This summer, Indochino opened a new menswear store in North York's Yorkdale Mall. The Vancouver-based company sells accessories and custom shirts, but their specialty seems to be made-to-measure suiting.
Kevin Gardiner, the showroom lead at the newly opened location, had me come in for a walk-through of the custom suit process. As we went through the steps, he was kind enough to offer tips on how to make the most of the first time experience.
The first visit starts by choosing a colour group and then a pattern within that family. Most fabrics they carry are an all-season weight that can be worn in pretty much any weather.
The number of measurements Indochino needs to build your suit range into the double digits, so it's important to be prepared for a thorough session with the tailor's tape measure. Gardiner says there is no need to wear anything in particular to the initial appointment as long as it is reasonably close-fitting — sweats and a hoodie make things more difficult for him.
Every suit is based on a half-canvassed framework, and once a fabric is chosen and measurements are taken, a slew of details can be customized. These range from the shape of the lapels to the number of buttons, all the way to a contrast colour for the fabric under the collar.
Kevin says his job, at this point, is often to simultaneously help new customers not feel overwhelmed by all the choices, but also to keep them from customizing just because they can. For first suits, in particular, he strongly recommends staying away from working buttons on the sleeves (also known as surgeon's cuffs) because they make it more difficult to adjust the sleeve length after the suit is made.
(IMAGE: CJ BAEK)
He also says that he plays a critical role in terms of managing expectations around timing. Indochino says it takes four to six weeks to deliver the suit and then alterations (quite common until they have a customer's profile perfected) or remakes can add another four weeks. That means that lead times are critical for weddings and other must-have-it occasions.
For more on the Indochino process, as well as his thoughts on men's' fashion, I connected by phone with Tom Kearnan, their director of fashion.
What is a director of fashion?
It is a director of merchandising and apparel development. I look at all the future trends and decide on all the fabrics and customizations that we make available to our customers.
What is the difference between made-to-measure and off-the-rack?
There are two aspects. One is the perfect fit. It’s very difficult for the average guy today — we are much more athletic than we were 15 years ago — to get that off the rack. And, also, individualized fashion. So, you can pick your own look, have it your way and not have to go to an extreme fashion label to get it. You’re able to get it at an easy-to-deal-with price in fabrics that are well accepted, but a lot of attention is paid to the detail and how you want to wear your look.
Do you find that a lot of your customers are tall or short?
Actually, the majority of our customers fit into the average. That’s the core of our business. We love dealing with the extremes, as well, because it challenges us to make sure they look good also.
Are there decisions a new customer should make beforehand or something he should have in mind before his first visit?
The only idea that you need to have in mind is that you want to look good. We’re prepared to make it to your proportions — tall or wide or short. Our shop guys are very well-versed in helping these guys. Does a double-breasted suit look good on your body type? Or is a three-button suit good for you? They can guide the customer through these things. Because, the taller you are, you don’t want to accentuate the height, you just want to make yourself look good.
First-timers who are going in, are there pitfalls?
I think you have to be comfortable with what you’re picking. There’s two things for first-timers that we hear a lot of feedback on. Guys don’t realize the time it takes to get your first suit perfect. They have, maybe, an accelerated timeline in mind. With a first suit, you might need to have a second fitting or some minor alterations until your profile is perfect.
Also, they do kind of get awestruck at the number of things you can do, and they might not have thought about things like “well, what’s my perfect monogram?” or “what lapel did I really want?"
That’s somewhere that a person like Kevin can guide them through the process and help simplify it.
Theoretical situation: For someone who has just landed his first job, say at a law firm or an accounting firm and already has a plain navy suit, what are the next two suits he should buy?
Definitely a mid-tone grey. I think, for your third suit, you should definitely step up to some kind of pattern, and you could do that in either the blue or the grey family. Or take it very classic, especially if it is a law firm, and you could go with a Prince of Wales.
With the Prince of Wales, especially if you’ve chosen mid tones of grey and blue [for the first two suits], you can start mixing the three-piece together. So, your navy jacket with the Prince of Wales trousers will work, or you could wear the vest with the grey suit.
Are there any trends that you see coming to suits over the next two years?
Colour is making a huge comeback in men's clothing. That mean slightly brighter blues or textured tonal patterns, nothing too extreme. There is a resurgence of some of the classic patterns, but I think that’s just generational. For these twenty-something or early-thirties guys, it skipped their fathers, but their grandfathers used to wear them. So the chalk-stripe, the glen check, those types of patterns — they're staples, but they're making a return to the scene with the younger guys.
(IMAGE: CJ BAEK)
From my visit, I got the sense that you guys focus on suits first and shirts second, is there a third specialty?
We're really expanding our accessory assortment, as well: Our neckties, cufflinks, tie bars and pocket squares so that we can offer the complete look and the tailored look.
We have a huge success rate with our shirt bundles. A lot of guys for their first made-to-measure experience will try out the shirts first and get a little more comfortable with the whole experience. It's a little bit less of an investment, so we find that with the younger crowd, a shirt bundle or even an individual shirt might be their first purchase.
What type of events are men buying a suit for at this time of year?
Weddings are a huge focus of our business, and we're very successful with this because we do ship globally, and we now have showrooms in multiple cities across North America, so the groom's whole team doesn't have to be in the same city to get the same experience.
Another focus for what we do is first time interviews after graduating or first-time jobs. I've met someone in our Vancouver showroom who came in for his interview suit, landed the job and within three months, had bought his first six suits from us. So, he's starting out with us and then continuing his career with us in mind.
