Hong Kong may be bursting at the seams with tailor-made togs, but quantity doesn’t necessarily equal quality when it comes to bespoke menswear.
Lucky for you sartorially savvy gents, we’ve gone ahead and separated the wheat from the chaff. Here are your top five speed-dials for everything from razor-sharp suiting to custom-crafted kicks.
Y William Yu
Billy’s bolthole has been HK’s dapper dandy go-to for more 50 years, specialising in timeless tailoring and handmade dress shirts. Choose from an enviable stash of Loro Piana cashmere and Holland & Sherry textiles, or let frontman Andy Wong and his team of dab-handed designers take the lead in sizing, styling and sorting you a spiffy new number. M-goi sai!
G/F, 46 Mody Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. +852 2369 2141. ywilliamyu.com.hk
The Armoury
Ask the city’s most stylish fellas where they got their threads, and the answer invariably leads back to this one-stop artisanal haberdasher, where big brands are eschewed in favour of a tight edit of specialised European and Japanese designers. Have your garments snipped and zipped to perfection, or if you’re passing through at pace, The Armoury’s in-house tailors can tweak your tux to-go. There’s also a covetable collection of off-the-rack casualwear and accessories spanning cufflinks to leather goods to brollies.
307 Pedder Building, Central. +852 2810 4990. thearmoury.com
Kow Hoo
It’s said a pair of 5-inch custom shoes from Hong Kong’s oldest cobbler is the secret to Sammy Davis Jr’s well-heeled success, and this storied Shanghai-born import will fix you some too. Take a walk on the wild side in a pair of impeccably handcrafted hooves available in your choice of exotic ostrich, eel, snake, lizard or croc skins, and when the time comes for your next pair, simply call in to have ‘em whipped up using your personal wooden foot last (they’re kept on file for at least seven years). But buyer be warned – these beauties begin at a hefty HKD10,000. Amex at the ready, Freddy…
Shop 243, 2/F, Prince’s Bldg, 10 Chater Rd, Central. +852 2523 0489. kowhoo.com.hk
Smith & Norbu
Voguish visionaries flock to this teeny spec shop, fitting custom Tibetan buffalo and yak-horn-plated eyewear and accessories in a panoply of shapes and colours. Not only is each pair rigorously hand-cut, pressed, sawed and polished, they come delightfully snuggled in a monogrammed Kashgar leather case that’s been tanned and organically dyed with natural plant extracts and pigments. Allow approximately eight weeks lead time.
4/F, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen St, Central. +852 2541 8118. smith-norbu.com
Fungus Workshop
Leatherware spoils abound in this adorable studio, but beyond the one-of-a-kind, handcrafted hide bags and accessories, this nabe nook is also well known for its handy leather-crafting workshops. Learn to hand-stitch, line, fasten and finish your very own statement pieces in their 2-day or 4-session classes, and take home the goodies when you’re done. DIY-not!
G/F, 1 Leung I Fong, Sai Ying Pun, +852 9477 4166. fungusworkshop.net
