In Beijing, "Hong Du" is a traditional, well-known brand for tailoring service. Under the support of former premier Zhou Enlai, the brand was established in Beijing in 1953. Since then, the tailor masters of "Hong Du" have been making suits for generations of Chinese top leaders and foreign dignitaries. In fact, Mao Zedong was wearing a Hong Du tunic suit when he posed for the portrait currently hanging on Tiananmen.

A ten-minute walk from Tiananmen Square will take you to the flagship store of Hong Du. The main hall looks rather spacious. Apart from Chinese tunic suit and Qipao, they also make business suits, formal dresses, swallow-tailed coats, jackets, and shirts.

The various top-grade fabrics are imported from abroad. Including labor, prices for a suit made with Italian fabrics range from 8,700 yuan to 15,000 yuan. While a suit made from British fabrics would cost 15,000 yuan to 23,000 yuan.

The shop assistant told me that making one suit generally takes a month. And you need to go to the shop three times: the first to select fabric and style, the second to try it on, and the third to pick it up.

The shop also provides alteration service.

What I appreciated

Famous brand, top-rank tailor-made service

What customers appreciate

Chinese old brand, top-quality and handcrafted clothes

Located at the east of Sanyuan Bridge, A·Helen Fashion Studio provides top class tailoring service. They offer more than 5,000 kinds of domestic and import fabrics. Due to their designers’ superb cutting and technical skills, the studio has authorization to use the top international fabric brands.  Their designers are highly experienced with years of overseas designing experience, so customers can get quality custom-tailoring service meeting international standard.

For ladies, the designers create a customized design based on occupation, personality and taste.  They make clothes for all occasions, including business wear, daily wear, wedding dresses, evening gowns, and even traditional Chinese dresses. A·Helen combines western high-grade fashion with the traditional Chinese workmanship for their Chinese-style garments.

For men, they offer over 2,000 kinds of domestic and import suit fabrics, and over 500 different high-quality shirt fabrics. You don’t have to worry about being unable to finding the right fit.

A·Helen’s senior designers and tailors deeply involve the customer throughout the process. First they help you pick a design style and a choice of fabric. Then, the designer calls upon you for a sample fitting. If the fitting goes well, you can pick up your finished clothes the next visit. Otherwise, you will need a re-fitting. The entire process takes about 15-20 days. But in the end, you will get a truly personalized suit.

Prices for ladies’ wear range from RMB 2,000 to RMB 22,000. For men, suits range from RMB 2,600~90,000. Minimum price for formal attire is RMB 2,200. For a Chinese style suit, price starts at RMB 1600.

Please call for an appointment in advance if you’d like to pay a visit to the studio.

What I appreciated

Professional fashion studio, outstanding designers and tailors, world’s top brands of fabrics, personalized custom-tailoring service.

What customers appreciate

Quality fabrics, combining western and oriental designing styles, top-quality tailor-made clothes.

Lisa Tailor Shop is located on the fifth floor of 3.3 Fashion Plaza, Sanlitun. The owners of the shop, Mr. Gao and his wife, come from the Jiangsu province. Mr. Gao’s father was a tailor as well, so the son took over from his father. He established his shop at the opening of the 3.3 Fashion Plaza building in October 2005, having already quite some experience in his trade.

The shop

Getting to the fifth floor, you’ll find the Lisa Tailor Shop just behind the escalator. The shop occupies approximately 100 square meters. Behind its window panes, there are ready-made clothes on display: suits, overcoats, and Cheongsams.

In the shop, various fabrics in rolls are shown across the tables and on the shelves. The shop has a neat look and feel, with a wood floor, a clean floor plan, and a fitting room.

Fabrics, patterns, and make

According to the owner, all the fabrics carried by Lisa Tailor are made in China and of the same quality as comparable foreign fabrics. Lisa Tailor backs up its claim with a full guarantee on fabrics.

A number of design patterns are available to customers. They can also bring their own patterns.

Customers’ orders are both machine-made and hand-made in the suburbs of Beijing. Lisa Tailor reiterates how important quality is to the shop’s philosophy.

Categories and prices

Shirts: A cotton shirt costs RMB 80.

Suits: A pure wool or cashmere suit costs RMB 800 ~ RMB 1500.

Cheongsams: A silk Cheongsam costs RMB 500 ~ RMB 850.

Making process

A.    See pictures, choose your favorite pattern & fabric, measurements are taken.

B.    Try on the semi-ready clothes.

C.    Wait 2 to 7 days.

D.    Pick up your clothes when ready.

The shop also offers a superfast 24h turnaround, at no extra charge.

Advantages

The owner of Lisa Tailor is proud of his shop’s comfortable environment, the attention to detail which characterizes his service, the quick turnaround, and the high quality offered at reasonable prices.

Recommendation

In my opinion, the owners of Lisa Tailor Shop are kind, honest and responsible. I am pleased to recommend this custom-tailoring shop to you.