their needs that no preexisting suit will do”. While referring to the two first reasons we developed earlier, he brings up another very important reason for which people turn to these products: status.
1.4.3. Social status In fact, the ultimate added-value of bespoke and custom-made products is that they are indicators of wealth and transcribe their owners’ status and means. For instance, wearing a Gieves & Hawkes suit means buying from the official providers of the British Royal Family. The author goes on explaining, always in his satirical tone, “the remaining two categories the rich and the wannabes - often simply replace label worship with tailor worship: in the Lehman Brothers hallways, Henry Poole must get named-dropped more often than Ben Bernanke (chairman of the US Federal Reserve). For this type of buyer, there are some easy signifiers of bespokeness, what (American author) Tom Wolfe calls “status details”. In this excerpt, he pins down quite accurately the status orientation of bespoke suits. In the current era, a lot of new wealth, since the 1980’s and the rise of American capitalism and the development of stock exchange trading throughout the world, comes from financial executives which famously work on Wall Street in New York. May it be in Oliver Stone’s eponymous movie or Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, the figure of the Wall Street trader 32
is always one of a reckless money shark who has to be as sharply dressed as he is important. Therefore, having a bespoke suit from Henry Poole, as he mentioned, or Ozwald Boateng more recently, Arnys in France or Armani in Italy (and the US, for that matter) has become indivisible from the trader’s image and almost a compulsory purchase to be taken seriously in this world. A high quality, tailor-made suit shall only be recognized by the peers of the man who wears it in order to be a valid status signal.
1.4.4. Fashionability and style Another aspect of tailoring that may sometimes be overlooked is fashionability. In fact, the suit, which for a generation seemed to be dull and reserved for the professional place, has been gaining new fashion credibility. Off-the-peg suits available from high-street retailers such as H&M, Zara and Topman testify of the renewal of interest suiting is benefiting from. Many times, such suits claim a tailoring inspiration, a tailored fit or tailor details. Some brands also use this trend to their benefit, with for instance French ready-to-wear brand The Kooples that launched a collaboration with Savile Row based Norton & Sons. It is these generations who currently buy ready-to-wear suits that may constitute the future of luxury tailoring. Although they cannot afford expensive garments at the moment, many young men try to bring elegance to their wardrobe by purchasing trendy off-the-peg suits themselves inspired by traditional tailoring. Last season, for instance, H&M offered a scottish-tweed blazer assembled in England for €150. The Savile Row label, as well as the terms tailoring and bespoke, have been much more in use in recent years with brands referring to their collections as Savile Row-inspired or their mass customisation offers as bespoke or made-to-measure products. In fact, this renewal of interest seems to be related to a larger international trend which is often related to as mass customisation, which will be analysed further in this document.
II).2. Customer segmentation
In a similar way as the global luxury industry, the important markets for tailoring revolves around the same countries, with an important customer-base in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, the United States, Japan and South-Korea, as well as wealthy middleeastern nations such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Dubai; and, of course, European countries, with large inner markets as well as a very important flow of tourists. 33
2.1 Current customer base The current clientele for tailoring is a blend between old bourgeoisie (from father to son), newly rich entrepreneurs and finance executives, progressively being joined by aspirational customers saving money for these particular products. Bespoke tailoring is really a niche market, some even like to call it an über or ultra-niche, while luxury brands’ and made-to-measure services appeal to a slightly broader audience, while remaining high priced. With prices starting around €3,000 for a bespoke suit, these houses have a clearly segmented target market: those who can afford it. Of course, some customers who will save money for several months will be able to afford a suit that they either buy for a special event or for collection purposes. As for many luxury brands, Pareto’s principle seems to apply: 20 percent of the customers will account for 80 percent of the firm’s turnover. 2.2. Growing demand from younger customers However, as Lorenzo Cifonelli, head of Parisian tailor house Cifonelli explains, “the times where a mere client would buy up to thirty costumes within a year are truly over.” Of course, each of the prestigious houses still count among their costumers one of these incredibly wealthy customers who have remained faithful to the brand. But the undeniable phenomenon is the atomisation and the rejuvenating of the clientèle for such products. Today, it is not a rare fact to see people in their thirties coming in to purchase their first bespoke or made-tomeasure suit of their lives. Another example, as mentioned earlier, Patrick Grant of Norton & Sons explained his first genuine clients started around 30 years old and from a wide array of professional sectors. 2.3. Men-driven luxury markets Another key aspect that should be taken into account when analysing this new clientele is the new customers coming from emerging countries such as India or China which, in addition, are known for being men-driven luxury markets. In fact, in China, men account for 55% of the country’s luxury goods market, well above the global average of 40 percent worldwide (CLSA research). The same applies to India with a prominent consumption of luxury goods being made by men. As stated by Jing Daily, “there are two major differences between the Chinese and foreign haute couture markets. In Europe and the US, 95 percent of customers are female, while in China, male and female make an equal number of purchases. The reason is that Chinese men are generally richer and more powerful, and expensive clothes are a 34
symbol of their social status.” In the article19, the author goes on explaining that “the other difference is that, in developed countries, bespoke tailoring caters only to the super rich. In China, the market is gradually shifting from the super rich to average citizens with decent incomes.” What happened to luxury watches and leather goods as well as cars and spirits to another extent seems to now be happening to menswear and tailoring in particular. Chinese consumers are slowly getting further involved in their quest for traditional authenticity and incredible craftsmanship, which is what they would find in Swiss-made watches, for instance. Yet the different corruption scandals for example, and the fact that a lot of Chinese and Indian newly rich men tend to flaunt their newly acquired, shiny products is pushing some other affluent consumers towards more understated luxury products. François Arpels of the Bryan Garnier Bank explains that “as for China - and India soon - the phenomenon observed in luxury watches a few years ago is starting to repeat with clothing, and more precisely with the suit, which, along with the car, is becoming the first signal of success. Just as the watch, the search for detail is almost maniac. This new clientele is looking for the excellence so typical of Western luxury brands.” Luxury tailoring brands and houses also seem to be acknowledging these new customers. Chinese luxury market is already being strongly used by Western luxury companies to expand their growth. In the tailoring sector, Gieves & Hawkes for instance is distributed in over 100 retail locations throughout China with the help of the Li & Fung group, and offer bespoke services in exclusive locations. However, the tailoring brands that seem to be doing the best abroad at the moment mostly come from Italy, led by Zegna and Armani who have been in China since the early 1990’s and offer su misura or alta misura services to wealthy Chinese consumers.
