In High Society's hands, tailoring is an intergenerational art

David wears High Society outfit, Zakka Bakka hat and Adieu shoes.

The intrigue of magic — immoderate magic — is rooted successful its mystery. A trade performed retired of show tin astonishment america with its shape-shifting power, which lone genuinely reveals itself to those who cognize wherever to look.

Hems, inseams, darts and vents are each details hidden beneath the aboveground of a garment, but overmuch similar the body’s skeletal system, they marque up the essential, inconspicuous infrastructure connected which a suit hangs. The airy interaction of a tailor’s manus makes it truthful that the apparel they make and set look casually perfect, contempt the immense magnitude of labor. But suits bash not simply look retired of bladed air: They are the terminal constituent of a travel that begins with an idea, past a pattern, past cautiously chopped fabric, which is yet sewn, adjusted, worn. And successful the lawsuit of suits made by the squad astatine High Society, these multi-step works of creation usually extremity up successful a client’s closet for a lifetime.

Founded by Richard Lim successful 1968 successful a storefront connected Wilshire Boulevard, High Society is simply a bespoke marque and tailoring institution focused connected crafting customized suits and different wardrobe items. Lim emigrated to Los Angeles from Seoul, South Korea, wherever he’d worked astatine a tailoring store successful the beforehand of location arsenic a salesperson gathering with clients and taking measurements.

“When helium moved to the States, helium near that satellite down and helium wanted to beryllium an engineer. He past opened up a acquisition store with my ma astatine immoderate point, but I deliberation thing clicked down the enactment wherever helium was like, ‘I cognize however to bash this different thing, and possibly I tin bring immoderate tailors from Korea to the States,’” David Lim, Richard’s lad and existent proprietor of High Society, tells me. “There were a batch of immigrants that came implicit from my dad, astatine slightest a dozen. And past eventually, implicit time, they branched disconnected and did their ain businesses.”

Fast-forward to astir six decades aboriginal and L.A.’s brightest stars person gotten suits made by High Society, including Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Tom Bradley, Conan O’Brien, Stephen Merchant, John C. Reilly, Ray Charles, Prince and galore others. Prince worked with High Society connected his customized outfits for signifier performances truthful often that the Lims person a customized binder — truthful stuffed it’s bursting astatine the seams — dedicated to assorted sketches, cloth swatches and property photographs of each of Prince’s outfits they made. One plan for the planetary megastar shows a flared jumpsuit with racing stripes down the broadside of each sound limb and a cardinal zipper, and different is simply a diagnostic purple suit with piping and “basket weave” decorative pockets connected the front.

Besides celebrities, High Society besides sees regular clients seeking customized suits and different bespoke wardrobe items. The dilatory and deliberate process is simply a collaborative speech with each customer.

Mr. Han, High Society’s maestro cutter, was archetypal hired by Lim‘s begetter 36 years ago.

“What we effort to connection is the expertise successful executing the fit, the construction, and making definite that it’s beautifully made,” says David Lim, adding that helium and his squad usually spot clients 3 to 4 times passim the process, which tin past astir six weeks. “At the extremity of the time you’re getting thing that feels much connected to your idiosyncratic taste.”

Buying disconnected the rack mostly means uncovering a “standard” fit, but due to the fact that bodies are inherently varied and decidedly nonstandard, many of High Society’s clients are radical who are peculiarly gangly oregon wide (like athletes) oregon are precise petite, and are amended served by the bespoke approach. “We enactment with a batch of radical that request oregon privation customized suits, but past you [also] get radical that conscionable privation to make thing strictly due to the fact that they privation to research their creativity,” Lim says.

I’m speaking with Lim connected the juncture of their caller gathering opening connected Beverly Boulevard — a determination that not lone marks a caller space, but a caller era.

Lim joined the marque astir six years agone aft his begetter died successful 2018, with a imaginativeness to update his family’s store for the modern age. As opposed to keeping High Society the strictly service-oriented concern his begetter began, Lim wanted to marque the institution a much front-facing brand, inspired successful portion by his inheritance arsenic a decorator and originative manager successful the denim manufacture astatine brands similar AG Jeans and Paige Denim. (He besides founded his ain brand, Kasil Jeans, successful 2001.) Under David Lim’s stewardship, the caller abstraction is much stylized and geared toward a buying experience, and though the absorption has ever been bespoke suiting, determination are besides racks of samples, including dresses, tops and jackets successful unsocial fabrics and styles.

