Everything is different at Sood on Park Street. Well, “nearly everything”, says Ratul Sood of Sood. After completing a Pattern Drafting Course under Savile Row Academy at Indian School of Design & Innovation, Mumbai, Ratul tells t2 about the “game changer” and his new mantra for Sood — selling suits + confidence.
Why is it any couturier’s dream to do a course at The Savile Row Academy?
There are quite a few things. First, it is your quest to learn more. You have to have the attitude to learn and say that I’ve got to be better. I haven’t studied for years. So many things have changed in the business. Sometimes you are not up to date. Suit-making is such an European business.
So many people are now making suits in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and China for fast deliveries. It’s become a tourist thing… ‘Let’s go to Hong Kong and get two suits made’. Nobody says, ‘Let’s go to India and get some suits made’. Our craftsmanship is so good, but I don’t think we are in the business of making bespoke suits famous worldwide. There are certain standards to be met and guidelines to be followed. I think we make terrific suits at Sood anyway, but the point is to get even better.
Why did you think this was the right time for you to do a course?
This course wasn’t available five years ago. People, for the first time, are ready to impart knowledge in this field. So far we have been happy in Calcutta, doing good business. Now you have so many brands coming in at Quest… so many Italian brands coming in. You have got to find something which will also benchmark you at the same calibre as them. You just cannot be happy being what you are.
Somebody invited me for the month-long course (45 days) under Savile Row guidelines and I confirmed it. It was important for me. You have to have confidence in two things: to deal with your customers even better, and also your staff.
By making a good suit, what do you do? You impart confidence to your customer. You make him feel good. But this was a lot about feeling good about your own business, having more in-depth knowledge about what you do.
Classes used to start at 9.30 in the morning and go on till 7.30 every evening. And then you go home and you do homework!
Andrew Ramroop, the founder of Savile Row Academy, conducted the course at Indian School of Design & Innovation Parsons Mumbai. He also owns a 76-year-old store called Maurice Sedwell. He is of Indian origin, but from Trinidad. So, he dances like the West Indians. He is timelessly elegant and teaches you so many things. I bonded beautifully with him.
After doing homework, do you feel a little for your sons now?
I do! (Laughs) I thought, ‘My god… that’s how tough it is’. It is a high-intensity course. Homework was to finish the drafts and patterns. There was an exam at the end. I passed!
So what did you learn?
To understand a coat, you first have to learn how to take measurements correctly. Then you need to know how to craft those measurements. What is good bespoke all about? It is about a balance between fit and comfort. Of course, there is the fabric. It has to be of a certain quality. There is a variety of raw material that goes into the coat which makes it lighter and bouncier. The challenge is to get the fit.
We learnt formulae… eye-opening stuff. The traditional way never had so many formulae. Now, it’s more detailed. I made my own suit… a classic two-button in royal blue... beautifully fitted. That was fun. When I wear that suit, it looks like a million bucks.
What was the most important lesson?
I learnt how to tweak everything to perfection. So, there was nothing we didn’t know, but there is everything to fine-tune. That was the beauty of the whole thing. This was more about cleaning it up and making it perfect and getting certain standards with which you cannot go wrong. If somebody buys a suit… whether it is in Paris or Milan or London… you’ll get the same standard. Now from us, you’ll get the same standard. It is very important that you are of internationally acceptable quality. I thought our fits were good internationally. Now, we put in a lot of better things and we take more care of the measurements of the armhole… certain standards that I have passed on to everybody. Finally, when customers leave our store, they are emotional. They haven’t gone out of my store like this ever… so happy. That’s what you get by education and by becoming better at your work. There is a wow factor now.
How do you cut a suit right?
When you actually have the fabric draped according to the size of the body. If you go to a readymade store, they have a suit ready. This game is all about math. We were doing bespoke, but we didn’t know how to cut in new ways. I am looking to get higher volumes. We have settled into a rhythm.
What did your dad, Hari Om Sood, have to say?
He was amazed! He was like a child. All my life I have been learning from him, but it was a pleasure to teach him. And he is loving it! He picked it up faster than I did.
Saionee Chakraborty