Future of bespoke tailoring post pandemic

Covid has adversely impacted luxury retail in India with so many big ticket names shutting shops

Covid has adversely impacted luxury retail in India with so many big ticket names shutting shops. However, now that we are slowly moving out of the pandemic maze, it’s time to assess the future of handmade, customised and bespoke clothing. Considering that there’s been a conversation about responsible shopping and slow production, the importance of bespoke tailoring can’t be overlooked with customers favouring quality over quantity and repeat value as opposed to something trend-driven.  

The Sloper shirt (Photo: Instagram/NOONOO)

Karan Chawla, Co-founder of NOONOO says, “Bespoke tailoring in India has been on the rise in the last decade or so, and will become even more so prevalent in the times to come, considering the Indian men are becoming more aware, fashion forward and most importantly, fitness focused so the design aspect, detailing, and the fit most importantly is becoming oh so important.” The label recently launched their bespoke service and Karan sees this segment growing100%. “ We feel this has been a tier 1 city phenomena, but now we see requests coming in from other cities as well. We want to ensure we give each and every customer a feeling on personalisation to get them back to the brand, hence this is here to stay and how. 

Designer Jatin Malik opines that couture as a term is still evolving. “It has been a dormant category and people sometimes confuse its meaning or do not know the facets of bespoke tailoring that they can explore. Bespoke tailoring derives its beauty from drafting the pattern from scratch accompanied by the high quality of construction. However, there is a better world awaiting bespoke tailoring in India as it, as a category, has a huge gamut in the market,” says Malik whose label works on the parameters of customisation. 

A model sports a bespoke look (Photo: Instagram/JatinMalikCouture)

”We have to take couture by its literal meaning and then only we can serve our part to the industry. In the wedding industry, from all the kingpins to the designers in the embryonic phase, explore the surface of bespoke. People are inclined more towards the attention to details and back story and what better way to convey one than through a prêt-à-porter.The world getting struck by pandemic had its opportunities and obstacles. The requests during the pandemic were usually being made for the custom-made outfits, through video calls. We have seen the numbers quadrupled in the post-Covid times. With a downfall in Covid cases, people are now able to come out of their houses and get their couture pieces according to their body size and shape.As stated earlier, the potential that bespoke tailoring holds in the Indian market is uncanny. People now are so well travelled, they understand the importance of individuality and want to explore the layers of designs,fabrics, embroideries or silhouettes,” adds he.   

manish.mishra1@hindustantimes.com