Tailoring Market Measures Up

The UK tailoring market has never fully recovered from the end of the 1990s. The rise of sportswear and transatlantic dress-down phenomenon delivered a significant blow to suit sales. According to Mintel figures, the retail sales of suits in the UK fell from GBP 691m in 1997 to GBP 600m in 2002. But don't be discouraged, the menswear tailoring market is clawing its way back into the limelight, according to analysts.

The City's dress-down mantra has subsided, and a new style of dressing has emerged, a third wardrobe of sharp casualwear bridging the gap between the office and the bar. At designer level, the likes of Dior and Raf Simons have reinvented the suit for a leaner silhouette. Now the suit is sexy once more and the revival of tailoring as a fashion item has fuelled growth across men's designerwear. 'There's definitely a rising demand for very high quality fabrics,' says Keith Horseley UK agent for Canali.

Meanwhile, young fashion multiples and middle market brands have been cashing in on the trend of combining casualwear with formalwear. The look on the street is matching tailored jackets with jeans, t-shirts and trainers. The trend looks set to proliferate yet further with Topman, George at Asda and River Island extolling its virtues at affordable prices.

Without doubt there is renewed consumer interest in tailoring which has even turned heads among the tricky 18-25 age group. Encouragingly both streetwear and designer brands have embraced tailoring and introduced fresh permutations which the highstreet has noted faster than ever before. A cocktail of global sourcing, good prices, and a more fashion-focused male consumer, has served to retain the spotlight on tailoring in the UK.