Brimming with as much charm as confidence, Fokke de Jong is explaining over a latte how his recently opened London shop Suitsupply has “absolutely no competition whatsoever”. Considering that the Dutchman’s first UK outpost is but a button’s throw from Savile Row, the cradle of gentlemen’s tailoring, this seems a very bold claim indeed.

Suitsupply’s business strategy is nothing if not audacious. By adapting the high street model of vertical integration for a higher-end market, the 20-store mini-chain controls everything from cloth weaving to the final sale – a process that has essentially unravelled the sector’s traditional economics. In seven years, the former law student has sewn up 20% of the independent men’s suit business in the Benelux countries – his flagship Amsterdam store boasts 700 square metres – and the London store will be followed this summer with one in Olympic-fevered Shanghai.

“When we started we used a supplier in Italy, mostly to construct bespoke suits using exquisite, time-honoured techniques,” says de Jong. “We still use top Italian fabrics but we spent two years and a lot of money and effort to recreate those labour-intensive techniques in a more automated fashion. I grew a lot of grey hairs, but now it’s one of our competitive edges.”

De Jong is not afraid to spill the beans on the economics of this little-understood niche – territory that would probably include Hugo Boss, Corneliani and even some Ermenegildo Zegna lines: “The cost price of a top suit is €150; usually you’d then add €200 for branding, a further €60 for the sales agent and then double it to get a retail figure of €800-€1,000,” he says. “Actually,” he adds, “most Hugo Boss suits would fail our tests for quality and fit. We make an ‘unfused’ suit meaning that the shape of the garment is created using natural, non-synthetic materials and camel hair allowing very thin seams, resulting in superior fit and comfort.”

By cutting out intermediaries, De Jong says, he can provide off-the-peg suits for €199-€300, and made-to-measure for €300-€800. “We do not offer the sort of multiple fittings that made Savile Row famous,” he readily concedes, “but we take 30 unique measurements that are fed into a computer console on the shop floor, and the suit arrives six weeks later.” In other words the product is a uniquely cut item and not just “altered”.

It is not just the use of technology that defines Suitsupply. Its attention-grabbing website features male models accessorised with snakes and tarantulas and a topless woman atop a horse. The gimmicks though belie the attention to in-store expertise. Staff must enrol in “Suitschool” for three months before they are allowed near a customer and focus on the product is paramount. His collections are reworked twice-yearly and to freshen things up a different designer is employed in each market to accommodate local sartorial preferences. “If we have a strategy it is based on only – and I mean only – selling suits,” says De Jong. “We have not diversified into casualwear or shoes.”

Consequently, De Jong does not see himself ever competing with the high street. Moreover, his outlets tend to be located in low footfall locations. “Our 20-25% year-on-year growth is mainly from word-of-mouth. There is the low end and the high end and not much in between. We’ve been able to create space in every market we’ve been in.”

The man who discovered his entrepreneurial spirit renting out graduation gowns to fellow law students insists that retail is highly rewarding because it engages “left and right sides of the brain – the creative and the commercial – in equal measure.”

Profile

First month of trading January 2000. December 2007 in the UK
Start-up money 10,000 NGL (€4,500)
Product range Suits, shirts and ties
Sales channels Own retail outlets, never wholesale. Currently conducting online retail feasibility studies
Marketing 80-90% of business is generated through word of mouth, some online and viral marketing, which may increase in the future