Inner Engineering

Wharton-educated couturier Tarun Tahiliani laughs when he admits he is only working with twins or triplets now. First with the artists, the Singh twins, and now with Mahesh and Suresh Ramakrishnan (two of a set of triplets— their other brother Ganesh is not part of the business and works with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Suresh, an investment banker, and Mahesh, a strategy consultant from New York, gave up their cushy jobs, ten years ago, to start their own tailoring unit, Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, in Savile Row, England. And they named it after two streets in Mayfair, UK, where the best bespoke suits in the world are tailored—part of a 200-year-old tradition. It had a ‘nice ring to it’!

The Chennai-born triplets have tied up with Tahiliani, the undisputed prince of drapes, to offer 13 exclusive styles, in countless fabrics and colours, for discerning men who want something superior to the best. The duo took on extensive R&D before they narrowed down on their business blueprint—high-end offerings with an edge. “We needed suits every day, so we went around New York to big stores like Bloomingdales and observed the huge price differences for suits from the same company—some were priced at $300 and others at $3,000 and above,” says Mahesh. “It was a big gap, but slowly we discovered it was due to the superior construction techniques used to craft a piece that raised the price.” This was the beginning of their venture; they moved to the UK and set up their tailoring unit, which has its roots with a factory in Chennai. “We wanted to provide employment to destitute women and tsunami-hit victims, so we trained them in men’s tailoring and the finished product will be sent finally from London, after almost a 30-measurement-long process,” Mahesh explains.

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They had the right idea. The luxury market is currently at $2.5 billion and is predicted to grow to an astronomical $4 billion soon. With that, the fastest growing sector will be menswear, which unlike women’s wear is still an unexplored and less saturated market.

Here, the integral part is the sculpted shape that they offer, which takes the form of the body and is completely customised. “Canvas is used inside, along with horse hair and domette inter linings that play up the strengths and veil the weaknesses (like a paunch or heavy shoulders),” says Mahesh, whose company also serves Middle Eastern royalty. “In my experience, men will prefer something comfortable and easy-to-wear with a great fit.”

With a starting price of `1.25 lakhs, the suits can go up to `2 lakhs for bandhgalas, sherwanis and bundis with Tahiliani’s impeccable touch, giving the modern Indian man more than just a suit to wear on formal occasions. Fabrics like silk, wool and cashmere have been sourced from the best in the English tailoring world like Holland and Sherry as well as Scabal. “Here, you can chose your fabrics and colours, too— so it needn’t always be black and velvet, it is made for you with your interests in mind,” says Tahiliani. “It doesn’t restrict your mobility nor does it constrict you in any way And I think, the younger, well travelled generation will adapt to this change quite swiftly.” The line will be available at Tahiliani’s Chattarpur Couture Studio, by appointment only.

What makes this collaboration robust is the fact that there is a fleeting caress of Indian aesthetics involved with Tahiliani’s draped collars, the chikankari kurta or jewelled buttons. “Most people think drapes are only meant for women,but here I have shown that men, too, can get a real taste of it with the draped waistcoat tied with chain buttons,” says Tahiliani. Dinner suits are pre-shrunk and shaped, with a natty fabric layering on top, with Savile Row’s ‘gold mine’ of a history, famous for mixing functionality and elegance—the real deal clincher. Tahiliani was approached by the brothers last year and was excited about the idea of structured clothing for men, which offered unrestrained style as well as immense comfort. “I will add eight to ten more styles depending on the response,” he reveals. “The high point for me was their fabrics, which they source from the finest mills in England with a rich, 150-year-old history. Everything is executed by hand— buttons are set by hand and waistbands are moulded to take the shape of the body,” concludes Tahiliani.