Trendsetters, The Best Suits for Men

Looking for the best suits for men, as they say, the best suit makes the man, and true to that an ill-fitting one can make you look shabby dressed. For most Kenyans, the only clothes designers they are accustomed to are the tailors in our estate. The ones who copy off from established designers and rarely keep deadlines. 

Best Suits for Men 

However, the fashion industry in Kenya is peaking steadily with stylists, designers, models, and media personalities leading the way.  Roger Gitau, is a leading fashion designer based in Nairobi working with a brand known as Really Good (RG), which designs the best suits for men. 

“I have been in the fashion industry for the last 4 years. I started off as a stylist. I used to run a blog where I would put interesting fashion trends. I did not like the quality of suits for men made by local tailors. So I started designing my own suit, and that is how the Really Good brand was born.” Roger says.

Portfolios of the best suits for men.

Roger had to quit his job as an accountant at Nairobi City Council before starting the RG brand that best suits men in 2016. He didn't like being an accountant even though he studied finance on Campus. He also hated the 8:00 am - 5:00 pm job.  “I strive to do things that I really enjoy. In accounting, I felt like I was wasting my time and life. Now, I like being in the house up to 10:00 am, and working until 11:00 pm at night.” Roger says.

RG brand works with middle and high-end clientele with suit orders ranging from Ksh 9,000, and his highest sold piece costing his client Ksh 350,000. He also designs stylish women's suits that cost as little as Ksh10,000.  “I don't want to say how much I make in a month, but I get an average of five orders in a week. I do design strictly, so I have a team of eight tailors who stitch for me.” Roger says. “We make two types of suits, Meet to Measure and Bespoke, which are very expensive because it's stitched by hand and uses specific things like buttons from husk or wood. To measure suit we take your fittings and make the best suit according to their own cuttings. For bespoke, they take the fittings and make cuttings out of your own body.” 

Jimmy Gait the gospel musician was the first RG client. Currently, Roger doesn't work with artists and would rather not disclose the reason. Now, he is designing for Dr. SR Mirshra (chairman, Mediheal Group Of Hospitals), various members of the Nairobi County Assembly, the Nairobi governor, renowned lawyers, and top businessmen. 

“My target market is very different from other local designers' target market and that has made me stand out. Even though I will get people copying my designs, they cannot copy my quality fabric, cuts, unique stitches, and color, ”says Roger.

The best suits for men are made by the Really Good brand.

best suits for men.

According to Roger, to make the best suits for men, fabric has to be high quality.  Kenya is unable to process fabric like in the early days. “We are not able to match designers from South Africa and Europe because the fabric we get from China is substandard.” He says.

In a report by Jacob O. Omolo in 2006, on The Textiles and Clothing Industry in Kenya in Herbert Jauch / Rudolf Traub-Merz (Eds.) The Future of the Textile and Clothing Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The textile and clothing industry in Kenya faces significant crises. This emanates from continued deterioration in the purchasing powers of the majority of the population, thereby reducing effective demand for textile products, cheap imports, and the elimination of quotas as a result of the expiry of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothes (ATC), exposing the country to stiff competition on third markets from more established manufacturing economies such as China. 

RG brand is opening its first shop along Kimathi street that will carry ready-to-wear suits. The suits will be stitched in Hong Kong where they will be getting their fabric. “Like I said, we are not able to get good fabric in Kenya. The cost to stitch the ready-to-wear suit in Hong Kong will be lower than in Kenya. We want to produce everything from belts, shoe curtains, bed sheets like Gucci, which produces everything, even glasses, and earrings.” Roger says.

Roger Gitau taking clients' measurements.

Fashion is a trendy style of dressing, which come in different seasons for now rompers, skinny jeans, and slim fit are trending but will pass. Fashion is a very tricky thing especially if you consider men dressing. Men tend to like subtle colors like blue. It's hard to find a man wearing green or yellows. “Being a stylist, one of the things we consider is colors. There is a way colors play around with your mind. You will find that members of Parliament and the president tend to wear a specific color. That is the loyal blue or the navy blue because blue is a convincing color. So, every time someone wears blue, you are more likely to say yes. For example, if two nations are trying to resolve a conflict or such a thing, a stylist will come in hand because he/she would know the colors that are appropriate to wear. ”Roger says. Roger was nominated three times for the Fashion Stylist award, at the Kenya Fashion. In 2017, he won the award. “The award is pretty much for a person who can mix and match different items as per the preference of the client. This was actually my third nomination, and finally, I scooped it.” Roger adds.