2.4. Italian brands in India Italian brands are keen on developing on the Indian markets, with Canali, Zegna and Brioni offering their made-to-measure personal tailoring services to a wealthy, privileged part of the population. By doing this, these brands are paving the way for sophisticated luxury menswear to develop in the country. Roasie Ahluwalia, marketing director at Genesis Luxury Fashion, which markets and distributes Canali in India explains that “about a fifth of our sales revenue is from tailored suits. There is a definite clientele for tailored suits in India who are willing to 19
http://www.jingdaily.com/in-china-bespoke-is-in/973/ 35
pay a little extra and can wait for their suits to be made according to personal preferences.", proving once again the global increase in demand and especially in these new countries where wealth is spreading at a very fast pace. A reason why Indians would be keener on buying Italian suits than British tailoring is because the Italians have mastered the art of creating clothes adapted to warm weathers, while British tailoring produces significantly thicker garments. Furthermore, people from India, as a former British colony, are unlikely to be willing to dress the way their former occupiers did. 2.5. Catering to new types of customers A new clientele means two things: new ways to cater to their needs product-wise, and new ways to reach them in terms of communication and marketing. Alain Stark, director of Stark & Sons describes his customer base as “essentially men who are obliged to dress well for their professional activities”, i.e. bankers, finance executives, politics, lawyers and clerks. Yet if the work-only function of the suit implies a certain conformism, clients of custom tailoring have been affected by the upheaval of masculine identity. “Until recently, the relationships to the body was really normed, it was barely put forward and there was no dimension of pleasure” , explains journalist Nicolas Riou (author of Why is my man that way?, educational books for women to understand men better). “And then, starting from the 1990’s, men started to look after themselves, to increase their clothing budget, to improve their range of accessories and to use beauty products.” The masculine wardrobe started to include bolder colors and more elaborate materials. On the catwalk, the slim fit silhouettes of Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme deeply impacted the masculine collective identity. However, the male customer still has a particular relationship with fashion and clothing, and tends to look for comfort and convenience over fashion and style. Men tend to be more down-to-earth and look for quality and durable products. Men are keen on knowing the rules and social norms among which they belong, yet they increasingly want to express their personality and differentiate themselves. This strong will of differentiation can be felt throughout the menswear segment of the fashion industry. Statistically, the sales part of suits among this particular segment only account for 6% (source: IFM 2009), against 10% ten years ago. Therefore, despite a clear renewal of interest, the particular suit product is in decline. For custom tailoring, the big question for traditional tailors seem to be how to accompany the profound mutation of the masculine clientele and its undeniable rejuvenation? Or, to be even more precise, how to facilitate the access to bespoke services to a clientele which, more often 36
than not, does not know the codes and often finds itself disarmed facing the endless possibilities offered by such services? A clear understanding between a tailor and his client is the key to a perfect product. It appears that the houses which will benefit the most from men’s the renewal of interest for traditional tailoring culture will be the ones who will manage to successfully blend the spirit of bespoke (each costume is a unique piece with its unique pattern) and the increasing need for advice of a new clientele looking for guidance and inspiration in the wonderful yet complex maze of elegance and personal style. In Paris, for instance, where very few brands offer bespoke services (besides Italian houses Cifonelli and Kiton, and a few tailors such as Smalto & Arnys, along with Lanvin, are among the rare actors of this small market), all of them highlight the international provenance of their clientele, dominated by customers from the Middle-East, Russia, Asia or Brazil. The french clients have become a minority. According to Jean-Marie Beucher, a tailor based in Angers, France, in Métiers d’Arts magazine, “It jumped over a generation. There is truly a future clientele”. More informed, the new generation has more precise demands. And although some tailors maintain that their art is above fashion and trends and is more about adapting to the clients’ desires, today’s men are thirsty for advice and style ideas. For instance, it is without a doubt what explains the success of the tight cuts and acid colors of Ozwald Boateng: the new men want to have a strong historical identity and learn the norms of society, or they want strong visual identity, highly stylized products with a designer touch. However, a large part of the male population seems to have lost touch with clothing, style and fashion concerns. In fact, a study realised by Style Pilot in 2011 shows that a 50% of men rely on the woman in their lives for their clothes. The study explains that men consider themselves busy with more important daily tasks, mostly pertaining to financial or professional affairs, and do not feel “in charge” of their appearance, even less of all of their personal style. This is why two men out of three rely entirely on the lady in their life to choose day wear, and 50% of them go as far as calling on to her for such things as tying the necktie. The study also shows that one of ten men gets shopping advice from his mother, and one out of six from his mother-in-law, which they explain by the mere facility and ease it brings them. Nevertheless, 20% of men admit that their style could use significant improvement, 12% that their lack of taste in clothing impedes their personal and professional life and 7% go as far as saying that they are uncomfortable in their clothing. All in all, what the study seems to be proving is that 37
many men wish to dress better, yet lack confidence in their own taste and thus lack education in the matter. It seems that during the generation gap mentioned earlier, a wide range of men have somehow lost interest in style matters.
II).3. The issue of the suit’s relevance in the workplace One of the reasons for these changes and distancing of men from fashion is the smart-butcasual revolution which seems to have been largely influenced by young American business men from the silicon valley. Often not wearing a tie, sometimes even only jeans and hoodies such as Facebook’s iconic founder Mark Zuckerberg, they are clearly not helping the case of suits and tailoring. They have contributed to dissociate the images of suit and success: you can now be a highly successful business man while dressing as you would do on a casual day, everyday. Such traditions such as dress-down or casual friday started to be implemented into corporate life, underlining once again the shift in mentality. However, such companies as JP Morgan have taken a step back and decided not to allow casual fridays anymore as the image projected by their employees in times of crisis were not politically correct. A new important tool for the education of these potential customer is Internet. The number of forum and specialised online guides has spurred in recent years and constitute a key element to renewing the clientele of tailors. However, albeit an incredible tool that will in a way increase the awareness towards these traditions, it was also proved that men are the biggest online shoppers, which is fundamentally in opposition with the services offered by traditional tailors. This nonetheless opens new options such as machine-assisted measurements which will be developed later in this document. On the one hand, the suiting tradition is being slowly pushed out of society norms, while on the other hand, the appeal of such products is growing more with people looking for traditional, locally produced and quality goods in times of uncertainty towards the future.
II). 4. The new ways of marketing tailoring 4.1. Marketing heritage and tradition In an era of branding and logo domination, of new technologies finding their way into people’s lives, inducing incredible behavioural changes, a trend is starting to rise more and more clearly: people are looking back towards their past. In the current economic situation, the notions of hand-made and heritage are increasingly valued by the consumers. Consequently, they have also become the new core values many marketers want to use to sell 38
luxury products: from Louis Vuitton launching a new line of fountain pens and writing accessories in opposition to the hegemony of laptops, smartphone and tablets, to Hermès producing a documentary about the “petites mains” (the hands of the craftsmen) in their workshops, the trend has already reached the highest strata of high luxury brands. It is even clearer when you see mainstream brands from the food industry such as Panzani or Gervais emphasizing their brand heritage by re-using their founder’s names (respectively Gioanni and Charles), or Evian selling their bottled water at premium prices abroad thanks to its French provenance. This branding effort is already at the core of luxury conglomerates’ strategy; the same luxury conglomerates who recently started to invest into traditional tailor houses in Europe. Many brands like to claim their inherited tailor spirit and integrate within their communication strategies majestic visuals of scissors and basting thread. For instance, Ralph Lauren, for their purple label line, shine light on the ‘impeccable craftsmanship’ that goes into their shirts and suits on the company’s website.
4.2 Using the tailor figure The image of the tailor is deeply anchored into men’s idea of truly quality clothing and utmost luxury in terms of garment, and it appears as the key element which marketers will be using: the tailor embodies century-old craftsmanship and highly personalised service and above all, he embodies tradition, the tailor’s our great grand-fathers went to. Some tailors have already become brands and have become in a way similar to the famed fashion designers since the 1990’s, with Ozwald Boateng or Richard James, for example. What can be expected to happen in a near future is for savvy marketers to use the tailors as brand ambassadors for tailoring firms, for instance with Alessandro Sartori at Berluti.
4.3. The importance of collective imagination An important notion for firms based on traditional craftsmanship the idea of collective imagination which is what the marketing of tradition will be trying to stimulate. People will associate a set of pre-conceived images with tailoring, which is what marketers will have to use to promote their products. Basically, what tailoring means in collective imagination revolves around three key aspects: the tailor figure, the idea of impeccable service as well as the scenery of the tailor’s shop, and incomparable quality. In a crude way, people expect andold man to bring them on a pedestal, take their measurements and make them the best suit they have ever seen which they will be able to keep for decades, and perhaps give to their son. 39
As explained by Farid Chenoune in French magazine Métiers d’Art (issue 250), “the fantasy of the tailor has become much stronger than the reality of it. It still inhabits the collective fashion imagination.”
4.4. Showcasing heritage, tradition and craftsmanship What is most commonly highlighted in tailoring is the heritage and the tradition: the older the brand is, the better the quality will be expected to be. Hundreds of years of experience imply the most incredible craftsmanship. Very typical to the United Kingdom, being appointed by the Royal Family adds both emotional and traditional value to the tailor and sets the idea of quality in people’s mind: if it is the tailor to the Prince, it must be the best. Men appreciate the technical aspect of the fabrication process of a cloth, in a similar way as they love to imagine the mechanics and hours of work behind the creation of a watch or a car (the watchmaker is also a strong figure in collective imagination). Tancrède de Lalun, menswear buying director at French department store Printemps explains that “even though they don’t know anything about it, men are very sensitive to history, craftsmanship and quality, way more than women, who, schematically, want fashion above all. I think that it is only the beginning: there is a lot of potential in menswear”. Luxury brands’ marketing directors have not missed this phenomenon and, in recent years, made-to-measure services have been flourishing: Giorgio Armani and his Fatto a Mano sur Misura, Ralph Lauren with Made to Order, Jil Sander with Sartorial and Hugo Boss with Tailored Line and Selection, not to mention Tom Ford, Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, Prada, Gucci, etc.