“When we contiguous our collection, it inactive represents our ethos and our aesthetic, but present erstwhile radical travel into the space, they get to spot a small much of our dependable arsenic a brand, whereas earlier determination was ne'er overmuch of a dependable for us,” Lim tells me. “People conscionable got what they asked for; it was much of a work successful that sense.”

Richard Lim successful beforehand of High Society’s archetypal location, astir the clip helium opened his shop.

(Courtesy of High Society)

One element, though, has remained the same: High Society is simply a close-knit web of family, archetypal and foremost. Lim’s mother, Whaja Lim, is the company’s co-founder, his relative Sunny Lee is the bookkeeper, and Mr. Han, High Society’s maestro cutter, was archetypal hired by Lim‘s begetter 36 years ago.

“He was the archetypal 1 to commencement a tailoring concern successful Los Angeles — determination was nary different Korean tailoring business,” Whaja Lim says successful Korean of her precocious husband, whose household successful Seoul was already progressive successful this industry. In immoderate cases, erstwhile Richard Lim was incapable to find experienced tailors successful L.A., helium had to nonstop immoderate items to Korea to beryllium tailored for his clients successful the United States. “A batch much radical backmost past did customized tailoring. It was much favorable [at the time].”

The beauteous precision of tailoring is simply a centuries aged accomplishment that seems to beryllium successful the twilight of its popularity arsenic a trade. “The hardest portion to foretell with this benignant of concern is however agelong this procreation of accepted techniques volition last, due to the fact that nary 1 other is down the enactment taking implicit that technique,” David Lim says. “If determination are radical [doing it], they don’t truly unrecorded successful L.A. They unrecorded successful London, enactment successful Paris ateliers, oregon possibly New York. In L.A. it’s not precise communal for radical to person the accomplishment acceptable to marque due jackets with the accepted methods. That’s the dilemma we’re facing successful this concern model. I deliberation there’s this dilatory extremity to what we cognize arsenic due tailoring.”

Whaja wears High Society outfit and Gentle Monster sunglasses.

(Jennelle Fong / For The Times)

For the Korean migrant family, starting — and maintaining — a tailoring concern successful a caller metropolis had its challenges. “I would ever perceive astir however things were going astatine household dinners, and helium would perpetually look stressed out,” Lim says, reflecting connected his father’s relation arsenic a concern owner. He remembers watching his begetter get up for enactment each time and get dressed successful a suit, which is simply a contented Lim has since near behind, usually opting to deterioration denim and relaxed shirts successful the store instead.

“I person my ain idiosyncratic style, but conscionable due to the fact that I’m not wearing a suit doesn’t mean I don’t cognize thing astir suits. And I astir consciousness similar it’s little intimidating to beryllium crossed from idiosyncratic who’s dressed a small spot much however [the customer] is dressed.”

Work connected High Society’s caller space, opening this fall, began successful precocious 2020. When Lim began looking for locations, helium walked into Oriental Silk connected Beverly Boulevard, a silk cloth store that had been connected the artifact since the 1970s. The transportation to the marque was obvious, and helium jumped astatine the accidental to bargain not lone the building, but besides the endless yards of deadstock vintage silks the proprietor had. “This full spot was jam-packed with each the silks from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s,” Lim says. In the astir 5 years of renovation, Lim has added a 2nd level to the building, which boasts a full-size patio for aboriginal events, a ping-pong table, offices and, of course, the company’s awesome postulation of silks (which are often utilized for High Society projects and sold to different companies via High Society’s sister brand, Silk Project).

On the archetypal floor, determination is simply a retail situation successful the front, and down a romanticist partition of silk organza dividers, a sewing atelier, afloat disposable acknowledgment to a ample store model that pulls the curtain backmost connected the labour and precision required to trade the garments radical are getting custom-made. In an epoch of precocious exertion and automated processes geared toward velocity astatine the disbursal of care, it’s refreshing to ticker hands moving — drafting sketches, threading machines, handling fabrics.

Lim walks maine astir the abstraction pre-opening, pointing retired the afloat partition of mirrors — an ode to his precocious begetter and the archetypal High Society location, arsenic it was Richard Lim’s favourite constituent of the aged store. The second-floor ceiling has been near intentionally unfinished (you tin spot the woody beams) arsenic a motion to the earthy silk materials housed conscionable beneath it. And naturally, the crushed level is much polished and arranged with precision, overmuch similar the completed suits that are made connected that level.

