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Katie Lau

It may seem ridiculous to spend hundreds of dollars to have an outfit altered, but for people whose closets are overflowing with designer labels, that's not a lot of money to update a wardrobe.
'I had all these nice clothes sitting in the closet for so long, but didn't know what to do with them. It's just that the styles were outdated,' says 55-year-old Annie Leung. 'The fabric was really nice so I couldn't bear to throw them away. All they needed was a good makeover.'
Leung found a solution when she began taking outfits that had become passe to Land Co Fashion/Tailors (landco.com.hk).  
The high-end clothes alteration shop in Causeway Bay transformed her double-breasted Escada jacket into a single-breasted blazer for a more modern look, while a mink coat she'd had for 20 years was cut up and made into a vest and scarf. 
After years of spurning alteration shops, the tai-tai has begun to appreciate how much the life of her luxury outfits can be extended. 
A handful of repair and alteration businesses with a reputation for craftsmanship and quality materials are benefiting from the downturn as people try get better value from their high-end purchases.
Demand for altering designer clobber has boosted Land Co's business by almost 30 per cent since the recession, says Tong Ho-chun, 61, a former fashion lecturer at the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education.
A representative at Furrier Workshop (www.glorytradingco.ecomm.hk), which works mainly with skins and fur, says the company enjoyed a 50 per cent jump in business this past winter even though it may charge several thousand dollars  to rework a  mink coat.
Expertise is needed to handle expensive material and Land Co says most of its six tailors have more than 30 years of experience. Some specialise in particular types of garments, such as menswear, knitwear and evening wear. 
Philip Tang Ngai-sang, 54, is among the shop's veteran tailors who works with difficult material such as fur and leather. 'It's a little intimidating at first. You have to be very careful with every change you make,'  he says. 
'But along with experience comes confidence. I am always happy when people appreciate my work. It motivates me to work harder. That's why they keep coming back,' says Tang, holding up a racing jacket with its back kept in place with several pegs. 
The shop offers comprehensive tailoring services, from simple alterations such as shortening sleeves to resizing, which may involve undoing a garment's stitches. It also makes custom-designed clothes and has two fitting rooms where staff  help clients make further adjustments to garments 
Tong first set up Land Co with his wife Chan Miu-king as a garment-making workshop in Kwun Tong but turned it into an upmarket alteration service a year ago after identifying the niche market. 
'We didn't want to move our operation up north [to the mainland to reduce costs], and noticed that our potential customers are very demanding and they know what they want,' Tong says.
Alteration charges vary depending on the complexity and length of the job. 
'Quality is all important here  and we insist on using the best materials,' Chan says, pointing to a swatch of fabric samples from Britain and Italy.
The work doesn't come cheap, but customers such as Leung reckon it's money well spent. 'It's very hard to find a good tailor who can do my clothes justice. I love these new additions to my wardrobe,' she says.
Similarly, customers looking for quality workmanship to fix their designer handbags and shoes are turning to Best Skill, a repair business in Causeway Bay.
Despite the shop's discreet location on the second floor of an old building, husband and  wife team Hui Kwok-ming and  Ng Ah-chun now have more work than they can handle and are  planning to recruit help. 
Hui says business has increased by about 30 per cent since  the recession hit thanks to  word-of-mouth referrals. 
Yet Hui knew little about the repairs business until he took up a brief apprenticeship six years  ago after he closed his Dongguan  plastic factory.
'The techniques are not hard to learn; it just takes a lot of patience  to do it well,' says Hui, 49. 
'When I worked in production,  I could make a new item if I messed one up. But with this kind of  repair you can't be wrong. Everything has to be right,' he says, as he fits a new heel on a sandal  in a workroom piled high with designer footwear and handbags.
'The materials are usually very delicate so you can't afford to make mistakes,' Ng says, displaying a Louis Vuitton handbag with a broken zipper. 'This job is difficult in the sense that I have to replace  the zipper when the handbag is already in shape. Usually the  zipper is the first thing to be sewn in when making a handbag. I have to hand-stitch in areas that the sewing machine can't handle.' 
The couple's reputation for being reliable and detail-oriented has also caught the attention of boutiques and leather stores, which now  make up about 40 per cent of their customers.
People who want a radical makeover of their bags can consult Ava Lau Ka-lai at Cat Products,  a small shop in Causeway Bay known for remodelling designer bags to custom designs and  producing custom-made handbags. 
'Some handbags are so worn out that it's a waste of money to get  them fixed. So I take the good parts and convert it  into something else,' says Lau. 'I love adventurous clients who know what they want.' 
Effie Chan, a project manager in a chemical plant, doesn't mind spending hundreds of dollars revamping outmoded handbags. The 30-year-old was amazed by the results when she had a gold Chanel backpack converted into a tote bag with the addition of some of  Lau's leather. 
'It's like having a new bag. My friends were curious about it and asked me where I got it. I really appreciate this concept. It's individualistic,' she says.
The idea of buying refurbished furniture is also catching on, says Richard Bowsie,  director of used furniture store 2nd Chance Trading (2ndchance.com.hk),  who reports a similar sales boost in the downturn. 
'There's only low-end or high-end furniture in the market,' says the former civil engineer, who opened his Tuen Mun store with wife Mavis Lui Kit-yan three years ago to tap the demand for affordable quality furniture. 
'We started with office furniture and  could probably make more money from that, but logistically it's a lot more difficult. Now we focus on home furniture because we enjoy interacting with the customers.
'People who can pay middle-range prices can't afford the most expensive stuff, so they end up getting inferior furniture. There's second-hand furniture online, but it's usually too much of a hassle to make arrangements to get it. We want to make it easier for them,' says Bowsie.
'But you can't be too greedy on the selling price because people are smart. If it's over HK$10,000, they can afford something new.'
Bowsie says the recession has also boosted their stock, which comes from expatriates leaving Hong Kong and companies and furniture stores  closing.
'We pick stuff that's in good condition and avoid budget stuff such as Ikea and Pricerite,' says Bowsie. 'People tend to be paranoid about second-hand furniture and jump on any excuse not to like it, so I make sure they are clean and nice,' Bowsie says. 'This is a perfect time for selling them because the public is getting more environmentally conscious.'



In with the old