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Jantzen

Page history last edited by Étienne 1 yr ago

Jantzen Tailor

http://www.jantzentailor.com/

Shop256, 2nd Floor

World Wide House, 19 Des Voeux Road

Central, Hong Kong

+852 2570 5901 (tel)

+852 2537 8119 (fax)

info@jantzentailor.com

Ricky is shown on the right. (Photo: Kent Wang; April 11, 2006)

Suits

Jantzen makes very good, fully canvassed suits (you have to request canvassing, but it is no extra charge) and reasonable prices. One forum member bought a suit in VBC 130 for about HK$3600, less than half the price quoted by WW Chan. Suits appear to be available only in-store, not over the internet, though they may work with you by copying an existing suit. Self-measurement for suits is much more complicated than it is for shirts.

Shirts

Jantzen is probably best known for its shirts, with a huge number of Hong Kong people (both local and expats) walking through its doors every day. It is also possible to order shirts over the internet.

In-store

Turnaround is very fast, just a few days. Fabric selection is also larger and in general the process is much easier. If you can get to Hong Kong, this is the ideal way to order.

Internet ordering

Customer service is a pain. Turnaround is anywhere from three to six weeks. Sometimes orders are forgotten completely. No one has ever been ripped off or charged for shirts that were never sent. Worst thing that can happen is that your order never gets processed. Small mistakes such as giving you a split yoke when you specified you don't want it split happen on occasion. Remember to ask for extra buttons though this request is often forgotten.

Try email first but if there is no response, call. You can use an international calling card or a VoIP service to make a cheap call.

Self-measurement

This is the hardest part. You might want to ask a tailor or alterations shop to measure for you, in which case you may have to pay them a nominal fee. Make sure to enquire beforehand about this as it may be a matter of etiquette. Most people's first shirts are semi-wearable, you can then tweak the fit. Usually you'll have a good, wearable fit by the second order and a nearly ideal fit by the third.

You can also send them a shirt to copy. A successful technique is to have a shirt tailored locally and then have Jantzen copy it. Sending them a valuable shirt and being without it for a few weeks may be a significant cost to bear, especially considering the customer service difficulties. So far, no one has lost a shirt, though.

Fabrics

Many report that the more expensive (HKD 310) JKT fabrics are well worth the extra cost. Late in 2007, those fabrics have been discontinued and the numbering of fabrics on the website largely changed.

The following five photos are by Kent Wang. Colors are fairly accurate. I selected the fabrics in store (all are JKT) so I do not have the numbers for each of them. I tried to match the ones on the website but did not have a lot of success. It may be possible that there are fabrics that are not on the website. You can probably email Jantzen a link to the photo of the fabric you like and they can tell you which one it is.