Ethnic Indian suit-makers wow global A-listers

World renowned premium pop-up suit makers such as Anthony Asaf (Empire Tailors), Raja Daswani (Raja Fashions), Manu Melwani (Sams Tailors) and Arshad Mahmood (Punjab House) have gained recognition as the best custom suit makers around the world.

Interestingly, they are finding a clientele in India, where they have their routes. Their long list of patrons include the who’s who of the world -- from Prince Charles to Bill Clinton Hollywood A-listers like Pierce Brosnan and Richard Gere, tennis icons Boris Becker and Anna Kournikova, US politico Sarah Palin, ace footballer David Beckham and business tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. And all these famous suit makers have one thing in common, their India connection. While Asaf is originally from Punjab, Daswani’s family moved base to Honk Kong from Mumbai in 1950 while Mahmood’s ancestors were tailors to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who moved to Hong Kong with the British.

These top names in the tailoring business travel across the globe for nine months of the year to meet existing and prospective clients and take orders for custom-made suits. The modus-operandi is unique. They book a room in a hotel in a city whose announcement has been made through their website, word of mouth and other mediums. Each client is given an appointment to personally visit the suit-maker, who then takes the measurements, helps select fabrics, colors, styles and goes back to his manufacturing unit in Hong Kong to work on the pieces. These are then couriered to the respective clients in 8-10 weeks.

Their tailoring has gained such a name that all fans of Sams Tailors for instance, stand patiently while he jots down 16 measurements, and takes them through a detailed questionnaire. His reputation was considered big enough for Sam’s to be honoured with a postage stamp on its 50th anniversary. Mahmood, on the other hand is known to have made the world’s most expensive suit in Cashmere at £20,000. Designing uniforms for the British Army, his Punjab House opened in 1889 and now caters to the English Premiere League Club West Ham United and the likes of David Beckham and Subroto Roy.

What’s working in these Indian millionaire tailors’ favour is their expertise which they undertake throughout the day, for example Daswani’s 500-strong army produces 1,000 suits a week and the second generation that’s willing to take over the business unlike other old Shanghai tailoring families. While Daswani is now helped by his son and daughter, Mahmood started working with his father at the age of 13.

After setting up outlets in the UK, Canada, US and Australia, India is next destination on their radar. Though foreign exchange rules made Daswani change his mind about setting up stores in Mumbai and Delhi, Melwani is training a set of Indian tailors, with an eye on what he calls the next business hotspot. According to Punjab House, their growing Indian clientele has led to the possibility of setting up shop in India. Like many premium global brands, they are expecting a positive response in the price-conscious country. And the estimates by a Wall Street Journal report support their expectation. According to their findings, a made-to-measure men’s suit by Prada starts at Rs 1,17,821 approx). An Asaf’s suit start at Rs 22,232 approx, while a Punjab House design comes for Rs 39,520 approx.