4.5. Addressing the the customer’s senses If you look a Hugo Boss’s online presentation video for their Boss Selection line, you will see the customer sensitively feel the flowing fabric samples with his fingertips. Fabric is directly linked to the sense of touch and it is important for people to be able to feel it. Two main things are expected from fabric: comfort (smoothness) and durability. It is an aspect of what marketers call sensorial marketing which means referring to a set of pre-conceived ideas appealing to someone’s 5 senses. In this case, the sense of touch is associated with quality because the man slowly frictions it between his fingers and smiles. The typical sounds of a tailor’s workshop are the ones of the scissors grinding through the cloth, the steam-blowing iron and the sewing machine. 40
Smell is not a particular sense which will be used by marketers to lure in customers, as there is not a particular odor which would remind the customers of a tailor’s salon or workshop, not to mention that it is the most difficult element of sensorial marketing to put into action, since it basically can only be created in situ. However, the four other senses can be stimulated and are already used by numerous marketers to emphasises ideas of heritage, craftsmanship and quality.
4.6. Communication practices are shifting 4.6.1. The Kiton example While tailoring houses seemed to have remained unaltered over the past two decades, an important shift seems to be starting. A relevant example would be to compare two advertisements of Napolitan tailor Kiton from 2005 and 201020 . The first photograph shows four italian gentlemen walking gracefully in a nature-inspired environment. This image communicates elegance, comfort, versatility and the fluidity of the house’s suits. No reference to the tailoring culture nor to the traditional fabrication process, which nonetheless are part of the house’s DNA. In the second advertisement, from 2010, the image shows the head tailor in his workshop with his chalk in hand, surrounded by craftsmen hand-cutting fabric : the change in direction is clear. The campaign only focuses on the know-how, the craftsmanship and not at all on the products. It clearly adds credit to the idea that tailoring culture is experiencing a renewal of interest: craftsmanship is becoming as important as style itself.
4.7. Norton & Sons’ strategy as an example One of the best marketing and communication examples in recent years in the sector come from Norton & Sons and E. Tautz. The strategy adopted by Patrick Grant for the traditional houses Norton & Sons and E. Tautz has been the most mediated and documented since Mr. Grant’s arrival in 2005. Grant called upon the help of Moving Brands, a business consultancy and communication agency, which worked upon rebranding Norton & Sons to cater to a younger consumer base. 20
Annexes 10 and 11 41
On their website, Moving Brands explain that ‘having assessed the competition and created a customer journey for Norton & Sons21, we began work on a new, modern identity that would acknowledge and emphasise the firm’s rich heritage, while appealing to a dynamic, younger market. The identity includes a redrawn version of Norton’s original crest, which was awarded by a Prussian emperor in the 19th century. The original, idiosyncratic wordmark has also been redrawn and the royal warrants reinstated as indicators of the brand’s history and quality.’ This project is a great example of what Savile Row houses and tailors have been doing to showcase their Britishness or Italianness (Frenchness and Americanness to another extent) and British craftsmanship. They worked on numerous aspects from color palettes to logo, around the idea of showcasing heritage while bringing in a modern touch. Patrick Grant explains in Grafik Magazine22 that “despite appearances, the great majority of the old tailors on this street have done what we’ve done (re-branded). We’ve just approached it with a little more confidence.” While others with broader financial means such as Kilgour or Gieves & Hawkes attempted to showcase their collections on costly catwalks in London and Paris, Patrick Grant instead chose to rally such hot young designers as Giles Deacon (who previously worked for JeanCharles de Castelbajac and Gucci), Kim Jones (current menswear designer at Louis Vuitton) and Richard Nicoll (four times ANDAM 23 winner) to the house’s cause by providing them with technical expertise on tailoring for their collection”. In 2009, realising the need for a more casual, accessible platform for the company’s wares, he resurrected Norton & Sons” subsidiary brand, E. Tautz creating a season line of off-the-peg, traditional sportswear with every fabric and garment sourced and produced within the British Isles. E. Tautz’s more fashionable and affordable products quickly came to critical and commercial success and are now regularly featured in mainstream publications such as GQ or Esquire. For traditional houses with a tailoring background, may it be local tailors or global luxury brands, the idea will reamin the same: re-brand to offer a new experience for young, affluent customers while maintaining the strong heritage and craftsmanship image that they are looking for. Such work can be done on visual merchandising for instance, with creative,
21
Annex 10
22
http://www.movingbrands.com/work/bespoke-savile-row-tailors
23
Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode, a French NGO delivering fashion awards and financial support 42
colourful windows with graphic t-shirts24 mixed with hand painted signage to reflect the artisan quality of the firm.
4.8 Tailors online development strategies The other key way to reach for a younger clientele is the internet. Traditional tailor brands are starting to use online tools to promote their products and craftsmanship : facebook pages, twitter accounts, e-commerce platforms and youtube videos.
4.8.1. Comparative study As part of the elaboration of this document, a comparative study of 25 tailors - selected for their reputation and their bespoke offers, in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Australia, Hong Kong and Austria - was conducted in order to analyse the online strategies of traditional tailors to develop their business and marketing. The variable sought for were: whether they had an official website, their presence on social networks, the editorial languages of their websites and social networks and the number of their followers on social networks, their location and their age range. Not surprisingly, 100% of the studied tailor houses own an official website, which always showcases the firm’s history. Most of them also showed collections and a contact form to book appointments. 4.8.2. Social Media strategies Upon comparing the social media strategies of these tailor houses, it appears that 82% of them have an official Facebook page25, among which 100% of the studied Italian houses, 80% of the French ones, 71% for British tailors and 57% in other countries. Concerning Twitter, tailor houses are less keen on communicating through this channel with 18% of them having a twitter account26, among which 57% in the UK, 33% in Italy, 29% in other countries and 20% in France. The best student in case of online communication seems to be Ozwald Boateng: the tailor is present on Facebook and Twitter, with over 10,000 and 13,000 followers respectively, and is throwing contests via its Instagram account, and interacts with web users on the platforms used. Ozwald Boateng also showcases its style and products through a YouTube channel where are shown behind-the-scenes footages of the house’s workshop and runway 24
Annex 11
25
Annex 12 and 13
26
Annexes 14 and 15 43
videos, as well as interviews of the tailor himself. As proved by New York-based L2 Think Tank27, online presence is tightly linked with market share and market growth and Ozwald Boateng is currently distancing its most direct competitors, with the only tailor with as many followers on Facebook being Brioni, with over 10,000 as well, followed by Corneliani with over 8,000. These numbers remain quite inferior when compared to those of large retail groups such as Brooks Brothers, with over 300,000 likes on Facebook, or Ralph Lauren with over 6.7 million. But these companies do not focus on the sole tradition of tailoring, and thus target a much broader audience.
What came out of this analysis is that every Savile Row tailor has a majority of fans and followers coming from the UK and more precisely London while Italian and French tailors have a majority of followers and fans from emerging countries such as Mexico for Corneliani or Saudi Arabia (Djeddah, most connected city in the country) for Cifonelli. This tends to prove the attachment of the British to their culture while French and Italian craftsmanships are more accessible to foreign customers. We may infer that this happens for two reason: the decreasing purchasing power in France and Italy as well as a smaller community of suits lovers and tailoring connoisseurs. Smalto is the only French brand analysed that showed a majority of fans based in Paris, both on Facebook and Twitter.It is also due to the broader international resonance of luxury brands from France and Italy compared to Britain (although brands such as Burberry are undeniably strong on the international market), which means foreigners have tend to seek luxury firms in both the countries, while a interest in genuine tailoring tradition is necessary to show an interest upon British tailoring.. It is also probably due to the way these firms advertise, in international financial or luxury press for instance. In 95% of the brands analysed, the most represented age range of the fans and followers is between 25 and 34 years old, which proves again the tendency towards a rejuvenation of the consumer base for such products.
4.8.3. E-commerce On the field of e-commerce, study shows that only 28% of the analysed tailor houses have an e-commerce platform28 on their official websites, among which 43% in the UK, 40% in France, 17% in Italy and 14% in other countries. Although some firms do not sell their 27
Digital Luxury Report, 2012 available at http://www.l2thinktank.com/
28
Annexes 16 and 17 44
products directly on their websites, results that come up most often on Google serach engine for “buy ‘tailor’s name’ are Harrod’s (London’s luxury department store), Mr Porter (Net-àPorter’s menswear branch), Shop Style, Yoox and Neiman Marcus (American department store). With regards to the opening towards a foreign clientele, the study showed that 60% of the tailors’ official websites offer a second language29 in addition to their native language. 100% of French houses offer English in addition to French and sometimes Italian. In Italy, 83% of the houses that were analysed offer English as a second option. In other countries, 58% offer another language, among which, Spanish, German or Russian. In the UK, only 14% of the studied tailors offer the possbility to translate their website in a foreign language. Anderson & Sheppard seems to be the most outward-looking towards emerging countries with a website offered in Russian and Arabic.
