It was just another day for Ratul Sood at Burlingtons’ in Park Mansion when he got a call from KKR officials. That was last month. They were looking for suits for the Knights. The phone call led to a store call that led to a round of window-shopping. They liked what they saw. The fabric was selected.

 

 

The Burlingtons’ team brainstormed. The real work had begun! Two coat designs were shortlisted.

 

The design approved, Team KKR sent across the embroidered logo. The embroidery team got cracking on the logo because handcrafting would take time.

 

Ratul briefed the master about the cut and style of the suit. The instruction was clear and crisp: make it a slim and sexy fit. “We were dealing with athletic bodies. All these guys are well-built so we decided to make it super-slim and super-sexy,” he said.

 

The team started trickling in on March 28 and that’s when the first lot of measurements was taken at ITC Sonar Calcutta. “The timing was tight. We knew we had to deliver 47 suits on April 5. Some measurements were taken on April 4 and deliveries made the next morning!” Jacques Kallis was the last Knight to be measured, that too when he was practising at Eden! The fittings and trial sessions took place in batches. And at 3am on April 5, someone from Team KKR came to collect the suits!

 

“Naturally khushi toh bahut huyi. Humse khud nahin miley, sirf measurements bhej diye. Miltey toh achchha hota.”
— Burlingtons’ master cutter Alam on cutting SRK’s suit