A family trade since 1980.
My family has cut cloth since 1980. I learned the trade at their side, and after years across Thailand I brought it home to Fisherman's Village.
I am Mike, and cloth has been the family trade for as long as I can remember. My family has made clothes since 1980, first for people in our own town, cutting and stitching by hand the way my parents were taught. I grew up around tape measures, chalk and the sound of the machine, and the craft passed to me the way it passed to them, slowly, by doing. That is how I came to run an atelier in Fisherman's Village on Koh Samui.
A family trade since 1980
The workshop opened in 1980, and for years we dressed a local clientele: everyday clothes, work suits, and pieces for weddings and celebrations. In 1998 we began making suits for the visitors who were starting to discover Thailand, and that changed the work. New expectations, new cloths, guests from all over the world, each with their own idea of how a suit should sit. I learned the trade the only way that lasts, at the bench beside my family, watching a flat length of cloth become a jacket and then taking the shears myself. There was no shortcut, and no school that taught it better than the people who had done it for decades. What they gave me was not only technique but patience: the habit of measuring twice, fitting properly, and never letting a garment leave until it is right. That is still the standard I hold every piece to.
Why I chose Koh Samui
Before I settled here I lived and worked in a few corners of Thailand, Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Bangkok, each with its own pace and its own crowd. I learned something in every one, but none of them felt like the place I wanted to stay. Koh Samui did. I love the island for the reasons a lot of people fall for it: the relaxed way of life, the feeling of being safe and unhurried, the sheer quality of the days here. It is also a place full of opportunity for someone who makes things by hand, with visitors who value a garment made properly and take the time to have it done. Choosing Samui was not a business decision first. It was where I wanted to build a life, and the work followed.
Why Fisherman's Village
Within the island I chose Fisherman's Village in Bophut, and that choice was deliberate. It draws a certain kind of guest: families, couples and travellers who appreciate quality and are happy to spend an afternoon choosing cloth and being measured properly. The old shophouse streets suit the work too, unhurried and personal, a place where you can sit down, talk about what you want, and come back for a fitting without it feeling like a transaction. It is the right setting for bespoke tailoring, and it keeps me close to exactly the people I most enjoy dressing.
What I care about
For me this has always been about more than cutting cloth. I love fashion, and I love the moment a suit is finished and someone sees themselves stand a little taller in the mirror. Making people look elegant is only half of it. The part I care about most is how it makes them feel: more confident, more themselves, ready for whatever the day holds, a wedding, a first big meeting, or simply the pleasure of owning one thing made properly for them. Every jacket I cut and every shirt I finish is aimed at that feeling. If you leave the atelier looking your best and feeling your best, then I have done my job. That is the whole reason I still do this, one garment and one person at a time.
If you would rather see the work than read about it, start with our bespoke suits, or come and find us back on the home page.
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