4.8.4. Search Engine Optimisation Working on the improvement of referencing tools is very important especially for smaller firms in order to survive since it provides them with greater visibility, particularly from foreigners looking to purchase traditional luxury products made in Europe. In terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Anderson & Sheppard seems to have managed to place their website very well among the first results on google upon searching such words as ‘bespoke’ or ‘bespoke tailor’30. Their most direct competitors with regards to these variables are Gieves & Hawkes, Richard Anderson, Ede & Ravenscroft and King and Allen who are battling for online visibility 31. Another example of SEO is Smalto, the name of which comes in 8th position in Google for the search ‘smoking homme’ (men’s smoking jacket) and in first position for the search ‘veste mariée’32.
29
Annexes 18 and 19
30
Annex 20
31
Annex 21
32
Annex 22 45
4.9 Showcasing heritage and tradition through media channels In order to emphasize their heritage, famous Savile Row houses have decided to publish books, such as Anderson & Sheppard with A Style is Born, published in 2011, or Gieves & Hawkes, who participated in the publication of Flammarion’s Power & Style, widely promoted through digital channels and in partnership with the American, British and French version of GQ magazine.
4.9.1 Marketing an experience Buying a bespoke or made-to-measure suit is described and thought of as a very particular experience, sometimes a once-in-a-lifetime event. This has two effects on potential customers: it can either appeal to them even more and bring them to resort to such services, or scare them away by making them feel overwhelmed by the whole ritual that comes with the tailoring tradition. Some customers, even though they can afford such products, simply do not dare to go to a tailor salon and often shift their choice towards luxury ready-to-wear products, often from Italian brands. Why? Because these brands have spent decades on building their image and improving their marketing strategies to be appealing, seem easy-to-access and offer great service at the same time. It is what the future of tailoring depends upon: finding a balance and manage to maintain the prestige of the experience while slightly desacralizing it in order to bring in new consumers. This is why the Cifonelli approach, for instance, can prove very successful, by giving hints to the customers via prototype products. Most tailoring houses have actually adopted this strategy by resorting to visual merchandising through windows and in-store display, providing inspiration to customers having a hard time making a decision, while showcasing house style. Houses such as Kilgour in London have pushed it a further with a very fashionable approach by showing their products on catwalks as haute couture collections, with in the end a detrimental cost to profit ratio. A good example of desacralising the experience is what Hugo Boss offers in his Selection salons: the customers get to touch samples of fabrics among a catalogue, but the buttons are chosen from an iPad. The device is also used to digitalise the customer’s signature. By doing this, Hugo Boss implements of touch of the new customer’s everyday-life, something he uses on a regular basis, he is familiar with, in order to make him feel at ease with the overwhelming ceremonial surrounding the order of a made-to-measure suit.
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The tailors themselves could benefit from learning a few notions of customer relationship management, the same way sales-assistant are precisely taught in luxury houses. Two key trends recently came out of the fashion and luxury market: a double-digit growth of the menswear market worldwide, and a strong demand for customisable products.
4.9.2. The importance of guidance for new consumers Many tailoring houses that have understood the need for guidance, education and, significantly, style recognition, have put a lot of effort into highlighting in their salons an important number of representative pieces of the house’s style. This choice is clearly better suited to the needs of the new customers, but brings up another paradox, which may have a repellent effect on that new clientele: the antinomy between the concept of bespoke and the idea of a house style. Style does, of course, give added-value to certain renowned houses such as Neapolitan tailors’ falling shoulder, or the soft-tailoring so typical of Anderson & Sheppard, the Camps de Luca lapel or the Cifonelli shoulder. What seems to be very important here is to find the balance between a strong “house style” while enabling the client to entirely personalise the product he came to purchase. Some houses the likes of Cifonelli have ambitiously decided to offer on a regular basis prototype-models of Bespoke jackets in order to show the customers that Bespoke and contemporary designs can work well together, that a highly traditional house can very well design products with modern lines without losing its inner soul.
II). 5. The new rise of menswear 5.1. Double-digit growth The fact that the menswear segment started, in 2011, to grow faster than the womenswear segment did not come unnoticed. One particular news officialised this market trend, when American consultancy company Bain & Co published a study showing that menswear luxury market was now predicted to grow 14 percent a year, nearly double that of luxury womenswear at 8 percent. The menswear segment today is thought to account for 40% of the global luxury market, up from 35% in 1996 (source: PWC), accounting for a global turnover of €180 billion.
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5.2. Emerging markets keen on buying menswear
The other key information coming out of this study is the - well-known - fact that China is the world’s biggest luxury goods market in terms of growth. Sales in mainland China are rising on average between 20 and 25% a year. What is more important in this case is the fact that men account for over 60% of that market worth an estimated 23 billion euros. Bernard Malek, partner at consultancy firm Roland Berger, explained to Reuters that "at this pace, Chinese consumers will, in the medium-to-long term, make up 70 percent of the global luxury market's growth”. Trinity Ltd, a leading high-end menswear retailer in China, said same-store sales rose 19.5 percent last year, and that it eventually plans to operate 500 stores in greater China, up from about 370 now. Trinitiy Ltd. director explains that “men do not shop that often, do not buy a lot but they are consistent. Men are very loyal to brands”. Nicolas Boulanger, luxury expert at Eurostaf, explains that “mentalities have strongly evolved in Russia, China and India. There is a real demand for luxury menswear in these countries, while more mature markets have consolidated with the appearance of a category of men who like to buy their own clothes and create their own wardrobe and are not guided by their friends or the woman in their life. The numerous menswear-only points of sales opening recently prove quite precisely these changes.”
5.3. Signs and market response French luxury group Hermès has also seen incredible growth within the menswear segment, with sales at its specialised men’s shop in New York growing faster than on average in the United States with over 30% yearly growth rate. Attracted by the potential, luxury department stores have started to invest into dedicated areas for menswear. Printemps, in Paris, has for instance opened a corner dedicated to men’s luxury, while Le Bon Marché has redone the whole underground floor to cater to a growing men’s clientele looking for fashion and traditional luxury; coincidentally, the underground floor is also now home to a wine cellar and luxury spirits store. Tancrede de Lalun, head of fashion purchases at Printemps, said to Reuters that he expected the men's market to "explode ... because appetite is very strong and male consumers know no limit".
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5.4 Shifting mentalities Strongly style-centered TV-shows such as Mad Men and its sharp 1960’s, Boardwalk Empire with elaborate style from the roaring twenties or Suits, depicting the lives of impeccably dressed corporate lawyers have multiplied in recent years. Their influence play a strong role in the growing interest of men in fashion and elegance. The proliferation of men’s fashion blogs and online guides for sharp dressing also have a strong impact on men who are less afraid of making mistakes and realise there is a whole community of people who share the same interests as they do. American men increased their spending on clothing more than women did in 2011, buying more dress clothes in particular as the economy improves, a study showed. Men's clothing sales rose 4 percent during the year, while women's grew 3 percent, according to a market research by the NPD group. The change in men’s behavior seems to be acknowledged globally. Just a while ago, men’s luxury consumption was mainly focused on automobile, watches and a few other luxury goods with a manly reputation. Today, there is a clear shift in men’s consumption towards quality footwear, handcrafted clothing and, more globally, elegance, which had disappeared from men’s preoccupations for a generation.
