Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
With more than six decades of experience, veteran tailor Benny Woo has seen both the rise and the fall of Hong Kong’s world-famous tailoring industry amid changing fashion trends.
In November last year, the 77-year-old decided to close his shop in Sheung Wan and relocate to a unit in a commercial building to continue serving his existing customers.
“Business used to be great. Managerial staff at big international companies would always wear suits,” he said. “But that is no longer the case after the pandemic.”
Gradual decline
Woo’s experience is common among tailors of his generation.
Lingnan University assistant professor Katon Lee Kai-chun, who researches tailoring in Hong Kong, explained the heyday of suit-making.
“During the Vietnam war, American military personnel came to Hong Kong for what was known as ‘rest and recuperation’. One of the main things they did was buy suits,” Lee said.
Hong Kong became known for quick custom suits, he said, adding that this industry put the city on the map.
According to Lee, after the Vietnam war ended, demand for suits dropped sharply, and there was a major dearth of tailors in Hong Kong from the 1980s onwards, as wages were too low to attract new blood into the industry.
But around the turn of the century, there was a slight revival when the city’s tailors began focusing on high-end suits.
Tailoring’s heyday
Woo came to Hong Kong from Shanghai at the age of seven and began as an apprentice under his father at 14.
Three years later, he began working independently amid high demand for the skill in the 1960s.
“It was so easy. If you resigned in the morning, you could start working somewhere else by the afternoon,” he said.
His clientele consisted mainly of American tourists because it was cheaper to have custom suits made in Hong Kong than in the United States, he said.
According to Woo, business began to slow down in the late 1970s, as fewer American tourists came to Hong Kong after the end of the Vietnam war.
Mainland China’s opening up in the 1980s also introduced cheaper labour for making clothes.
After a few other jobs, Woo decided in 2018 to open a tailoring shop and did “very well” despite the pandemic.
Now, changing tastes have meant there is not enough business, but he is not ready to retire yet.
“As long as I’m fit and able to get things done, I’ll keep at it,” he said.
