MORE’s Tailor-made Men’s Suits

Every man needs at least one. The pursuit for the perfect tailor-made suit starts and ends here

“What should a man look for in a good suit?rdquo; I ask Jorg Hasenbach, sitting across from him in his Cape Town apartment, classic music languidly playing in the background. “A good suit – tailor-made of course – should strike the perfect balance between looking great and feeling comfortable,” he responds.

This aptly describes the man in front of me, stylishly turned out in a perfectly tailored purple and white checked shirt and navy trousers and chatting with a self-assured ease about his company, MORE. MORE specialises in made-to-measure suits with a commitment to superior craftsmanship – Jorg works with the finest tailors and the most impeccable Italian fabric – and it’s clear that helping others look sharp in a perfect-fitting, custom-made suit is his business’s forte.

In his capable hands, there’s no need to even bother scouting stores in search of the perfect suit or worrying if you are making the right decision – MORE is a mobile one-stop-shop that will kit you out in a suit that rivals the best of Italian handmade couture. 

If the suit fits

The MORE experience is a personalised experience, and it starts quite simply: if you’re in the market for a tailored suit, make an appointment with Jorg and choose to either meet him at his apartment or have him come to you. I decided to see what a MORE consultation entails, so in an effort to put this travelling style guru through his paces, I arrived expectantly on his doorstep.

During the first meeting, which takes about an hour and a half, measurements are taken and the style, fabric, trims and other considerations are discussed. For the fitting, Jorg has a wide collection of suits in all basic sizes to try on, and without even asking me, he confidently claims, “You are a 48 or 50 in the shoulders, so we can start there.” Once the size is ascertained and the as-close-to-size fitting suit is selected, Jorg and his team – two assistants who are “more experienced with the technical stuff” – model the suit onto the client. MORE’s attention to detail cannot be faulted, as each suit can be altered at 50 different points. The three critical areas, however, are under the arms, the cufflinks and the collar – “you must be able to place two fingers comfortably under the collar,” Jorg insists. This fitting process, I learn, is the made-to-measure method. Meaning, the suit is custom-made to fit the client’s body, unlike the lengthier bespoke method, where a personalised pattern is created for the client.

Fabric forever

Once the fitting is done, Jorg sits down to discuss fabric choice. You can choose from about 700 kinds of material, almost as many linings and countless style and trim options. “I have done the basic maths and with the choice I offer, there are about 87 million different suit combinations,” he says. Rather than making me feel overwhelmed, Jorg’s knowledge on his subject and frank openness create a comfortable rapport, and I trust I am in good hands. “I let the client make up his own mind, but I do gently steer him in a certain direction when I see he is going to make the wrong decision,” he jests.

All the fabric is Italian, mostly cashmere, and feels luxurious to the touch. What makes the selection so much easier is that Jorg presents inspiration cards which offer mock-up drawings of the suit made up in a specific fabric, so you don’t have to imagine what it will ultimately look like, but can rather see the finished product, get a sense for the way it will feel and end up confident about the choice you’re making. As MORE’s suits are custom-made and hand-stitched, Jorg also has stylebooks on hand with countless cufflink, collar and trim options to suit any personal taste.

Fit for a king

A MORE suit is a forever buy, an investment. No one else in the world will own the same suit; the personalised shopping experience is stress free, comfortable and exclusive, and the client is part of the creation process. “This is a lifestyle, a less-is-more way of seeing life,” Jorg says. “Rather own one suit of the highest quality than a lot of really mediocre options.”

Another great advantage is that once you have had your measurements taken, they are kept on file so extra shirts, jackets or trousers can be run up whenever the need arises. Owning one of these stylish treasures costs on average between R10 000 and R12 000 – “cheaper than getting a tailored, not perfect-fitting suit off the rack,” Jorg notes – and the lead time for making it up is between four and six weeks. Jorg’s confidence comes from seeing his clients’ joy when they try on their finished suits. “And to this day, I have had a zero percent bad-fit rate and no extra alterations; they have all fit perfectly.”

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Interested in a tailor-made jacket-and-pant combo for the big day? Read about MORE's wedding suits.

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