5.5. A growing community of menswear and tailoring lovers While menswear as a whole is growing, there also seems to be some unmistakable signs of a growing interest towards quality, locally produced or hand-made products. Firstly, number of publications on masculine style, with for instance James Sherwood’s book on Savile Row, Anderson & Sheppard’s A Style is Born or Bruce Boyer’s Enduring Style and Hand of the Artisan, published along with the Rake. Furthermore, the innumerable new small brands offering online “capsule” micro-collections aimed at über-niches of masculine elegance constitutes yet another sign. To name just a few of them: Balibaris (neckties), Cuisse de Grenouille (neckties, belts and socks) and Mes Chaussettes Rouges (luxury socks made by the Vatican’s supplier), all of them encountering online hype and commercial success. Another clear sign is the appearance of a new breed of young tailors like Julien Scavini in France and young bespoke labels in England like Thom Sweeney and others created by young thirty-something entrepreneurs already attracting clients hungry for discrete and immaculate
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elegance. As mentioned earlier, the interest of men in tailoring has skipped a generation but is undeniably back. The most undeniable and easily observed sign is the the number of men’s blogs flourishing all over the Internet, as well as the success of already mainstream magazines on the subject, such as GQ, edited in over 10 different languages, and The Rake, specialising in handcrafted products. In France, for instance, Parisian Gentleman, a blog focusing on bespoke tailoring, shoes and elegance in general, has gathered a community of over fifty-five thousand fans on Facebook and over 5 million page views within 4 years. More surprisingly - and proving once again the rejuvenation of the customer base - the largest age range that pressed the like button on the page is between 18 and 25 years old, which means over 30% of the people showing interest in tailoring, dandyism and elegance are young adults 33.
5.6. Influence of the online sphere on the development of the menswear segment In fact, the online sphere has been significantly influencing men’s confidence towards fashion. It provides a goldmine of information about style trends and brands, informing men what to wear and how to wear it. Men are able to ask questions and seek advice anonymously, without seeming ignorant. Aside from blogs and magazine sites, e-tailers are also fulfilling this need by incorporating editorial content on their sites. GiltMan.com for instance, produces style guides such as the 'Gilt MANual' to complement its flash-sale site, while GQ editors curate top items for Park & Bond and Mr Porter has dedicated 'What to Wear' and 'Style Help' sections on its site. Highly successful blogs like Put This On, with their web-TV, filming documentaries about the history of Savile Row and Italian tailoring help educating this new guidance-seeking clientele. This new interest appears at the same time on mature markets, where a new clientele, bored with banalised ready-to-wear, wants to wear more personalised outfits, and on the emerging markets, where luxury menswear is used as a signal of wealth and status by a new social class of entrepreneurs. 5.7 Analysis of a related global trend: mass customisation As mentioned by Olivier Saillard in an interview conducted for this project, “we do notice certain signs of men who are looking for rarity and singularity”.
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Mass-customisation is a word that only started being used in recent years by marketers and marketing analysts. It refers to the idea for fashion and luxury brands to offer product personalisation to consumers. One of the precursors in terms of mass customisation was Nike with their Nike ID offer launched in 1999, which enabled customers to personalise a shoe model with different colors and materials. The trick with mass-customisation is that the offer is limited and the cost construction pre-established in order to be able to produce without having to invest a lot, while being able to charge a higher prices for a supposedly unique product. It can be argued that tailoring has benefited from this upcoming trend as it has raised the consumers’ interest in having the possibility to personalise their products and having unique products, which is a possibility that had been forgotten by many in the mass-market fashion era that started since the 1990’s. The regain of interest towards mass-customisation can explain the development of a new type of clientele, which comes along with the old, traditional clientele of tailored products to increase the customer base of tailoring specialists. Tailoring is still very much of a niche trend which can be expected to grow steeply in the years to come. III) Tailoring as a business model III) 1. Current state of the business “My Tailor is Rich”. This popular saying famous for being used in the early 30‘s in English grammar books in France, has been widely parodied throughout popular culture. The saying likely comes from the general belief that tailors, with their generally high prices, make a lot of money. 1.1. The scaling problem of tailors Albeit true that tailors charge a lot of money for their services, is their business as profitable as it is commonly thought to be? Adam Davidson, journalist at the IHT, partly answers the question: “like a 17th century tailor, he (Peter Frew, 33-year-old Brooklyn tailor) has no economy of scale”. In fact, modern technology cannot create anything comparable to a unique hand-crafted suit; which also means everything has to be done by hand, and one can only go faster and improve its productivity up to a certain point without the help of technology. In order to gain productivity, one option, which is to use Taylor’s system of work division, an approach not much different from factories looking to improve their productivity. The idea is to have, for instance, one worker sewing the pockets all day long, while another focuses entirely on joining front and back jacket pieces, hence making the labor involved in each 51
made-to-measure suit’s construction about 10 hours. Just as Adam Smith described in “The Wealth of the Nations” : “there are huge efficiency gains when one complex process is broken down into constituent parts and each worker specialises in one thing.” Many tailors actually do not make any profit and appear to be surviving through their existing client base. For instance, Gieves & Hawkes, one of Savile Row’s most famous tailor houses, has not made a profit since 2005 34. Same goes for Anderson & Sheppard, which during the 80’s and 90’s “seemed content to survive through its exsiting clients and, perhaps, their sons”. But in 2005, Anda Rowland jointed the company and began catering to new customers. (She even plans to introduce a line of casual trousers and accessories to capture more of the brand’s value. Seven years ago, the company made 17 suits each week for a revenue of $3.6 million.. Today, Anderson & Sheppard makes around 25 suits per week, for $5.4 million. In the tailoring business, a growth of 40% over seven years, which would be considered mediocre for many businesses, is close to miraculous. As Ms. Rowland explains, even with century-old reputation and a profoundly loyal customer base, it’s nearly impossible to go ahead, “there’s no scalability. Whether we’re making 50 suits or 1 - each unit costs the same.” Bespoke suits are great for building a reputation, but they are lousy for business. And modern clothiers' profits have long come from establishing a strong brand and then emblazoning it on all sorts of cheaper products, like fragrances, which can be mass-produced. Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren - not to mention Carolina Herrera - began as small studios before turning into million-dollar businesses. Meanwhile, traditional tailor houses are stuck to their stock in trade and have stayed about the same size.
1.2. Different types of tailoring 1.2.1. Local tailoring Local tailoring refers to the most common type of tailoring. It means that the clothes are produced in-house by a trained tailor who takes measurements and follows the fabrication process explained in part I)4. 1.2.2. Distance tailoring Distance tailoring refers to ordering a suit from a remote tailor, sometimes merely due to one’s incapacity to go to reach the tailor’s salon, but mostly in order to produce cheaper clothes in countries with cheaper labour. Today, distance tailoring will be made through online platforms and customers will have to take their own measurements and select fabrics from a
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Après Sonia Rykiel, Li & Fung s’offre le tailleur du prince Charles (16/04/12), Les Echos 52
range of pictures. In case of problems with the garment, the only solution will be to ship it back to the tailor’s. 1.2.3. Traveling tailor A traveling tailor is usually established locally but will occasionally go on a tour to several different countries to meet customers in person. Generally, these tailors stay at premium or luxury hotels for a few-weeks period and provide the same services they would in their original store. Once the measurements are taken, they are sent back to the tailor’s headquarters to start production, which usually is shipped back within one and two months time. Again, in case of alterations required, the only solution will be to ship it back. The most famous traveling tailors today are from Hong kong, traveling to the United States, Europe and Japan. However, traditional European tailors also travel to the United States and, more and more, to emerging countries. 1.3 Influence of raw material prices The price of raw materials is also an important factor on the price construction. In the past 20 years (since 1993) wool prices on the Australian index have raised by 208,1 percent 35 (source: IndexMundi), consequently driving global prices of woolen garments up. And demand has fallen just as the cost of raw materials has gone up. Manufacturers in China, where a suit can be made in about 30 minutes at a cost well below $100, are driving up the price of wool, which increases the prices of fancier fabrics too. In fact, lower garment prices coincidentally induce an increase in demand thus a rarefaction of the raw material, resulting in price raise. Similarly, new wool markets such as Mongolia or Uruguay tend to sell at lower prices, thus increasing demand for cheaper materials and driving prices up for quality wool. In a more global way, in the public’s mind, worldwide, raw materials have become cheaper. A good example of that is cashmere: today, people now expect to pay €150 against the €1000 which used to be the average price for a cashmere jumper and are Yet we see on the market that the prices for precious materials are becoming more expensive because there are always more very wealthy consumers at the higher end of the ladder, significantly from emerging economies, who keep looking for always more unique products to meet their needs. This translates into brands offering always more luxurious materials, with for instance French tailor Smalto offering his wealthiest clients a blend of wool and orchid fibers or sable fur. Luxury firms go to extreme lengths to imagine products so luxurious that 35
Annex 23 53
consumers did not even think of such possibilities. The situation with wool prices is similar to what happened with luxury leather bags: while it was incredibly luxurious to purchase a leather bag in the sixties in Europe, it became a normality in the eighties. Nowadays, the normality standard seems to be shifting towards crocodile leather, which is among the most luxurious and pricey materials.