On a Monday day successful July, Lim invites maine to observe High Society successful action. Craig Robinson, actor, comedian and longtime client, was introduced to High Society erstwhile Richard Lim was moving his concern successful downtown Los Angeles. Robinson had a suit made for a movie (2007’s “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”), but was truthful impressed that helium kept going backmost to get suits made for his idiosyncratic wardrobe too.

At the shop, Robinson is trying connected a cream-colored suit. The casual yet focused speech betwixt Robinson and Lim, who suggests alteration options and asks starring questions that probe Robinson to not lone deliberation astir however helium looks but however helium feels in the suit, is simply a maestro people successful what it tin look similar to prosecute with a lawsuit arsenic some a businessperson and friend. The speech is tailored to Robinson, overmuch similar the suit is.

“A suit disconnected the rack is not ever chopped for me,” Robinson says. “[Getting a suit from here] — not lone does it consciousness amended and look better, [but] erstwhile you get quality, everything is better.”

Historically, Hollywood writ ample has been 1 of High Society’s biggest clients. Awards seasons thin to beryllium particularly busy, arsenic the squad makes suits for assorted events, reddish carpet appearances, unrecorded telecasts and premieres.

“At 1 point, we were doing truthful galore things for Hollywood, it utilized to beryllium beauteous constant,” Lim says. “But I deliberation what’s happening successful the manufacture has truly dramatically affected each of L.A. There’s conscionable truthful overmuch of L.A. that is built astir that industry. We spot it affecting truthful galore antithetic levels of businesses and services.”

Notably, High Society was liable for making implicit 100 suits for Arnold Schwarzenegger — Han’s favourite client. And though Richard Lim was allegedly not driven by celebrity, helium did get starstruck by the Terminator.

Han was 32 years aged erstwhile helium came to Los Angeles from Seoul and met Richard Lim astatine a edifice arsenic 1 of respective interviewees for a presumption arsenic a cutter. He is the lone 1 Lim selected.

“It was a large accidental to travel to America due to the fact that Korea is precise small,” Han says successful Korean portion continuing to draught with his nubby yellowish #2 pencil.

According to Han, “the archetypal 10 years [at High Society] were precise hard due to the fact that Mr. Lim was precise particular.” He was strict and demanded precision, but it is this attraction to item that gained the institution its positive, word-of-mouth reputation. Over 20-something years, Han and Richard Lim got into a groove.

At High Society, Han is wide regarded arsenic having the astir cardinal relation — it’s due to the fact that of his cautiously designed and measured patterns that the suits acceptable the customer. It’s a precise precise process, architectural even. “It’s astir similar you’re looking astatine the blueprint for a gathering drawn onto drafting paper, but it’s signifier insubstantial and he’s crafting a suit, which is its ain benignant of structure,” David Lim muses, looking down astatine the blue-and-white sheets nether Han’s dependable hand, dotted with faint numbers that inspired High Society’s logo and insubstantial insubstantial print.

High Society not lone represents the enduring bequest of tailoring arsenic a skilled trade, but besides of 1 household — and a web of families — who person carried its ngo crossed decades. Just arsenic tailoring is an intergenerational creation form, truthful excessively is the communicative of High Society. In that sense, nostalgia for the authenticity of the past is simply a cardinal portion of what draws clients to the brand.

“We’re similar the movie of cameras, and the records of music. We are the analog version, and we’re holding onto it arsenic overmuch arsenic possible,” Lim says. “I deliberation that’s the hardest part, is to spot however agelong that grip volition past — due to the fact that that’s the unknown.”

As traditional, human-dependent techniques and analog approaches to instauration slice away, it makes the tone of these progressively obsolescent facets of nine each the much precious.

“When radical usage movie it has this psyche to it that integer conscionable doesn’t capture. Everything tin beryllium copied and faked, but to cognize that thing is existent is what’s going to marque it basal apart,” Lim says. “I deliberation down the enactment we’ll recognize that there’s conscionable thing missing. It’s that uncanny vale concept.”

In aboriginal October, High Society volition beryllium opening its doors to the nationalist again, with a caller energy, yet rooted successful the aforesaid spirit. By then, Lim volition person stripped the shop’s street-facing windows of the parchment insubstantial that dresses them to obscure the hidden gem of a boutique-cum-atelier within, and helium volition person replaced it with a pink-colored tint connected the windows.

“It’ll beryllium similar looking done rose-colored glasses,” helium muses, smiling, optimistic astir what’s to come.