Wills Designs: The perfect fit

Shirajiv Sirimane

He always had a passion to see men dressed in attractive attrite and it was this that drove him to open a shop in Pandura in the backyard of his home to stitch trousers employing a few trained youth.

Soon word of mouth spread that there was a tailoring shop that not only delivered trousers well before the stipulated date but they were perfect in fit. The good words of customers enticed young Namal Balachandra to design his own brand of trousers, under the brand name, 'Men's look' which became an instant hit.

This success made him move out of his house and set up a shop in Panadura and then with the help of friends won orders to tailor staff uniforms to leading five star hotels not only in Sri Lanka but in the Maldives as well.

The story of Wills Designs began in 2009 at Mount Lavinia. "This place was first confined only to tailoring clothes. But it wasnt long until "wills designs" grew into something much, much more. Today the company is best described as Guy's Only Clothier and while we still sell those original shirts and trousers (and proudly so), we also carry a huge range of suits and suiting's all year round!"

Needless to say, the most important of all types of men's suits is the wedding suits for both for men and youth. "Wills brand wedding suits are designed and tailored with great care and are made using rich fabrics and material imported from Italy, UK, Japan, India and Pakistan."

"Our wedding suits are found in many different styles, fabrics and colors to suit individual tastes and the scale and today I am proud to say that "Wills designs" as the most sought after name."

Asked as to why he did not go after ladies designs he quipped that satisfying them was not easy to keep up to their demands and trends. "How ever I design ladies office coats which are very popular," he said.

He said today there is unfair completion and several customers have been given inferior deals for high prices. He said that one of plus point she has is adequate number of staff which allows his to do a perfect job and on time delivery as well.

The other advantage is that he has all wedding requirements under one roof. I have also opened in Horana, palawatta and now plan to open one in Colombo soon.

As a part of CSR he donated kits to the Para Olympic team and also runs a tailor training school for youths.

'I have been involved professionally in the Men's wear fashion industry for almost 25 years, have many satisfied customers and they have introduced their friends who have become customers.'

"We have become the preferred choice amongst the reality programmers to provide clothing for all of their events such as, "Yes FM Super Star" Ranaviru Real Star, Dance Star Dance, Derana Dream Star and Subasiri.'

"It was the biggest challenge we had faced, every week to provide so many suits in many sizes with a wide range of colours. It was very challenging, yet it was fun and satisfying to see the final outcome," he said.