III) 2. Opportunities for development 2.1. Tailors outsourcing for larger companies Some tailor houses that have managed to grow bigger in size now collaborate with important luxury brands for their tailoring offer and services. For instance, Italian tailor Corneliani has been creating the Polo line for American brand Ralph Lauren. Similarly, Ermenegildo Zegna has been helping the Versace house with the design and production of their suits, and Lardini, which is famous for manufacturing men’s tailoring for brands such as Etro, Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry or even Brooks Brothers. The option of outsourcing enables the brands to remain profitable and keep their initial tailoring business on the side. The craftsmanship and labour force are put to use and money is still being made, which seems to be a win-win situation, to the condition that a brand manages to keep its strong identity on the one hand, and to offer good quality products to the company it is outsourcing for. Italian historical tailors have been growing very wealthily in recent years. For instance, Zegna, with a turnover of €963 million in 2010 - for the whole group, with fashion and fabrics), is clearly ahead of the competition in the luxury menswear segment with a tailoring orientation. In terms of size, Zegna’s main competitor would be Brioni with €170 million worth of sales in 2010, then Canali with €140 million in 2011 and Kiton with €80 million in 2011.
2.2. Product range extension Many traditional tailors could not resist the appeal of brand empowerment and profitability improvement by launching made-to-measure or made-to-order offers as well as by diversifying their offer into branded ready-to-wear and accessories. The most typical example is the one of Gieves & Hawkes, whose ready-to-wear lines and accessories are distributed throughout the world, notably in China with over a hundred retail locations. As always, the risk of resorting to licensing is to lose control over the name of the house, just as it happened to Pierre Cardin in the 1990s. The risk in the long run is for the brand to lose its appeal as a 54
luxury brand by being too available - which is a notion that most luxury brands are now taking into account: too much availability of a luxury brand means it will lose its appeal to consumers. The idea behind these line extensions is to broaden the brand experience throughout the year with more affordable products to complete the costly suit bought by the customer. It is also aiming at strengthening the brand image which can be associated with a larger variety of products.
2.3.Tailoring in department stores Another implementation of made-to-measure and tailoring techniques has been through luxury department stores. Throughout the worlds, department stores in major cities offer, besides the usual alteration services, tailor services similar to the ones that can be found traditionally on the high street or in more anonymous salons. In Paris, both Printemps and Le Bon Marché, two of the city’s most famous department stores, along with Galeries Lafayette, offer a made-to-measure service via a shop-in-shop directed by Belgian tailor Scabal, who, in 2013, launched the same service in competitor department store Le Bon Marché. Both the department stores have a floor or store dedicated to menswear and an area dedicated to suiting and luxury garments, which is where Scabal operates. In London, Selfridge’s is the only department store to offer genuine bespoke tailoring services with Henry Rose, a tailor trained in Savile Row who is now a resident of the store’s. Selfridge’s also offers made-to-measure services from Tom Ford. Liberty’s offers made-tomeasure services with the help of Savile-Row tailor Richard Anderson. Isetan, in Tokyo, has an entire section for complete custom tailoring in the ¥300,000+ (around €3,000) range and then on a different floor a small selection of pattern-orders available for around ¥120,000 (around €1,200) 36. For these stores, offering such services means creating a long-term bond with a clientele that will be coming regularly back to the store and will be likely to purchase other articles from the stores’ wide range of premium and luxury products. It is also a great way to showcase craftsmanship and reputation and communicate around the name of the tailor to enhance the
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store’s luxury image. For tailors, it means benefiting from the stores’ customer bases and visibility to gain new customers and yield more profit and reputation. Both Barney’s and Bergdof Goodman in New York offer in-store made-to-measure services from several international brands. Same applies to Pacific Place and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, with permanent in-house services as well as temporary visits from renowned tailors such as Corneliani or Anderson & Sheppard. In this case, what is interesting to notice is the fact that traditionally, Hong Kong tailors were doing itinerant work in the West, and now that economic power is shifting, Western tailors are coming to Hong Kong to cater to a growing number of wealthy customers.
2.3. Collaboration with high street brands Another way for tailors to gain visibility is to collaborate with high street, ready-to-wear brands. Two famous cases in Britain: Norton & Sons, which collaborated with French brand The Kooples, providing them with several Savile Row-inspired collection, and Timothy Everest with British retailer Superdry, working on very creative designs at affordable prices. In doing this, tailor’s gain visibility from the broad audience that gathers around these high street brands. Yet, they are also putting at risk their traditional image and do not have control over the quality of the products they collaborated on, but only their design, which might lead to the firm’s name being associated to poor quality.
III) 2. The future evolution of the tailoring business The future of tailoring will rely on three key global elements: technology, investment and know-how. 2.1. Technology As mentioned earlier, the inherent problem in hand-made tailoring is scaling. When it comes to made-to-measure however, scaling is no longer an issue as it is not required as for a bespoke garment that everything is done by hand. Therefore, technology will growingly be playing a very important part in the production of made-to-measure suits. The same way sewing machines have participated in the industrial revolution, glue, that simulates stitches, although it is nowhere near as good as hand sewing, and ages badly, has improved with time and is commonly used by mass producers as well as producers of cheap made-to-measure. Besides progress in manufacturing, technology can be expected to affect the tailoring business on two levels: measuring and service. 56
As far as measuring is concerned, the key technology that has started to have on impact on made-to-measure tailoring is 3D measuring. With the help of multiple 3D cameras, it is now possible to render a three-dimension image of the customer’s body, inducing a significant gain in time and lowering cost of labour.
2.1.1. Case study: Les Nouveaux Ateliers, Paris In Paris, a half-tech and half-tailoring company called Les Nouveaux Ateliers have based its entire business model around this technology, which can take up to 200 measures per second. The firm prides itself in offering an alternative to the long wait, the fastidious fitting sessions and the high prices of traditional made-to-measure. They want to offer a proper made-tomeasure suit for the price of a ready-to-wear, off-the-peg garment, with respect to the modern way of producing made-to-measure that is used by most firms on the market: 50 to 70% of the fabrication process being done with the help of machines, and the rest by hand. In order to reduce the price of labour, the firm sends over the measurement to a tailor in Shanghai that will craft the garment and send it back within three weeks. Les Nouveaux Ateliers explain that they “bring another idea of made-to-measure and answers to a growing demand of affordable custom-made garments”. Prices range from €290 for basic cuts and a limited choice of fabrics, to €890 for Loro Piana (an italian cloth manufacturer known for its quality products) cloth. The firm thus targets middle-class, young adults looking for one or several suits for their first job or a special event. Last year, the store sold over 5,000 suits and, judging from their significant media coverage, are planning on a growth of at least 20% each year (according to the store manager). An important factor is that the precise measurements can be kept electronically, thus enabling the customers to place their next order online or from any other of the firm’s store - which are now 3, in Paris and Lille, with 5 openings projects throughout the country for 2013, followed by a franchising system.
2.1.2. Other examples of promising technology To another extent, this type of measurement technology will become a significant aspect of the online business. People will be able to get their measurements taken in just a few minutes at a local store, then place a new order from anywhere in the world. Still at an experimental process of development, Estonian firm Fits.me has developed a software that creates a mechanical model of a torso based on a consumer’s measurements, 57
which then allows customers to use the robot to have a preview of what the product would look like once worn. As explained by Roberto Cordero, guest editor at online magazine The Business of Fashion “the robot can create 100,000 different body shapes based on algorithms derived from over 30,000 body scans, so its accuracy rate (...) is remarkably high”. This technology also tackles a very important issue inherent to e-commerce, which is conversion rate. In fact, the percentage of people purchasing compared to the number of visitor on a website is considerably lower than in a brick-and-mortar retail location, and this is due, among other important reasons, to the fact that people still like to be able to see if it fits. Startup’s founder Heikki Haldre explains that with the implementation of the software, conversion rate is multiplied by an average of three. However, two things remain to take in consideration: firstly, for one to precisely take his own measurement is a very complicated process which usually requires weeks of training; secondly, this process takes away the experience and the dialogue with the tailor. An in-store version of this technology can be found at L’Éclaireur Monceau, a french concept store which recently opened in the Palace. The technology, used in fitting rooms, uses multiple 3D cameras to measure the person’s body and then projects an image on the mirror so that the person can try on clothes that are only available in other stores or on demand. This way, the person still benefits from the in-store experience and advice from the expert staff. As Jacques Brunel concludes his article for French-magazine L’Express Styles, “la modernité n’est plus la tombe du tailleur, mais sa meilleure alliée”: modernity is no more the tailor’s enemy, but his best ally, as long as he managed to put his experience, his craftsmanship and reputation at the core of his business.
