Journal
A price is a confession of everything a garment consumed: the meticulous consistency of feeding sheep on a hillside, the slow wisdom of a hand that has spent years learning a shoulder, cloth that crossed an ocean to reach the table. Nothing in it is arbitrary. We would rather open the ledger than ask for your faith.
A handmade two-piece from us starts at $10,500 plus GST, and it's fair to ask where all of that goes. All prices here are in Australian dollars. So I'll take you through it, one line at a time. First, what goes directly into your suit. Then how we buy it, and the house that keeps it all going.
Full Hand Bespoke is made entirely by hand, with no machine involved. Your suit is basted, tried on, marked, taken apart and rebuilt, stitch by stitch. That time is what you're paying for here.
All up, it takes 60 to 75 hours from first fitting to hand off.
The canvas. It's built for you. Expect 3 to 5 layers of horsehair and cotton padding, set by your body, the fabric and how the suit will be used. Which kind we choose comes down to what the chest and shoulder need. All of it is pad stitched by hand. We make the shoulder pads too, usually with a piece of canvas inside, and 5mm is generally our house standard.
Everything else inside. Then there's the interlining, the Japanese Bemberg cupro lining, the pocket bags, the buttons, the thread and the trims, including parts you'll never see.
Most of this has to be bought ahead, in bulk: the interlining, the canvases, the trims, the buttons and the sleeve lining. That's a big outlay before any one suit is cut. Body lining is different. You pick it from our selection, always Bemberg cupro in different weights and colours, and we order only what you choose.
Fabric generally comes from Italy, and trimmings come from local vendors.
Everything so far is what goes into one suit. But no garment stands alone. There's a house behind it, with a whole plethora of costs: the rent, the build, the insurances, the day-to-day running and the upkeep. You won't find them stitched into the jacket, yet they still influence the final price.
As a broad guide, here's roughly how a handmade two-piece breaks down:
| What | How it adds up | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| The tailor's hours | 60 to 75 hours at $55 to $85 an hour | $3,300 to $6,375 |
| Fabric | 3.8 to 4 metres at $300 to $700 a metre, including taxes, shipping and fees | $1,140 to $2,800 |
| Everything else inside | Canvases, interlining, trims (including thread and pocket bags), buttons and sleeve lining bought in bulk, plus the body lining you choose | About $500 |
| Total to make | Before the house | About $4,940 to $9,675 |
So a handmade two-piece costs about $5,000 to $9,700 to make, before the house.
With a 50% margin, the price is double that, and GST goes on top. It puts a full hand bespoke suit at roughly $10,870 to $21,285 including GST. That's only an example, because each house sets its own: a tailor could charge $6,000 for a suit that costs $5,500 to make, or much more. Whatever the figure, the margin isn't profit. The house still has to be paid for out of it: the rent, the build, the insurances, the running costs and the upkeep. Here's the truth of it: if a tailor isn't consistently making full hand bespoke, it is very hard to run a tailoring house.
For specialty cloths, like baby cashmere or vicuña for overcoats, or pure cashmere suiting, the price can double, if not triple.
Want the wider picture? Read What Does a Bespoke Suit Actually Cost?
When the figures run out, what remains is simple: cloth, hours, and a house kept standing so the work can continue. That is where the money goes. What comes back to you, the day exterior and interior finally agree, was never a sum.
Book your private fitting. By appointment only.
ZIMMA TAILORS, Sydney's bespoke tailor since 2010.