A craftsmanship that delivers, an experience that educates, and a creation worth appreciating.
All these achieved with a pair a shears, needle and a true passion for tailoring.
Established in 1982
Founding Generation
The journey began long before 1982 when Susan Chong, driven by her passion for shirt-making, embarked on a life-changing venture. At the tender age of 14, she left her small village in the southern part of Johor, seeking employment in Singapore to provide for her family. Through a series of diverse jobs, she found her niche at a garment factory, where she honed her skills in the art of shirt-making. It was within this setting that her deep-seated love for crafting garments took root, eventually empowering her to establish her own modest workshop.
Over the course of nearly four decades, Susan's workshop has been dedicated to producing high-quality shirts catering to individuals, businesses, and corporations alike. The legacy extends to the next generation, as Susan's son, Alexander, became acquainted with the craft at a young age out of curiosity and interest. His journey into the world of bespoke tailoring began when he learned jacket cutting from his uncle during his youth. Intrigued and eager for more knowledge, Alexander explored bespoke tailoring globally, immersing himself in the skills of jacket and trousers cutting through experiences with master tailors in London, Florence, and Naples.
Seeking to elevate his understanding of luxury tailoring, Alexander furthered his career with renowned luxury brand names like KITON and Ermenegildo Zegna. Armed with a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience, he continually challenges the boundaries of his capabilities, aiming to create garments that surpasses his previous works. For Alexander, this relentless pursuit of excellence is largely driven by his obsession towards achieving perfection. All in order to achieve his dream of becoming a globally-recognised tailor.
Since 2021 - Present
A New Direction
Building on his mother’s legacy, Alexander aims to transform the family business by taking it in a direction that is controversial to his predecessors. That decision was to create a brand leveraging on Alexander’s exposure and skills, making them accessible directly to individuals with a taste and appreciation for authenticity when it comes to ‘bespoke’ tailoring.
The Cutting Room atelier was officially launched in May 2021, with the aim of building a bespoke tailoring brand that is represented by the same values that guides Alexander his craftsmanship journey.
In slightly over two and a half years since The Cutting Room’s official inception, we have delivered 284 shirts, 200 trousers, and 51 jackets to an overwhelmingly high satisfactory rate. Friendships have also been built, connections created over a common appreciation for craftsmanship at its truest form.
Every single bespoke jacket and trousers is personally cut by the second generation cutter, Alexander Koh who has developed hundreds of cutting patterns since beginning his tailoring journey. His approach to the cut is best described with ‘constant adaptations and innovation’, in order to remain relevant with the changes in the modern anatomy trends while retaining the fundamental essence of tailoring.
Jacket made in The Cutting Room atelier carries an Italian influence by aesthetics, while is constructed with a combination of both English and Italian techniques, as a representation of the influences received from his apprenticeship experiences in Italy and London. His creations can be recognised sporting a relaxed shoulder and a touch of structured softness conforming around the wearer’s chest, and an accentuated collar that rests beautifully across the nape and collarbone, joining harmoniously with the lapel. Achieving a beautiful balance between relaxed elegance and a sense of sophisticated stature.
The Cutting Room trousers focuses deeply on achieving a balance that is best suited for each different individual based on their anatomy from the broadness of the shoulders down to the length of their feet. Once the balance is achieved, we identify the areas that allows us to further carve out a silhouette that further enhances the finished look. In The Cutting Room terms, it is all about a creating a harmonious ratios from top to bottom.
Even with over 12,000 hours dedicated to the craft, Alexander still approach every new commission with humility and a deep desire to outperform his latest works.
The excellence of each new garment we craft shall aim to surpass the quality of previous creations, through transparency and honest critique of our own works.
Embrace a mindset of humility, continuously refining our knowledge and skills, steering clear of complacency in our creations.
-
-
Practice an openness to share knowledge, educating both clients, friends, and talents with true passion seeking to learn.