Sheryl Ho was deciding on a market problem to solve for her final year project as a business student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) when she realised that it was “nearly impossible” to find affordable, well-fitting suits for university presentations, internships and job interviews.
“Ready-to-wear suits didn’t fit well, and traditional tailors were either intimidating or priced far out of a student’s budget,” she lamented. This spurred her to create a solution that could make tailoring more approachable, inclusive and accessible for students like her.
And with that, SuitYourself was born in 2016.
Transforming into a full-fledged business
While many tailors get their start by opening a physical shop, Sheryl started SuitYourself with just S$1,500 as a travelling tailor business, visiting schools, offices and homes for fittings and consultations.
To expand her reach beyond NTU, she partnered with different university representatives, including Lester Quek, who was studying for his Bachelor’s in Psychology at the Singapore Institute of Management at the time.
He eventually became her husband and the COO of SuitYourself.
Despite lacking fashion backgrounds, Sheryl and Lester learnt the basics from their friend’s mothers, who were tailors, and travelled around the world to learn from industry experts of the trade—even visiting a sheep farm in New Zealand to see how raw wool is sourced and processed.
Before long, SuitYourself began gaining traction among university students. Since then, it has expanded its clientele to include working professionals and grooms, and has even partnered with big names such as OCBC.
The duo also opened their first brick-and-mortar outlet at Far East Plaza in 2019, before moving to a larger outlet at Serrangoon Gardens in 2024.
Bringing tech into tailoring
But isn’t tailoring a dying trade?
It is an age-old craft, often passed from one generation to another, and not exactly the kind of business that screams scalability. Hence, one might allude to SuitYourself’s growth as an anomaly.
But those who continue to thrive in the space aren’t standing still. Many bespoke tailors in Singapore have been actively modernising their operations in recent years, adopting creative strategies to remain competitive and future-proof their businesses.
For SuitYourself, the business has decided to adopt a rather futuristic take on its strategy by introducing a 3D body scanner, in partnership with Hong Kong-based company TG3D.
According to Sheryl, the 3D body scanner’s functions are similar to an Apple Face ID scan. All customers need to do is to stand in a designated position and hold the device as a 360-degree scan is performed.
Millions of invisible “dots” are projected and analysed to create a depth map of one’s body silhouette and a virtual avatar.
The scan data can be saved, allowing customers to track their measurements over time for future fittings or other purposes.
SuitYourself also leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to forecast consumer demand, manage fabric inventory and personalise fabric recommendations for its customers. The business is also experimenting with AI-powered virtual fitting tools that allow customers to visualise a fabric swatch as a complete suit.
Since incorporating tech into their operations, the business has improved its tailoring accuracy by taking into account different body postures, like hunched backs or uneven shoulders, ultimately reducing the number of fitting sessions for customers.
“Additionally, it has made fittings much less intimidating for first-time clients, making the experience smoother and more enjoyable,” added Sheryl.
Setting up shop outside of Singapore
Innovations aside, SuitYourself is still susceptible to the ever-changing fashion trends.
Sheryl noted a shift in customer preferences, with casual wear gaining popularity as work-from-home arrangements started becoming the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic.
This pushed the team to introduce their own line of smart casual wear, including polo tees, bomber jackets, denim jeans, and unconstructed jackets to provide customers with versatile, comfortable yet sharp-looking options—and it looks like the move paid off.
According to Sheryl, SuitYouself has seen a 15 to 20% year-on-year revenue growth from 2021 to 2024, and has served over 30,000 customers since its inception.
The business has also made its mark beyond Singapore, operating under different names. Their first international venture was in Sydney, Australia, in 2018, under the name ‘Meticulo.’ It is run by the cousin of their silent partner, Amanda, and her husband.
Sheryl explained that Sydney’s demand for affordable, quality suiting was “very similar” to Singapore’s, which is why they jumped on the opportunity to replicate their business model in the capital.
“With Amanda and her husband on the ground and our shared vision, launching Meticulo felt like the right step.”
Currently, SuitYourself is also preparing to launch another sister brand in Shanghai, China, though the full details are kept under wraps—at least for now. But the business does not plan to stop there.
Sheryl shared that the business is aiming for a “more structured expansion plan” over the next three to five years, and is exploring potential locations in Southeast Asia that have a growing middle class and rising demand for custom menswear.
That said, she and her husband remain prudent in their growth strategy, as finding talent has also been an ongoing challenge due to the lack of formal opportunities to learn tailoring locally.
As a result, the couple often had to send their tailors to learn from international tailors to gain more skills required.
Nevertheless, they remain undeterred. Aside from international expansion, Sheryl and Lester plan to launch a line of travel-friendly suits and further integrate AI to eventually offer a fully virtual tailoring experience.
Tailoring might be seen as an old-fashioned trade for some, but this couple proves that it will remain as timeless as the quintessential suit.
Feature Image Credit: SuitYourself