Shopping in Shenzhen
 

I'll be in Shenzhen for a few days and would like to get a suit made. I've got a good tailor in Hong Kong, but does anyone have a specific recommendations for a good tailor in Shenzhen? What are the rough prices on a men's suit?

Also, I'm shopping for toys, etc for three boys (ages 6,4, and 2). any recommendations on a toy market?

There have been several threads on the suit topic already so a search is worthwhile. However, to give you my personal experience (I used to live in SZ)...
On the 5th floor of the Luohu (Lowu in Cantonese) Commercial Centre is where there is a concentration of tailors. The Centre is the first place you come to if you cross from HK to SZ at Luohu, everyone knows it. A lot of these are actually branches of HK tailors. There are also a number of stores where you can just buy material and take it to a tailor for making up.

Tai Cheong Tailors was recommended to me when I lived there and I ended up buying 3 suits from them. It works in the usual way for a bespoke suit; loads od swatch books, choose material and a style (often a good idea to bring in a suit if you want the style copying). They will then do an intial measuring and then give you a piece of the swatch. You can use this later to make sure the material the suit is actually made from is the same

They will offer one more fitting in around 3-5 days, followed by the final fitting a further 3-5 days. Bearing in mind you may not have that much time I would have thought a negotiation could be had where you can trade-off the price a little for a fast turnaround

The costs are entirely dependent on what material you choose. Cheapest wool suits in 2007 were about RMB700, most expensive Cashmere suits were about RMB2300. I went for Wool/Cashmere blends which worked out at RMB2200 with an extra pair of trousers and they have been excellent

There are plenty of toys in the Centre on the lower floors (plus all manner of other goods, some dodgy fakes, some not) so I suggest you look there.

nickyboy

Slightly OT, but I've noticed that Shenzhen has considerably cheaper and better quality fakes than the other big cities in China/HKG. Anyone know why?

I have found the quality of the “fakes” better in Beijing and Shanghai then Shenzhen. One thing I did notice is the quality of men’s ties and sport shirts were much better. Hand bags were about the same. I’ve also paid less as well, maybe it has something to do with my negotiation skills…

Shenzhen is close to Guangzhou. Most of the real goods come from Guangzhou factories. (ie Gucci, Coach, etc etc)

Some of the fake goods are just rejects from the GZ factories, that's why they look/feel real.

I don't think the likes of Gucci and other high end couture houses manufacture in China, think it is mainly done in Italy/France etc.

You're right about the "rejects" though. There is a roaring trade in Guangdong factories overproducing for the likes of Adidas, Nike etc and selling the excess through channels such as Luohu. I bought some great quality Adidas stuff for about 25% of UK retail there...you just have to search and make sure you don't get fobbed off with the fake stuff

nickyboy

Shanghai private houses stock high end brands...I posted re this about 1+ yr back.

And for sure LVM and Gucci 100% Triple-A knock-offs are available in Canton - much better prices than Sz or Shanghai. Perfect imitations - my wife and my HK country manager spent two hours shopping, each bought a suitcase full this past Sept. The Mrs. was even complimented multiple times at various international airports for her new LVM bag ^

We're planning to give away the small purses and passport cases as Christmas gifts to our family - of course, with full disclosure!

Pls do not pm for address or contacts, you need to be personally taken to their 'store' in a residential district.

Back to Sz and LuoHu- there are stores that sell the high end knock-offs - you just have to ask them for it (they'll go fetch them from wherever they're hidden) and you need to be able to tell the difference. They are higher priced than the 'private' stores but still better than paying the price for the real mcCoy.

The only Chinese involvement in making a real Gucci, Prada, or Fendi bag is
using a Pfaff machine at a contract sewing factory in Italy.