The suit is not dead but it’s getting more casual, say tailors amid comfort wear’s rise and the demise of Brooks Brothers
- The formal suit is not the office uniform it once was, but bespoke and made-to-measure tailors say suits will survive the pandemic that’s spurred casual wear
- Whether in Hong Kong or London, they report a shift away from sharp lapels and hard edges and towards more casual styling and comfortable fits
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought Hong Kong’s world-famous tailoring industry to its knees, says Stanton Ho, co-founder of menswear establishment Refinery. Dressy social occasions have been lost in the dust of lockdowns and social distancing rules. Office rules and dress codes have changed, perhaps forever.
The world is distracted by an unfolding tragedy that has paralysed businesses and upended lives, and stylish formal workwear has been shelved – at least for a while. The tailored business suit, worn almost as a uniform at office meetings and conferences around the world for a century, has lost ground and may be on the way out, especially for younger generations.
Ho and his partners were forced to close their bespoke tailoring Refinery store in Hong Kong’s Central district during the pandemic to concentrate on running their online business and flagship store in Tsim Sha Tsui.
“A lot of people in fashion retail, especially tailoring, have taken a big hit,” he says. “Even before the pandemic, we were seeing a general trend toward dressing down. Covid accelerated that process. During some of our worst months we saw business drop by 70 to 80 per cent.”
He says the slump has been felt across the tailoring industry, and he knows of many Hong Kong establishments that have been forced to either cut back or close altogether.
More than 95 per cent of Refinery’s business is local, he says, and tailors that rely more on visitors than on local trade have been hit the hardest by social changes during the pandemic and Hong Kong’s stringent border restrictions.
