Made to measure
Shanghai tailors cut out a career that can be challenging but always suits their talent, He Qi reports.
In a small alley in Jing’an Villa, a residential complex built in 1932 in Shanghai’s city center, there is a 12-square-meter room.
The walls and ceilings of the room are covered not with wallpaper or paintings but with suits, coats and shirts. Three small tables that can be used to sew and cut cloth and a single bed are the only other items.
Outside the half-meter wide door is a yellowing sign written in red paint: Tao Ji Luxury Brand Tailor Shop. It is the studio where Tao Peiqing has worked since 1997.
Tao arrived in Shanghai from Suzhou, Jiangsu province, in 1990. He was already a skilled tailor. After being introduced to Weihai Road Kindergarten in Jing’an district, he made customized uniforms and clothes for teachers and students.
“I was born in 1965. Many post60s generation people chose to learn skills to make a living after leaving school, since it was not easy to find a job at that time,” says Tao, who mastered his craft as an apprentice for about three years and made his first garment, a Chinese tunic suit, when he was 17.
At that time, tailors in Shanghai enjoyed a stellar reputation at home and abroad.
Among them, the most famous group was the “red gang tailors”. These were tailors who had made clothes for foreigners. They opened the first suit shops and established Shanghai Tailoring College, which became a national trendsetter.
Tao recalls that in the 1980s and 1990s it was popular to buy fabrics and invite skillful tailors to make clothes. He used to go to customers’ homes to take their measurements and then make clothes for them at home.
Zhang Jie, owner of No 122 Tailor Shop several lanes away from Tao Ji, had similar experiences as Tao.
Zhang came to Shanghai in 1985 from Taixing, Jiangsu province, to learn tailoring and he used to follow his mentor to spend the whole day with one family and make more than 10 pieces of clothes together.
However, the customization business struggled after many foreign brands surged into the domestic market from the late 1990s, which forced Tao and Zhao to find another way to make a living.
“Shanghai is a very open city, so a large number of international brands poured into the market,” Tao says.
“European designs are fine, fit well, and can be exquisite. For example, the lining used by Dior and Chanel is made of silk or some fine fabrics. Moreover, the fabric is a monopolized industry and the postprocessing skill in Europe is very good. It is difficult to make good quality clothes without great fabric,” Tao says.
“It was hard for our domestic brands to compete with fast retailing brands such as Uniqlo and Zara, which offer more choice. So some traditional brands with good handicrafts gradually left the stage,” he adds.
However, since the size and cuttings of foreign brands that are designed for foreigners do not fit most Chinese people due to their different body shape, the clothing layout needs to be adjusted.
“As Shanghai has always been a fashion capital, people are particular about clothes and pursue good brands that also fit well. So, altering clothes has become our new way out,” he adds.
Tao’s tailoring business was booming and more people joined.
Tao recalls that there were eight to 10 tailor shops in the villa, like Tao Ji, in 2010. And during the peak period, about 28 stores in the nearby shopping malls asked Tao to alter clothes.
Gradually, business improved so much that they all hired extra staff.
“Working overtime became normal for me to finish orders in time. I often stayed up until 3 am. Sometimes I fell asleep at the sewing machine,” Tao says.
Other tailor outlets such as Mei Mei, Xiao Huang, and Xiao Hang were latecomers that launched their stores after 2000. They benefited from the agglomeration effect and received many orders from some fast-retailing brands and are still open along with Tao Ji and No 122.
Although the number of people joining the industry is increasing, altering clothes is never as easy as actually making them.
“Each set of ready-to-wear clothes has a different model and cutting. A good tailor needs to make it fit the customer’s body shape without damaging the original model,” Tao says.
Tao explains that altering a suit begins with measuring the shoulder width, chest, waist, sleeve length and other dimensions. Then comes removing the lining, drawing, cutting and resewing the suit according to the customer’s body shape while keeping the original model.
“Each step takes time and consumes labor and it takes a skilled tailor about two days to change a suit,” Tao says.
Over the years, e-commerce has made an impact and orders received by those tailor stores have decreased. Among the five stores, only Tao Ji still hires tailors to help.
At the same time, emerging online altering platforms, such as eTailor, which provide a more convenient clothing altering mode, are attracting customers from the traditional tailoring industry.
The high offline cost also made it hard for alteration stores to survive. Tao Ji pays a 5,000 yuan ($774) rent per month while Mei Mei pays 7,000 yuan.
But Tao says the biggest challenge of the alteration business is not about rent or emerging competitors but that there are no successors.
“Tailoring now is a job that needs a lot of effort but has less income. So there are few young people who are willing to learn the skill,” Tao says.
Tao once met a college student who majored in fashion design, who asked him to help her cut the graduation works because she only knew how to draw.
“You need to have a concept of the material selection and cutting methods in your mind before drawing. And all process needs to be completed by yourself. Otherwise, how can you become a designer?
“Our designers have ideas but lack basic skill. In Europe, most young designers learn skills and theories together, and we should provide more opportunities for our young designers to not only learn but also practice,” he adds.
Each set of ready-towear clothes has a different model and cutting. A good tailor needs to make it fit the customer’s body shape without damaging the original model.”
Tao Peiqing, Tao Ji Luxury Brand Tailor Shop