Suit Republic Review

[PaulSim26]

Hey all,

For those of you interested in purchasing custom suits while you’re in China, I just wanted to drop in and tell you about my recent experience at Suit Republic in the Polycenter.

The store is located up on the 17th floor in building A, quite easy to find. Upon walking in, it struck me as much smaller than I expected. Sales people were friendly, but could barely speak English and are not knowledgeable about men’s suits or fashion at all. Aside from handing you a book of fabrics, they will not clearly walk you through the steps of customizing your suit nor will they make suggestions aside from “I like that” or “I think it’s good”. For a newbie to “bespoke” suits, you will definitely be left feeling without direction.

In terms of price, on my first visit I was quoted prices of 2600 RMB and 3600RMB for a two piece suit and a tie, depending on fabric choice. They also had a promotion offering 2 suits for 5000RMB, again depending on fabric. Turnaround time on the suits would be one month or more. At first glance, the prices on the suits seem reasonable, if not very inexpensive. However, this is far from the truth.

For perspective, I was quoted a price of 3800RMB from a well-known tailor in Beijing for a two piece suit made from high quality Italian imported Vitale Barberis Canonico fabric. What’s on offer at Suit Republic doesn’t even come close to this, yet is nearly the same price. For the quality of fabric they are offering, you can travel over to Shan Xi Jie right here in Chengdu and have a suit of equal or better quality made for less than half the price and in 1/4 the amount of time. Probably less.

When I went back to Suit Republic a second time I was looking for just a custom shirt as a gift for my father in law. We were quoted a price of 600RMB (about 90 USD) for a single shirt of medium quality. This price is deplorable, to say the least. I could pay less at a tailor in America and I have found tailors all across China who charge less than half for similar quality. For perspective, one of the top end tailors in Hong Kong charges 700RMB for a shirt made from the HIGHEST quality Italian imported fabric.

Further, in regards to the fabrics, the selection is very limited. Worst of all, the presentation of their fabrics is highly misleading. Many of their options are in books with covers that say “Made in Italy”, yet they are all Chinese, as was confirmed by the ladies in the store. However, you would not know this unless you asked specifically. This is inexcusable and is just shameful business practice.

Honestly, I would say if you are serious about getting a true bespoke suit, this is absolutely NOT the shop you want to go to. You’re in China. Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing are a short flight away. In these cities you will find a vast number of tailors offering faster, higher quality service and materials at a much lower cost. You will also find a true “bespoke” experience, where the same person who measures you is the same person who cuts your suit. Or at the very least, the person who measures you is actually knowledgeable about men’s fashion and has the language skills to communicate with you and meet your needs. If you don’t have the option of traveling outside of Chengdu, then head over to Shan Xi Jie. There you will find similar quality materials for around 1000RMB per suit and is in my opinion a much better option.

[Charlie]

Yikes. This is not good to hear, but thanks for sharing your experience.

[Michael M]

Hi Paul, thanks for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear you were not 100% happy with our services. You can add my wechat (Ukmichael) and I’d be happy to discuss the problems you have highlighted with you directly.

We try to stand out by offering highest quality fabrics while still maintaining affordable prices, to do this we mainly use domestic fabrics to keep our costs to a reasonable level. We are open about this and domestic fabrics actually does not necessarily mean lower in quality. Many shops in Chengdu and elsewhere in China purport to offer brand name imported fabrics, and unfortunately in most cases these are not the real thing, especially if the price for a suit is in the 3-4000 range, you can be sure the fabric is not legit, this is not something we are willing to do or have ever done. We do have one selection of non-brand name imported fabrics in our Chengdu shop, which is probably where you noticed the ‘Made in Italy’, sorry for any confusion.

As with any service there are a wide range of prices and service on the market, we do strive to provide the best service possible and I believe that we do provide value for money to our customers. In Chengdu and Chongqing we now have hundreds of satisfied customers, and we are always trying to improve our products, service and staff training. Sorry that this we didn’t meet your expectations and thank you for your feedback.

[Author]

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