Most articles on tailor blogs are written in the first person plural, “our team,” “we believe,” “we deliver.” This one is specific, because the story matters when you’re deciding where to spend real money on a suit that’s supposed to last a decade.
1999, a small shop near Bangla
Johnny started the business in 1999, in a shop smaller than most Patong living rooms, two streets back from Bangla Road. The tools were basic: three domestic sewing machines, a cutting table that doubled as the tea table, a wall of fabric bolts that took up more than half the floor space. The customer base was walk-in tourists, some local Thai residents who knew the family, and the occasional expatriate who’d been referred.
The shop was called David Jone because that’s what the family name becomes when transliterated with the English spelling Johnny’s father preferred. The “New” prefix came later, when we moved and wanted to signal a fresh chapter.
Those early years were not glamorous. Phuket’s tourist economy was smaller, the margins on suits were thinner, and we were competing with fifty shops within walking distance that all looked similar from the street. What kept us in business was one specific choice: we refused to work with tourist touts. No commission agents in hotel lobbies, no chasing beach-roadies, no taxi drivers being paid to bring us customers.
That choice meant slower growth. It also meant every customer who walked in had decided to come because they’d read a review or been told personally by someone they trusted. That filter shaped everything we did afterwards.
The 2018 move to OTOP Shopping Paradise
After nearly twenty years in the smaller shop, we moved to 237/7 Patong OTOP Shopping Paradise on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road. The decision was driven by customer feedback: “I want to see your fabric selection without it feeling crowded,” “I want to be able to bring my family with me to the fitting.”
OTOP is a two-level retail space that was built to consolidate local Phuket craft businesses into one visitable destination. Our shop there is roughly four times the floor area of the original. The fabric room alone is larger than the first shop’s entire space. The workshop is visible through a glass partition, customers can watch cloth being cut while their own suit is being measured.
The move also let us keep better inventory. We now stock fabric year-round from five Italian mills (Vitale Barberis Canonico, Reda, Loro Piana, Marzotto, Drago), three English mills (Holland & Sherry, Dormeuil entry-tier, Scabal), and two Thai premium mills. Total active bolts: around 900 at any given time. That’s enough to offer real choice in weight and weave for every season.
What a quarter-century of tailoring taught us
Three things we didn’t know in 1999 that we know now:
1. Tourists are more informed than local shopkeepers give them credit for. In 1999, a customer who asked “what’s the super count on this wool?” was rare. Today, most of our customers have read a YouTube primer on canvas construction before they walk in. The shops that still try to bluff through product questions lose those customers instantly. We learned to just explain, in plain language, what’s actually in the cloth.
2. Repeat customers are worth more than new ones, and they tell you when the shop is drifting. About 30% of our annual business comes from customers placing a second, third or tenth order. They know what our work looks like and they say so when a finish doesn’t match prior quality. They’re the quality-control signal we didn’t have in the early years.
3. Honest pricing beats hidden pricing every time. In the 2000s we did what most Patong shops still do, quote to what the customer looked like they could afford. It worked in the short term and hurt in the long term. Around 2014 we moved to published tier pricing. Revenue grew. So did margins, because we stopped wasting time negotiating.
Who works here
The shop has a small, stable team. Johnny is still the senior cutter, he measures and pattern-cuts most customers himself. Two additional cutters handle high-season overflow. Four full-time sewers. One finisher (hand buttonholes, linings, trouser hemming). Two shop-floor staff who handle fabric consultation, fitting assistance, and customer communication.
We don’t use freelance labour. Every hand that touches your suit is on our payroll. This is the single most important production decision a tailor shop makes, and it’s one most price-competitive shops in Patong have stopped doing.
How we’re different from other Patong tailors
We try not to frame this as “better”, every serious tailor in Patong has its own angle. What’s specific to us:
- 25 years at the same brand. Not many shops in the tourist districts have that continuity.
- 1,254 Google reviews, 5.0 average. Built over more than a decade of steady customer flow.
- Published price tiers. No negotiation, no haggling, no quote-by-vibe.
- Visible workshop. You can see where cloth is cut and sewn.
- Six-month alteration warranty. If something doesn’t fit right after you get home, message us a photo on WhatsApp and we’ll fix it free on your next visit.
- Remote orders. Returning customers can order from abroad, we have your pattern block on file, you choose fabric by video call, we ship.
What we’re working on next
In 2026 we’re rolling out a remote online configurator for returning customers, you’ll be able to pick fabric, lining, buttons and style decisions from a browser and we’ll cut a new suit to your existing pattern. Details will appear on this site when the tool launches.
We’re also adding more contemporary fits to the range. Classic tailoring will stay our default, but the demand for Italian-cut slim and Japanese-cut relaxed silhouettes has grown, both will be offered alongside the classic block.
Come visit
Whether or not you order, the shop is open every day, 11:00-23:00, all year. Walk in, have tea, ask to see the workshop. No pressure. If you’re comparing shops, we encourage you to see at least three before committing.