TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Samuel Wongso and the art of the suit

Talking with two of the nation’s most fashionable tailors about how the suit makes the man.

Christian Razukas (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, August 19, 2018

Share This Article

Change Size

Samuel Wongso and the art of the suit Tailor’s tools on a worktable at the Wong Hang showroom at Grand Indonesia. (J+/Yosua Yanuard)

S

a href="https://www.instagram.com/samuelwongso/?hl=en" target="_blank">Samuel Wongso is only half joking when he says he was born wearing a suit. The dapper 27-year-old, easily one of the nation’s most stylish men, is a fourth-generation tailor from Wong Hang, a family business from Surabaya.

Since 1993, when a general offered to make some introductions if his favorite tailors would move to Jakarta to speed the fitting process, Wong Hang has opened up shop in cities such as Bandung, West Java; Makassar, South Sulawesi; Semarang, Central Java; and Singapore. Along the way, Wong Hang’s tailors have made suits for celebrities, ministers and even President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

On Instagram, Samuel is a hip ambassador for the 85-year-old brand, showing off his 200-or-so stylish bespoke suits–which run from a dazzling salmon double-breasted blazer to suits in green velvet–to more than 47,000 followers.

His interest in fashion started as a child in Surabaya, when Samuel and his cousin Jonathan would watch their fathers at work (the family’s tailors are all men). “Every day, we looked at my uncle and my dad, making patterns, cutting fabric, making suits and it became a habit. We saw. We wanted to know,” Samuel said.

Jonathan is also a fourth-generation Wong Hang tailor. The 25-year-old says that their fathers taught them the family trade when the boys were in junior high. “It was learning by doing,” Samuel adds. Later, both went to Hong Kong to study nuts-and-bolts tailoring techniques like pattern making, when a suit’s every cut and detail is put on paper.

“Pattern making is the biggest challenge,” Samuel says, although it’s the fastest part of the process, taking from 30 to 60 minutes. “You have to imagine the person in the suit...look at the person, check again, get a feeling,” he adds. “It’s not always about measurements or calculations.”

To learn about the X-factor in how a gentleman should choose a suit, J+ by The Jakarta Post asked Samuel and Jonathan a few questions about their trade. Here’s a précis.

Jonathan Wongso shows off a suit’s canvas lining.
Jonathan Wongso shows off a suit’s canvas lining. (J+/Yosua Yanuard)

Why is bespoke better?

Quality construction, according to Jonathan. Off-the-rack suits are typically fused, meaning linings are glued or fused to the suit’s material to cut costs. At Wong Hang, suit lapels and front panels are stitched to linings made from horse-hair canvas, which he says is superior for holding the fold of a lapel, among other things.

Since each stitch in a Wong Hang suit is done by hand–with a precision as fine as 2 millimeters–up to 48 hours of work are needed for a single suit. The benefit, however, is that a suit with a full-canvas lining drapes better on a man and moves with less friction, reducing the threat of wrinkles.

Quality artisanal work is also key. Samuel says that Wong Hang tailors take an above-industry-average 19 measurements, including biceps and calves, before drafting a suit pattern, so that a first fitting needs fewer alterations. “Indonesians will get angry after the first fitting if it doesn’t work,” he adds.

Pairing sneakers and a suit?

Don’t, says Samuel.

“It’s ABG,” he adds. Totally teenage. “Loafters are casual and that’s cool. Loafers are good for any occasional, formal or santai,” Samuel says, using the Indonesian word for casual. The right loafers are easily worn socklesss, even when paired with a suit.

Isn’t Jakarta too hot for suits?

The local climate shouldn’t stop a gentleman from looking sharp in a suit, Samuel adds. His clientele are usually in air conditioning in the city, so Samuel advises them to plan on taking off their jackets if dining at a street-side warung (restaurant).

What about color?

Indonesian men always choose black and it’s a problem, says Samuel. If you have black, don’t choose the same color again, try dark blue or charcoal gray, moving onto maroon or light gray as your collection expands.

Jonathan (left) and Samuel Wongso of Wong Hang Tailors.
Jonathan (left) and Samuel Wongso of Wong Hang Tailors. (J+/Yosua Yanuard)

Don’t become a fashion victim

Samuel and Jonathan agree that local tastes have shifted from Italian cuts to variations on looser, British-style double-breasted suits, mostly due to the well-dressed gentlemen super-spies of Kingsman: The Secret Service, a 2014 film inspired by the director’s visit to a Saville Row tailor.

While appreciative of the business, the pair doesn’t necessarily recommend double- breasted suits–or arriving at the tailor with pictures of celebrities. Finding the perfect suit depends on a gentleman’s body, skin tone and personal style, Samuel says.

“Some people are quite fat and arrive with a photo of David Beckham. Beckham is British, with a good body and good face, so we have to explain. ‘You can’t do that with your body. Your skin is a better match with a different color, with a different cut’,” he continues. “If we just say ‘OK, can do! Ok, can do!’ we’ll become korban model” or victims of the model.

“We don't jump directly to fabric. We find out what kind of character the person has. We measure the character first, their age, the body shape, etc....We have to know what kind of person is this. What’s cocok [appropriate] for them.”

Who has a good sense of style?

Tom Ford, the US fashion designer frequently tipped on best-dress lists, is the top style icon for Jonathan and Samuel, who also gives props to the sartorial sense of two men who played James Bond: Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Locally, Samuel says that Afgansyah Reza, the 28-year old singer better known as Afgan, has excellent taste and needs no fashion advisors. “Afgan knows what he wants and he trusts his style.”

__________

This article was originally published in the Apr. 2018 edition of J+ by The Jakarta Post with the headline "The Art of the Suit".

 

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.