2.2. The stakes behind education As for the clientele, tailoring as a profession has slightly been left apart by Generation Y. Antonio di Matteis, Naples tailor Kiton’s chief executive, explains to the Financial Times that “it occured to me that founding a school was vital when I noticed the average age of our tailors was 55”, noting that the craft was in danger of dying in Naples once this generation retired. In France and Great-Britain, tailors gathered into organizations to work on the preservation of their craftsmanship, respectively with the Fédération Nationale des Maîtres Tailleurs de France and the Savile Row Bespoke Association. These organisations, in addition to working on defining a set of prerogatives for the use of terms such as bespoke or sur mesure, have invested into creating and promoting education programs to learn the art of 58
tailoring. In the US, the Customer Tailors & Designers Associatons also works on protecting intellectual property but does not spnosor any apprenticeship program, yet offers few-hours courses to learn such things as measuring or fabric knowledge. Nine years after the creation of the British organisation and the apprenticeship program in collaboration with the London College of Fashion, Philip Parker, Head Cutter at Henry Poole Savile Row tailor, points to the fact that “less than 10 years ago the average age around Savile Row was about 60, now it is closer to 40”37. Mark Henderson, deputy chariman of Gieves & Hawkes and chairman of the association, explains that Savile Row today counts around 30 apprentices, which means full capacity for the group of tailors, with a trainee costing a firm around £20,000 a year. Italian tailoring brands have already started to invest in renewing their labour force. Kiton, for instance, offers paid-for three-year apprenticeship for the Naples youth looking for a job. Zegna partners with Milan-based fashion school Istituto Marangoni to educate students to the art of tailoring, while Brioni has its own tailoring school in the Abruzzi region combined with a partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The future of tailoring relies heavily on education and apprenticeship. In fact, tailoring is an apprenticeship business, and new employees learn their craft by watching many people who have worked there for years. At the end of the day, the ultimate competitive advantage of traditional tailors is knowledge, meaning craftsmanship. Without that knowledge, they cannot offer the type of products they have used their customers to. The labour force can simply not be replaced by machines as the entire - in the case of bespoke - or part of the work is done by hand. Luxury conglomerates seems to have understood the importance of maintaining craftsmanship alive as, in recent years, they have been investing in craftsmanship-strong firms.
2.3. Luxury conglomerates investing in tailor houses 2.3.1. Investing into endangered craftsmanship On a larger scale, several examples tend to prove that potent luxury firms are now keen on preserving craftsmanship by, for instance, buying over their providers of manufactured products. The Chanel fashion house, for instance, bought over Barrie Knitwear, a Scottish
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cashmere producer or Causse, a traditional glove-maker based in Paris. The LVMH, Hermès and Richemont groups have also invested in several firms rich in know-how. In fact, we can expect the future to be a battle between conglomerates and powerful groups to own the most workshops and regroup the most craftsmanship under the same roof, which may shift into an oligopoly situation where traditional craftsmanship will be in the hands of the most powerful financially. In the case of traditional tailoring, four important conglomerates have invested in tailor houses. Firstly, French luxury conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moël Henessy), largest luxury group in the world, bought over traditional house Berluti as well as rive gauche bespoke tailor Arnys. Secondly, Kering (formerly known as PPR), also a French group, owner Gucci and officially specialising in luxury goods since 2012, bought over Roman tailor Brioni. Thirdly, Trinity Ltd., an investment fund belonging to Hong Kong conglomerate Li & Fung bought over Gieves & Hawkes, one of the most famous tailors on Savile Row. Lastly, Swiss-based conglomerate Richemont bought over american tailor Sulka in the 1989 and is thought to be planning a reconstruction of the tailoring firm. These groups see incredible potential in these tailors that can accomplish great things with the right infrastructure and financial help, they see century-old craftsmanship which they can use to their benefit. Moreover, the directors of these conglomerates are often themselves the tailor’s customer and understand the social status and very strong image that are associated with them. Kering, LVMH and Li & Fung all have at least one common goal for their newly-acquired firms: expand into mainland China and Hong Kong where 60% of luxury purchases are made by men (source: Challenges.fr). These investments correspond to the global growth trend previously evoked within the menswear sector, as well as an answer to the growing need for personalised products and the added value of hand-made in the current times. Jérôme Bloch, in charge of the menswear section at trend-hunting agency Nelly Rodi, explains that they “have been following this return to heritage for a long time, the transmission of know-how. It is becoming more and more important. Numerous brands come to us to work around those themes. It is no coincidence if Celio (French affordable ready-towear brand) if Celio has recently started to offer made-to-measure shirts made in France on their websites. The whole sector is impacted and pushed towards the top. Brioni’s buy-over is not surprising: it is a perfect ensemble which regroups a tailoring school, thus craftsmanship, an incredible history and industrial tools. It also conveys the image of a masculine archetype since they have dressed James Bond ! It is more than a brand. It embodies the italian culture 60
which blends luxury and bespoke into ready-to-wear. The italians have managed to transform this very respectable tradition into a fashion trend!” 38
2.3.2. Investing into legitimacy and image In the early months of 2013, Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, expressed the wish for the group’s leader brand Louis Vuitton to limit the overexposure of the brand in order to preserve its uniqueness. Once again, this responds to a global demand for uniqueness which gives added value to the brand: if a product can be found everywhere and is worn by many, it will lose its appeals to the luxury consumer. By investing into traditional tailors, these luxury groups are hoping to buy an induced social status as well as an image of impeccable quality that will radiate over the entire group. These groups are in significant need for legitimacy. PPR, for instance, has changed its name for Kering, a name with roots from the French Bretagne region, and is looking to sell its brands that are not in adequacy with the luxury and fashion image the group wants to showcase, while keeping only brands with a strong image of quality and creativity such as Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta and, of course, Brioni. The groups are looking to add to their portfolio one-of-a-kind firms that are the best in their particular area of expertise. The same applies with watchmaking or luxury spirits; for instance, there will always be only one Château d’Yquem wine, which is considered to be the best in the world in its category, and it is owned by LVMH, no other group will have the chance to offer products with the same quality and reputation. Alessandro Sartori, newly appointed - from Z Zegna - artistic director at Berluti, explains to journalist Andre Bigozzi that “the key words for us remain quality and intimacy. A brand like ours has to create value, not only imagery, and our stores have to become clubs where we will maintain an exclusive relationship with the customers who can decide to personalise or modify a garment”. The ideas expressed by Mr. Sartori show that with Berluti, LVMH wants to cater to a niche market of ultra-affluent customers and create a club-like brand to maintain a long-term relationship with these truly important customers. Traditional houses help luxury groups increase the value of their names and the group as a whole.
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Journal du Textile n° 2106, November 22, 2011 - La tradition “tailleur” connaît un surprenant retour en vogue 61
At first, these groups focused on buying over companies with the highest turnovers, then in a second time they focused on the ones with the best margin. In a third step, they focused on the most exceptional luxury products, with for instance jewellery, spirits and watches. Today, these groups seem to be entering a new phase where they want to invest in companies with strong sentimental value, with old-fashion craftsmanship that may disappear in a near future. By doing this, they also appear as the saviors of craftsmanships, to which the public will respond positively as there always will be a strong attachment towards the things of the past that people do not want to see disappear. These luxury conglomerates can be expected to be providing technological infrastructure to traditional houses as well as financial means for training new staff members. They can also be expected to encourage product lines extensions and carefully selected store openings while trying to maintain the traditional and niche image. According to American news agency Reuters, “analysts predict Brioni and Berluti will have to work hard to catch up with better-established rivals such as Hugo Boss, Burberry, Armani, Dunhill and Ermenegildo Zegna, which makes just under half of its 1 billion-euro turnover in Asia.39” This will have to be analysed in the future: on the one hand, these companies may try to rival with luxury giants such as Zegna and Armani, yet on the other hand, they may remain comfortably seated as niche brands pampered by luxury groups to benefit from their local, traditional image.
