What makes a tailored jacket different from anything else in your wardrobe is the structure that it has. It feels and looks very obviously different from limp garments like shirts.
It has a shape of its own, independent of the wearer’s body. The shoulders appear sculpted. The chest is smooth and convex. There is concavity in the waist.
This is possible thanks to the canvas under the shell fabric. Without the canvas, the jacket would look disheveled and unstructured like a shirt does.
The canvas is a multi-layer composite of rough animal hair and horse tail hair. The natural hairs provide a springy understructure. The shell fabric lies smoothly on top of this canvas understructure, without being bonded to it. This is called the fully canvassed construction.
However, since the 80’s, the introduction of synthetic glues made the natural hair canvas obsolete. It was replaced by the fusible interlining. Essentially, a synthetic cloth with micro dots of glue is bonded to the shell fabric.
Nonetheless it retains a canvas albeit a much more basic one, and only in the upper part of the jacket.
This is called the half-canvassed construction. It is a lower standard of constructing a jacket, compared to the traditional fully canvassed method. I specialise in making fully canvassed suits. About 80 per cent of our suits are in the fully canvassed construction.
THAT’S THE CONSTRUCTION. HOW ABOUT THE FIT?
I follow a traditional approach to the fit. For me, the fit is a purely technical matter and has a very long tradition.
This is distinct from the style, which is arbitrary and subject to the cycles of fashion. For style, I strive for timelessness, unless the customer persuades me otherwise.
Fit is where the garment moves effortlessly with you and looks unforced and natural on you. The garment has to check many technical criteria for this to happen. It is never an accident.
Even for the top cutters in the world, two fittings are required to achieve this level of fit.
WHAT PRODUCTS ARE YOU OFFERING IN BRUNEI?
Suits, since this is our main product. This includes the tuxedo, which we make a lot of. Both fully canvassed which we specialise in, and half canvassed for those on a budget. Bespoke shirts and bespoke trousers too.
WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS LIKE?
I will need to see the customer at least three times for a suit. The first time we meet, I discuss the customer’s needs and suggest solutions. I measure him.
When I’m back in Kuala Lumpur (KL), I draft his personal patterns on paper. These will be filed away for future orders. From these paper patterns, mock ups of the garments will be cut and sewn. These are known as muslins. The second time we meet will be for a muslin fitting. I assess the fit on the customer. When I return to KL, I modify the customer’s paper patterns based on the findings of the fitting.
The third time we meet is a repeat of the previous, except the muslin will be pretty close to the optimal fit.
Once in KL, I modify his patterns once more. Then the garments go into final sewing.
Once the garments have been made, the customer can have them delivered or picked up during my visit.
