Made-to-measure suit brands eye India

Bespoke, handcrafted, fine fabric… luxury suits are making

steady headway into the crème de la crème of Indian society. Italian menswear brands such as Canali, Zegna and Brioni are tapping the Indian market for their ‘made to measure’ custom tailored service. Reaching out to a very niche clientele, these luxury brands are opening up the market for sophisticated formal wear.

According to Roasie Ahluwalia, General Manager Marketing, Genesis Luxury Fashion, which markets and distributes the legendary Italian men’s wear brand Canali in India about a fifth of their sales revenue is from tailored suits. There is a definite clientele for tailored suits in India who are willing to pay a little extra and can wait for their suits to be made according to personal preferences. Canali’s ‘made to measure’ service can broadly range between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh, depending on the fabric. The brand flies down its master tailor from Italy two or three times a year to all their boutiques to meet clients who have fixed appointments for this service.

Among the Italian menswear brands, Brioni, founded by Nazareno Fonticoli and Gaetano Savini, has been synonymous with fine Italian tailoring for over 60 years. The brand is renowned also for dressing up James Bond celebrities, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Brioni boutiques feature VIP rooms for bespoke suits, which even today forms the company’s core business. Each Brioni suit is made by dozens of people, with special attention to design, stitching, ironing and testing methods.

Like Canali and Brioni, Zegna also has a ‘made to measure’ service ‘Su Misura’ which gives the customer a chance to choose the fabric, style and details. In fact, for suits, jackets and coats, one can make a choice from 450 different fabrics, patterns and colors. After the material is selected, a style that best suits the customer’s needs is chosen and then is further customized.