The custom suit in the $51B menswear industry
And we thought Winona Ryder's socks from Saks were expensive at $80 per stolen pair! Another story, this time in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), about the rise of the custom suit:
Despite the best efforts of the $51-billion-a-year menswear industry, khakis and knit shirts still reign as the business-casual uniform in most U.S. workplaces. Annual sales of suits, blazers and dress slacks actually fell 10% to $4.76 billion in 2001 from $5.3 billion in 1998, according to NPD Group Inc., a market information company.
Now, some high-end retailers are going after the highest end of the market instead, actively cultivating the pockets of sharp-dressing, well-to-do men who are willing to pay top dollar for a customized, made-to-measure suit....Saks Inc.'s Saks Fifth Avenue says it sold a record 150 made-to-measure suits in the spring; on one recent weekend in October, it took orders for 174 suits and 47 shirts. Later this year, Saks will introduce a $900 made-to-measure suit -- $300 less than its current lowest-priced option. In an effort to lure more first-timers to the category, Brooks Brothers has priced a made-to-measure suit as low as $800.