DOMINION - CUSTOM MADE CLOTHING AT ITS FINEST

Enable frames

DOMINION - CUSTOM MADE CLOTHING AT ITS FINEST
By Robert Mastroianni

Ken Wilson from Dominion

If you are looking for a professional custom-made business suit, tuxedo, or overcoat at great prices, then check out Dominion Custom Suit Makers.

Dominion opened its doors at 318 S. Hamilton St., Ste. 10, in the Hamilton Square Building about four months ago.

Owner Kenneth Wilson's interest in custom-made clothes began when he purchased a shirt about five years ago.

"I discovered the man who sold me the shirt was working as a finance manager," Wilson said. "I figured he had a shirt business while he was also a full-time employee somewhere."

A few years later Wilson decided to do the same.

"I was working for Johnson & Johnson as a pharmaceutical representative
until about eight months ago when I decided to leave there and sell shirts
full-time," he says.

Wilson then got an interest in selling suits. "I now sell more suits than I
do shirts," he comments.

Originally Wilson sold shirts out of the basement at his house. However, he
quickly decided to look for a building. "Customers will tend to see a
business as more of a legitimate operation when there is a storefront."

Wilson takes the measurements when fitting someone for a suit and
determines what the person's posture is like. "I more or less construct the
suit around them."

He immediately e-mails the dimensions to his tailor in Asia along with what
type of suit fabric and style the customer wants. When a new suit arrives
within three weeks, Wilson normally doesn't have to do many alterations to
it.

"On rare occasions I may have to bring in the sides a bit because I didn't
hit the measurements perfectly or someone may have lost a few pounds," he
notes.

Wilson says his tailor is very prompt in getting a suit order back to the
customer and has plenty of knowledge in what he does.

"Generally, when someone comes in for a suit sizing, they will have their
suit within three weeks. Rarely will it take more than that because my
tailor is very punctual and has been doing this for over 30 years, so he
has plenty of experience."

Since Wilson uses the Internet with his tailor, he is able to track the
suit during its three stages: processing, when the tailor is collecting the
materials; executing, which consists of the actual building of the suit;
and completion, when the suit is finally shipped.

"I have a resellers site connected directly to his, which is beautiful when
I have to track a suit," notes Wilson.

A lot of Dominion's business is done through the Internet, so it only seems
fitting that he met his tailor that way.

"I went shopping for a franchise opportunity on the Internet," Wilson
explains. "It took me a couple of days just searching to find the right
guy. Once I found him, I had him send me some samples of fabrics to get an
idea of his quality."

Wilson measured himself and e-mailed the dimensions to the tailor and
ordered his suit. "He hit it perfectly," smiles Wilson.

Wilson has thus far had four area high schools accept a presentation of his
suits to get ready for the upcoming proms.

"We were out at Saginaw High last week and we had about 30 boys show an
interest in getting a suit. Bridgeport, Buena Vista, and Arthur Hill also
accepted and we also plan to have a presentation at Nouvel."

Wilson said that Arthur Hill High School has an in-school network with
televisions in every classroom and they allowed Dominion to bring in models
and shoot a commercial on March 4th.

Wilson, who earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from North Texas University in 1991,
feels that being a custom suit maker is more closely related to art.

"I get a chance to design clothing," he said. "Plus everyone has a
different build and taste in clothes."

"Plus, there is one clear advantage to buying a custom-made suit compared
to off-the-rack. Off-the-rack will always fit you somewhere, but it won't
fit you everywhere. Custom-made will fit you everywhere because it is made
specifically for you. After all, off-the-rack does not suit you."

If someone wants to buy a custom-made suit, yet has no idea what they are
looking for, Wilson has a computer with various photos of suits.

"Someone could look at the computer photos and tell me they want a
particular suit in a different color, or single-breasted compared to
double-breasted, or whatever," he explains.

"These photos are a great starting point because people can look at them
and get an idea of what they want."

Wilson said a good fitting custom-made 3-piece suit starts around $350 and
can go as high as $900, depending on the fabrics and styles selected.

"The $350 price is better than off-the-rack in many cases," he notes. "The
more the tailor has to do to the suit, the more it costs. The two things
that increase the price of the suit are the fabric and whatever modifying
the customer wants the tailor to do to the suit,"

Among the top name fabrics Wilson has in stock to choose from are Giorgio
Armani and Oscar de la Renta.

A two-thirds deposit is all that is needed when ordering a suit.

Moreover, Dominion doesn't just handle men's clothing. Women may also stop
in and get a fitting for dresses and evening gowns.

Dominion is open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday and Saturday by
appointment. For more information, call 498-4055.

Enable frames