Louis Copeland explains what a tailor does.
Louis Copeland comes from a family of tailors. They have been making suits in Ireland since his grandfather moved here from Lithuania in the 1900s. There are Louis Copeland shops throughout Ireland selling menswear and hand-tailored suits. In this TV clip from ‘Head to Toe’, he explains what he does to presenter Ronan O’Kelly in the workshop above the flagship store in Capel St, Dublin.
Louis says that a hand-tailored suit is like a portrait, with little imperfections, while an off-the peg suit is like a photograph. When making a suit, he tries to get to know the client, so that he can match the cloth to their job. Usually, he would meet the client three or four times. A hand-tailored suit is just as reasonably priced as “a good-named off the peg suit”. Ronan is wearing a Louis Copeland suit made in 1972, which shows how long they can last.
