Why men who HATE shopping, LOVE Kevin Seah. The psychology of bespoke
Hello friends. When people ask me where the Kevin Seah Bespoke ‘shop’ is, I often reply, “We don’t have a shop. We have an atelier.” Sure, we have things here you can buy off the rack — ties, shoes, pocket squares, socks, polos, tees, other accessories, and now, ready-to-wear shirts. But our space on Jalan Kilang is not some boutique or mall. You don’t come here to ‘go shopping’. You come for an experience.
Psychologists say men and women make purchases in very different ways. They think it’s down to our hunter-gatherer past, thousands of years ago. In those days, women would go out ‘browsing’ for wild edible plants, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Men, meanwhile, would set out with single-minded purpose to hunt, kill and quickly bring home a meaty meal (no fridges then, you couldn’t delay). According to the experts, this approach is lodged in our genes, and is still basically how males and females go about the task of acquiring what they need to get by.
Research shows men get bored after 26 minutes of shopping, while women can happily browse for 120 minutes plus. Why, then, do our customers — who are mostly males — often spend hours hanging around the atelier, sipping whisky, considering our thousands of cloths and mulling over what to have made? Because a visit to Kevin Seah isn’t ‘shopping’. It’s not ‘buying’ a product or service. It is an experience, collaborating with our artisans to co-create something unique. Luxury is all about exclusivity, and what is more exclusive than one-of-one? That’s the essence of bespoke.
You may still think a bit like a primitive hunter, but in one of our bespoke outfits, you’ll look the total opposite of a Neanderthal. The Kevin Seah atelier is no place for cavemen — however, it is the ultimate ‘man-cave’…
Until next week,
—Kevin