Dennis, Yes - I followed your suggestion and posted my contribution, which is to say that I believe Hugh's strategy is wrong. I don't think you can treat fine tailoring like fine art and artificially limit the supply to 100 number suits a year. The logical extension of this would be the suggestion made by somebody that he does this and auctions the suits to let the market decide. I can see that making an initial splash because it's so different, but not being sustainable. They can raise prices, but that begins to move them away from what you discussed as the core values of the brand - good value, hand made, Saville Row tailored, supervised by Thomas Mahon. Although I guess this really depends on whether Thomas wants a steady lifestyle business, or to become the Richard Branson of hand made, high quality clothes. If It's the latter, then he should be looking to takeover the rest of Saville Row and start some new brands alongside English Cut.
Andrew Smith
· 3 years ago
Useful article - for my wife. She is a bespoke shoemaker. More at Carre Ducker
Dennis Howlett
· 3 years ago
Wow - maybe she and Hugh should hook up?
Andrew Smith
· 3 years ago
Just what I was thinking ;-)
Hugh Macleod
· 3 years ago
David, who says the limitations are "artificial"?
I'm not even sure what you mean by "artificial".
If you decide to only work part-time, is that also "artificial"?
Both demand and supply have to be managed.
David Terrar
· 3 years ago
Hi Hugh, Maybe artificial is the wrong expression, but I simply meant you are planing limiting to 100 in the way an artist would for a limited edition print run. Obviously that's a slightly different type of business decision compared to deciding to only work so many hours producing suits, or deciding not to afford to hire another Saville Row tailor to increase production capacity. I agree that demand and supply need to be managed in their different ways. I still don't think a specfic limit by number, rather than by controlling production capacity of the artisans involved will add value to the brand. So I think the comparisons to an Aston Martin (or Morgan) are more valid than to the art world, and so I'd be advising Thomas to plan taking over the rest of Saville Row.
Dennis Howlett
· 3 years ago
The key question is 'What are customers buying?' Is it a service or a good? If it is a service that happens to have a good attached, then in theory, Hugh's in a strong position, provided customers are willing to pay for an enhanced service AND there is no reasonable substitute.
This doesn't take into account external factors that might impact demand. I don't for instance know whether historically, there has been a demand constant.
hugh macleod
· 3 years ago
It's only a brick wall if you didn't see it coming, Dennis :)
Dennis Howlett
· 3 years ago
What would now be really cool is a cartoon showing how you worked it all out on the empty packs of Marlborough for handing out to all those accountant types. i'm sure the word f*@k is in there somewhere...which has given me another idea.
All Comments
Yes - I followed your suggestion and posted my contribution, which is to say that I believe Hugh's strategy is wrong. I don't think you can treat fine tailoring like fine art and artificially limit the supply to 100 number suits a year. The logical extension of this would be the suggestion made by somebody that he does this and auctions the suits to let the market decide. I can see that making an initial splash because it's so different, but not being sustainable. They can raise prices, but that begins to move them away from what you discussed as the core values of the brand - good value, hand made, Saville Row tailored, supervised by Thomas Mahon. Although I guess this really depends on whether Thomas wants a steady lifestyle business, or to become the Richard Branson of hand made, high quality clothes. If It's the latter, then he should be looking to takeover the rest of Saville Row and start some new brands alongside English Cut.
Carre DuckerI'm not even sure what you mean by "artificial".
If you decide to only work part-time, is that also "artificial"?
Both demand and supply have to be managed.
Maybe artificial is the wrong expression, but I simply meant you are planing limiting to 100 in the way an artist would for a limited edition print run. Obviously that's a slightly different type of business decision compared to deciding to only work so many hours producing suits, or deciding not to afford to hire another Saville Row tailor to increase production capacity. I agree that demand and supply need to be managed in their different ways. I still don't think a specfic limit by number, rather than by controlling production capacity of the artisans involved will add value to the brand. So I think the comparisons to an Aston Martin (or Morgan) are more valid than to the art world, and so I'd be advising Thomas to plan taking over the rest of Saville Row.
This doesn't take into account external factors that might impact demand. I don't for instance know whether historically, there has been a demand constant.