Today we’d like to introduce you to John Park.
John, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
With a masters in Hospitality, I started my career in the hotel industry where the everyday dress-code was a suit. I had custom tailored suits from South Korea where it is very fashion forward, and the trend in America at the time was very boxy and old-fashion so countless people would inquire about my suit. Seeing the need, I began to research the bespoke and fashion industry and how to build a custom tailor shop.
Eventually, after training under a master tailor, I wanted to share my specialty in Chicago and set up my first shop in 2006.
After expanding to locations around the world, I wanted to bring our bespoke suiting to California where it is a hotspot for everything from fashion to weddings.
Timeline
– 2006 first chose Lakeview, Chicago where Boystown was located, wanting to be part of the more-trendy and fashion forward culture there.
-2007 opened a second location in downtown Chicago wanting to cater towards the business professionals in the area.
-2008 a Chicago customer wanted to expand to his home country, Nigeria, and after exhibiting a couple trunk shows for the royal family, we set up our third location in Lagos.
-2009 Someone saw an article I was featured in and contacted me to open up a branch location in Toronto, Canada.
-2010 My brother joined the team to set up our warehouse in South Korea for all our master tailors and logistics.
-2016 My cousin joined the team to take charge of the Chicago Locations.
-2017 Open first west coast location in San Diego California.
-2018 (Coming Soon) La Jolla.
-2019 (Coming Soon) New port beach and LA.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the greatest challenges I faced was bring bespoke clothing to a market that was unfamiliar with the concept.
At the time, bespoke clothing was catered mainly to high wealth individuals or in specialized areas in Europe, so here in America, I found myself acting the role of an educator prior to a tailor. Also, America has a much diverse range of people so there are many intricacies for each person’s shape and size. However, by working with countless of individuals, it has allowed me to refine my ability to interpret the body shape in relation to the suit fit.
A more recent challenge has been the trend of online custom clothing platforms with custom and made-to-measure gaining popularity, however, one of the advantages of a physical shop is that we are able to provide the expertise and precision in providing a true bespoke experience and fit. Additionally, with local master tailors on hand, we are able to provide the best quality alterations without the hassle of shipping back and forth.
Beginning a new chapter here in San Diego poses similar challenges as in the past where bespoke clothing was not widespread, but with the shift in trends towards custom clothing, I am excited to see what California has in store of me.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Zeglio Custom Clothiers – what should we know?
Zeglio Custom Clothiers provides bespoke clothing solutions for men and women from professional to casual suiting.
With 8 Locations globally, we seek to give the options and freedom of choice to our clients in terms of fabric and design along with the perfect fit. We also provide a large range of fabrics and different price points to make this experience available to as many people as possible without sacrificing quality and craftsmanship. We have our starting price fabrics from South Korea all the way to our flagship line Scabal, Holland & Sherry, and Barbaris from Europe.
With emphasis on customer experience and service, focus on providing the true bespoke experience from design and style selections, to measurements and fittings. We have a design team that focuses on research and develop to stay on top of the trends and provide a spectrum of expertise from classic to modern designs.
We mainly market through Facebook and Instagram but most of our traffic comes from our Yelp reviews which serves as testimony for our quality service.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I couldn’t have done any of this without the love and support of my family and friends. My brother Nick Park who handles logistics and global operations, my cousin David Han who is overseeing Chicagoland and the Midwest, Richard Dayhoff our designer who has been with me since the beginning, and the Zeglio team around the world have all played a role in making this dream a reality. And lastly, I would like to thank the city of Chicago and my Chicago clients who worked with me from the beginning and have stuck with me all the way.
Pricing:
- Custom Suit from $490 up to $10,000. Average $800 to $2500
- Custom Shirt from $130 up to $600. Average $140 to $180
- Custom Tuxedo from $590 up to $10,000. Average $900 to $3000
Contact Info:
- Address: 246 Broadway San Diego CA 92101
- Website: www.zeglio.com
- Phone: 619-343-1433
- Email: ZEGLIO@ZEGLIO.COM
- Instagram: instagram.com/zegliosd
- Facebook: facebook.com/zeglio
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/zeglio-custom-clothiers-san-diego
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
