Suit Select will suit you

In a business strategy as sleek as its attire, the Japanese retail chain Suit Select – which now has a branch in Bangkok – overcame all the reasons for not wearing a suit.
Difficult to wash and press? Tricky to get the right size? Fearful of choosing something unfashionable? Unwilling to pay enough for a great suit but also unwilling to look like crap in a cheap one?
The problems succumb to solutions at Suit Select at CentralWorld, the firm’s first store outside Japan and part of Kanaka (Thailand), whose parent company went into retail a decade ago, initially as Suit Select 21, currently with more than 360 branches.
“Among the first messages we communicate is that our suits are very affordable,” says Konaka president Kensuke Konaka. That and the quality, adds senior managing director Takashi Numata, result from careful planning at every stage, from raw material to cutting.
Suit Select offers a Black Line that’s quite contemporary (think “slim”), suited to young physiques and costing Bt6,000 to Bt7,000; and a Silver Line – classic, traditional, elegant for Bt12,000 and up.
Both kinds utilise high-quality fabrics and boast neat tailoring to ensure good fits, and both are easy to wash and maintain.
Kanaka owns a Woolmark licence certifying that only top-quality wool is used. Its “shower clean technology” guarantees the convenience – no need for dry cleaning and, in some cases, no need for ironing either. You can buy a wrinkle-free suit and wash it normally.
Plus, these suits are made in Thailand.
Kanaka (Thailand) chairman Narong Lertkitsiri explains that the Japanese group expected its success at home to be repeated here. A decade ago it began encouraging people to wear suits and today the average Japanese owns two or three of them.
What about the Thai heat? Kanaka took care of that as well, Narong says, coming up with wool that’s perfect for tropical climates and still quite affordable.
Kanaka (Thailand) marketing manager ML Rangsithorn Bhanubandh says he’s worn a Silver Line suit for ages and finds it super-comfortable. It’s also cut at the shoulders to reduce the weight, and the back and arms have a natural curve.
In terms of marketing, Kanaka recruited art director Kashiwa Sato of Samurai Studio three years ago to duplicate the magic he worked for Uniqlo, another Japanese apparel brand. Among other things, Sato jettisoned the “21” from the name Suit Select and gave the shops a “walk-in closet” look.
So “walk in” to Suit Select in the third-floor Eden Zone at CentralWorld on February 1, 2012.