We may have been proudly stationed in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, since our establishment in 1896, but at Dugdale Bros we’re always on the move – spreading the word of our fine cloth collections and rich textile heritage.
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From our offices in London’s Mayfair, to visiting overseas clients and distributors, the global nature of our company sees us accumulate the air and road miles on an annual basis. And it was only recently that our MD, Simon Glendenning, packed his bags for a month-long trip across Asia and Australia – here’s a sartorial snapshot of what he got up to…
Starting the trip at the end of February and returning early April, Simon traversed Japan, China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Australia – visiting internationally-renowned tailors and attending meetings with our overseas Asian distributors. As well as catching up with long-standing customers, he also met with various potential new clients too.
We’re extremely proud that the firm chose us to supply an exclusive mohair range for the store
First stop on the journey was the bustling city of Tokyo. It was here that Simon met with numerous tailoring houses in the Japanese city, one of which was with the largest bespoke tailoring company in the world – Eikukoya.
We’re extremely proud that the firm chose us to supply an exclusive mohair range for the store – a collection they aptly named ‘Bluebell,’ due to the elegant spectrum of blue-hued fabrics it features.
There were also many other stops along the way, including Simon’s visit to Ginza-based ICHIBANKAN, to see Shin Watanabe, as well as appointments with Tokyo Hackett and Sawamoto – to name but a few.
After further successful appointments in Shanghai and Vietnam – with customers such as Chuong Tailor and Vip-Eye-Pro – Simon took some time to sample some of the local delicacies over an authentic Asian dinner.
Once he’d waved goodbye, he then headed down under to Australia, for a host of meetings in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.
First up was a visit to our long-standing customer, Oscar Hunt Tailors – where Simon not only spent time catching up with the team, but he also featured in their new video series. The new visuals show our MD giving an insight into the cloth and tailoring industries, and sharing his knowledge and experience of working in this sector.
There were host of meet-ups in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney – one seeing Simon join Milap, Mayank and Ross at contemporary tailoring house, Knightsman. And of course, there was also a little time to see some of the country’s most famous sights – as evidenced by this image capturing the beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge, amid blue skies. Rather poetic given that it was built by the same people who constructed the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle – Simon’s home city.
After he finished meeting and greeting with both long-standing and new clients, it was back on the plane to Asia again – and this time, Hong Kong.
Liaising with a catalogue of esteemed tailors was on the agenda, with a visit to one of our key overseas partners, Brown’s Tailor, at the top of Simon’s list. He and the owner, Felix Chan, have known one another for years, so it’s always nice for them to catch up and share sartorial stories, as well as brainstorm potential collaboration ideas – just like the successful umbrella promotion with our Tropicalair cloth in 2018.
While meeting with Brown’s, Simon starred in another series of videos – similar to the ones at Oscar Hunt – where he offered advice and insight into our cloths and the Dugdale Bros & Co legacy. If you head over to Brown’s Tailor’s YouTube Channel, you can see them for yourself!
As always, Simon had a plethora of appointments to attend in Hong Kong – seeing loyal customers such as The Anthology, The Gaudery, Prestitch and Prologue, plus many more.
To conclude the trans-continental adventure, he stopped over in Singapore to see the last roster of customers, before heading back home to share his ideas, experiences and conversations with the rest of the team.
It’s always wonderful visiting our clients – maintaining existing relationships and fostering new ones. It won’t be too long until we’re off again, but where to next time? Stay tuned into our Dugdale Bros Travel Journal series to find out…
