Empire International Tailors

Empire's case rests on where and by whom its suits are made. Vogue Hong Kong, reporting in 2025, described it as one of the few tailors that still runs its entire Shanghainese tailoring operation in Hong Kong: five veteran tailors with close to four decades' experience each, led by head cutter Wai, who started at 12. One tailor assembles jackets and sleeves, another makes trousers, and fittings are basted. Clients choose fabric and are measured beside a workshop walled in glass, so the work can be followed from table to table.

The family places the firm between the costly Shanghainese tailors of Central and the cheaper Guangdong-trained tailors of Kowloon, and its process reflects that. Suits are fully canvassed and cut slim and tapered with lightly padded shoulders, in a structured British or a softer Italian line, in fabrics from Ermenegildo Zegna, Holland & Sherry and Scabal. The company recommends allowing at least two weeks for two to three fittings, and it has openly rejected the 24-hour suit sold elsewhere on Nathan Road. It also sells suits made in Osaka by a Japanese tailor, a separate product from its Hong Kong work.

Two cautions. Empire publishes no prices, and much of its recent coverage, including Time Out Hong Kong's 2024 listing, is partner content; Vogue Hong Kong's report is the strongest independent account. Its continuity also rests on a small, aging team: the family told Vogue it plans to work more closely with Po-Zai, a younger tailor who has worked beside Wai for 16 years, once Wai retires.

Choose it for a suit made in Hong Kong, in Tsim Sha Tsui, with proper time for fittings. Clients who want a Shanghainese firm with a longer record in the English-language press should also consider W.W. Chan & Sons in Central.