B) CONCLUSION Had this analysis been more of a sociological approach to men’s style, a very important concept to develop would have been the importance of style influencers in popular culture, nowadays in cinema and on TV, formerly through literature and social influence. The influence of dandyism and particularly of George ‘Beau’ Brummel on modern style was studied and proved by many fashion experts. The list of great thinkers who wrote about menswear is quite long, with for instance Honoré de Balzac and his Traité de la la vie élégante, or Oscar Wilde, for whom style aesthetics were amongst the most important preoccupations. Today, so-called ‘modern dandies’ relayed by men’s style bibles such as GQ, Esquire or The Rake, help men feel more confident with their choices and bring elegance back into their list of priorities. Tailoring has grown into a genuine passion for thousands of
39
Luxury giants battle it out in menswear | Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/08/luxuryidUSL5E7N749C20111208 (accessed May 12, 2013) 62
men online who gather into communities in advice-exchange forums or launch their own website for style-related news, inspiration and, quite importantly, guidance. With the incredible development of Web 2.0 (characterised by the interactivity between webusers), custom-made tailoring, which started as a niche market struggling to survive with an aging clientele and workforce, has, as proven throughout this document, grown into a significant part of the luxury market worldwide. What will be the next step? While Olivier Saillard told to the writer of these lines that he does not believe in a prosperous future, explaining that “there might be a future (for bespoke and made-to-measure garments) but I do not think it can be prosperous. It is certainly a weak sector”, growing numbers and recent investments seem to be going against his opinion. It has already been proven that the renewal of interest towards custom-tailoring is not a mere fad, but a long-lasting trend. The legitimate question is now to know how long this will last. In fact, upon studying the online environment, several blogs and online magazines that used to put tailoring and traditional, hand-made products at the core of their editorial content have now shifted towards edgy, designer fashion which they were against just three years ago. If the community of amateurs decreases in developed country, it seems to be at a starting point in emerging countries, which means, as luxury companies’ experiences have proved, that the years ahead are likely to be prosperous. In order to survive on the long run, traditional tailoring will have to adapt to technology. Firms have already started to improve their online strategies and offer different services to cater to online consumers. With the steady growing number of HNWi’s (High Net Worth Individuals) across the world, the demand for always-better luxury will consequently keep growing. Italian tailor Corneliani is a good example of what may be coming next for tailors. The firm has developed a water-repellent fabric which uses nanotechnology blended within the cloth. They have also managed to develop a fabric that constantly smells of green tea. Might they accept it or not, the future will be customisable to an extent that one would not have envisaged 5 years ago. The key developments of textile technology will likely be created to work around the human body shape, with for instance body-shaping fabrics, or electronically-heating garments. The firms that will manage to blend the right amount of tradition with the right amount of technology can quickly become market leaders and experience a substantial boom in sales. Furthermore, since technology can only exist through R&D (research and development), luxury conglomerates can be expected to largely invest into R&D in order to provide their cherished tailors with an edge over the competition. 63
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Table of contents A) Introduction
4-5
I) Overview of bespoke and made-to-measure men's tailoring I). 1. Definitions 1.1. Bespoke 1.2. Traditional made-to-measure (or custom-fit, custom-made) 1.3. Industrial measure
6 6 6 7 7
I). 2. Price construction
8
I). 3. The constituents of tailoring 3.1 Service 3.2 After-sales service 3.3. The tailor's tools 3.4 The different professions
8 8 9-10 10 10-11
I) 4. The fabrication process 4.1. Measuring process 4.2. Pattern cutting 4.3. Cloth cutting 4.4 Trim 4.5 Putting together 4.6 First fitting 4.7 Marking up 4.8. Second fitting 4.9. Button hole 4.91 Precisions
11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12-13
I). 5. The evolution of the profession 5.1. Tailoring in England 5.1.1.History of Savile Row 5.1.2. Disrupting the order 5.1.3. New establishment 5.2. Tailoring in Italy 5.3. Tailoring in France 5.4. Tailoring in the United States 5.5. Additional significant countries 5.5.1 Japan 5.5.2 Hong Kong 5.5.3. Singapore 5.5.4 China 5.5.5 Germany 5.5.6 Other European countries 5.5.7 India and Pakistan 5.5.8 Precisions
13 13-14 14-15 15 16 16-18 18-20 21 22 22 22-23 23 23-24 24 24 24-25 25
71
I). 6. Styles in tailoring 6.1 British style 6.2. Italian style 25-26 6.3. The constant opposition between Britain and Italy 6.4. American style 6.5. French style 6.6. Details 6.6.1. Shoulders 6.6.2. Lapels 6.6.3. Buttonholes 6.6..4. Pockets 6.6.5. Lining 6.6.6. Vents 6.6.7. Cloth
25 25
26 26-27 27 27 27 27 28 28 29 29 29
II) Current development strategy in the tailoring sector II). 1. Consumer behaviour analysis 1.1. Categorising personal tailoring among types of luxuries 1.2. Personal tailoring within Maslow's hierarchy of needs 1.3. Influence of clothing on the cognitive process 1.4. Consumer behaviour: purchase triggers 1.4.1. Morphology 1.4.2. Experience 1.4.3. Social status 1.4.4. Fashionability and style
29 29 29-30 30 30-31 31 31 31-32 32 32-33
II). 2. Customer segmentation 2.1 Current customer base 2.2. Growing demand from younger customers 2.3. Men-driven luxury markets 2.4. Italian brands in India 2.5. Catering to new types of customers
33 33-34 34 34-35 35 35-36
II). 3. The issue of the suit's relevance in the workplace
37-38
II). 4. The new ways of marketing and communicating around tailoring 4.1. Marketing heritage and tradition 4.2. Using the tailor figure 4.3. The importance of collective imagination 4.4. Showcasing heritage, tradition and craftsmanship 4.5. Address consumer senses 4.6. Communication practices are shifting 4.6.1. The Kiton example 4.7. Norton & Sons' strategy as an example 4.8. Tailors online development strategies 4.8.1. Comparative study
38 38-39 39 39 39-40 40 41 41 41-42 42 42-43
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4.8.2. Social Media strategies 4.8.3. E-commerce 4.8.4. Search Engine Optimisation 4.9. Showcasing values through traditional media channels 4.9.1 Marketing an experience 4.9.2. The importune of guidance for new consumers II). 5. The new rise of menswear 5.1. Double-digit growth 5.2. Emerging markets keen on buying menswear 5.3. Signs and market response 5.4. Shifting mentalities 5.5. A growing community of menswear and tailoring lovers 5.6. Influence of the online sphere on the development of the segment 5.7. Analysis of a related global trend: mass customisation
III) Tailoring as a business model III) 1. Current state of the business 1.1. The scaling problems of tailors 1.2. Different types of tailoring 1.2.1. Local tailoring 1.2.2. Distance tailoring 1.2.3. Traveling tailor
43-44 44 44-45 45 45-46 46 47 47 47 48 48 49 49-50 50
51 51 51-52 52 52 52 52
III) 2. Opportunities for development 2.1. Influence of raw material prices 2.2. Tailors outsourcing for larger companies 2.3. Product range extension 2.4. Tailoring in department stores 2.5. Collaboration with high street brands
52-53 53-54 54 54-55 55
III) 3. The future evolution of the tailoring business 3.1. Technology 3.2. The stakes behind education 3.3. Luxury conglomerates investing in tailor houses 3.3.1. Investing into endangered craftsmanship 3.3.2. Investing into legitimacy and image
56 56-57 58-59 59 59-60 60-61
B) CONCLUSION
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This document focuses on the world of personal tailoring, more precisely the segment of the menswear market which regroups bespoke and made-to-measure suits for men. It is analysing a growing global trend which lies within a renewal of interest towards quality products, tradition and heritage, particularly among the luxury sector. It provides a brief analysis of the sector’s history, the different existing styles and markets. It also focuses on the customers themselves in terms of clusters, of important markets and on the consumer’s expectations when resorting to personal tailoring services. An important part is also dedicated to tackling economic, marketing and communication issues as well as a reflection upon the use by traditional tailor houses of modern technologies, what they imply in terms of challenges and opportunities that industry players currently face and will have to in the future.
Key words: tailoring, bespoke, made-to-measure, history, menswear, marketing, communication, technology, online, e-commerce, social media
