Combatant Gentleman

[vishaalmelwani]

Is this really surprising? CG doesn't make their own suits, and whatever factory they're using doesn't make ends meet by just selling to CG.

Hey Guys - sorry I've been away getting things ramped up for the new year. To keep things short and to clarify, we do source our own fabrics and we do use renoir (http://www.daiyin.com/English/index.asp) as our lead manufacturer. They not only construct our suits, but hundreds of other brands as well. They've been in the industry quite sometime and we're happy with the way it's been working out. We are looking at other factories all the time, so can't say that we will always remain with them.

Please let me know if I can clarify any further. Thanks!

[Lankus]

Hey Guys - sorry I've been away getting things ramped up for the new year. To keep things short and to clarify, we do source our own fabrics and we do use renoir (http://www.daiyin.com/English/index.asp) as our lead manufacturer. They not only construct our suits, but hundreds of other brands as well. They've been in the industry quite sometime and we're happy with the way it's been working out. We are looking at other factories all the time, so can't say that we will always remain with them.

Please let me know if I can clarify any further. Thanks!

Sure, I'll bite. What are we getting by buying the suiting through CG as opposed to buying from the Ebay sellers of the Renoir suiting? Simply rebranded? Cut differently for CG?

Now that the source is known, its gonna be a hard sell for one to pay the premium @ Combatant Gentleman if they are simply re-branded.

Are any of the fabrics CG exclusive? Will the upcoming sport coat/blazer line be exclusive?

Thanks.

[vishaalmelwani]

You are correct - all of our fabrics are sourced from our own manufacturer then sent to DY Group. This is how sourcing works across the board for many brands. We work on a CMT basis (Cut, Make, and Trim). All of our new releases are completely exclusive to us.

We will be starting with a Birdseye release in the modern fit. Offered in Navy, Lt. Grey and Charcoal. We will also be doing a Plaid in slim fit. Offered in Navy, Lt. Grey, Charcoal, Navy and Tan. All of which will be dropping in March.

[scrambledpotato]

At the very least I'm learning a lot about the business of how my clothes are made.

[Alex]

Someone told me once that the difference between a Duracell and a store brand battery is often just the label applied at the end of the assembly line. Perhaps that's the case here. A standard process from a shared manufacturer and CG is adjusting fabric, fit, buttons, etc.

I don't know about Duracell, but I have a buddy who worked for Energizer. Unless it's a lithium then the Energizer batteries are the exact same thing as the Ever-Ready batteries.

[Cannon]

Is this really surprising? CG doesn't make their own suits, and whatever factory they're using doesn't make ends meet by just selling to CG.

I think many of us know that major factories produce numerous brands in the same place, including well-known brands. The issue I would be concerned with here, however, is whether or not there is a heavily generic manufacturer's design being rebranded.

[vishaalmelwani]

I think many of us know that major factories produce numerous brands in the same place, including well-known brands. The issue I would be concerned with here, however, is whether or not there is a heavily generic manufacturer's design being rebranded.

Yes, manufacturers around the world work for multiple brands. That is the only way they can support such large overhead and multitude of employees. I can assure you that we make and adjust our own fit patterns and fabrics based off of what our customers needs are. In fact, we have already changed the overall fit twice since launching 8 mos ago or so...

In fact, we are adding a slue of new changes for this March release. Such as: ditching the hacking pockets, opening up the waist a bit on the pants, adding a ticket pocket to our Slim Plaids, etc... all of this is tech-packed out accordingly by us in-house then sent over to the factory for sample, production, etc... We solely move production based off of our user data, just like we do with our shirts.

[FuturaDesign]

I remember watching an episode of TSBmen, where Dan Trepanier visited a factory (maybe the same one) for suits they were designing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLNtuIsNfks

You can see the attention to detail they are able to control at the 3:40 mark. I'd imagine CG is not just a copy/paste of the same suits that Renoir is putting out.

[Hrdluck13]

I will be stopping into the CG office next week to pick up two new suits. I plan on doing a full review and YouTube video. A good friend of mine who wears their suits daily swears he will never buy another JCF or Hugo Boss suit again. From what I have seen when he wears them, they have a very Hugo Boss feel to them. Look for my review shortly fella's.

On a side note, as someone who works as a sales manager I tip my hat to Vishaal. It takes guts to be on here. People are quick to bitch and moan and he has taken everything (good and bad) like a true champ! Cheers. See you next week Vishaal..

[jackbauer24]

was reading this message over in reddit,
original link:

http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashiona...ant_gentlemen/

is the above story true Vish?

"I don't know where else this would be apt to post but I figured I'd warn you guys about combatgent.com.
One of my best friends is getting married in April. Myself and the other groomsmen were looking for some suits that were sub $200. One of the other groomsmen, a fellow redditor, mentioned he had heard about Combatant Gentlemen from someone here. The suits we were looking at were $160 and seemed decent enough quality for what we were looking for so all 6 of us agreed on getting our suits from them.
I was the first one to order my suit since they had been out of stock on many sizes and we had to wait a few weeks before they came in. Checkout went wonderfully and I got the box in the mail about a week later.
Within a few days I got a chance to try everything on only to find out the jacket and pants were too small. The suit was out of the packaging for no more than 10 minutes. They provided a return slip to request other sizes and prepaid return mail which was great. I immediately packed everything back up just as I had gotten it and had it in the mail the next day.
Flash forward to today about an hour ago. I received an email telling me that they would not take the suit back because the jacket had been worn and stained and that the pants had been hemmed and they they would be returning the suit to me in the mail. Which means they had sent me a pre-worn and stained jacket and pants that someone had had hemmed.
I called into their customer service to find out what was going on and when I explained the situation I was told that I was lying to them about the suit because "we don't hem our pants." Why would I wear/hem a suit that didn't fit? The man I spoke to on the phone was very rude about the whole thing.
They reluctantly ended up accepting the return and said the replacement would be sent out in the morning because "we are such a great company" and that they "guess they'll just eat the cost on the first suit."
TL;DR If you order a suit from these guys (I know I will never do this again) make sure you check it out very closely and if you ever need to call into customer service expect to be called a liar and treated poorly. "

[Iforgetus]

I am the person that posted that to reddit. It is 100% true. If it weren't so close to the wedding I would have told all my friends to return theirs and look elsewhere.

It's pretty upsetting to be accused of lying by someone who works in customer service.

[vishaalmelwani]

Hey Iforgetus,

First off - Thanks for the initial order and I want to apologize for your experience with us. This is the first complaint that we have ever received from just about any client of this nature, and you can rest assured that it will be taken care of.

I'm not quite sure of the matter just yet, but I will get to the bottom of it. I can assure you that we would never send a pre-hemmed pair of pants back as we don't do any hemming on the premises.

Needless to say, your new suit will be on it's way to you tomorrow and I will follow up over DM with an update on any further news.

In the meantime please feel free to shoot me a direct e-mail at [email protected] and I am available there literally 24/7.

Thanks for your post and looking forward to getting this settled for you.

Best,

[BJack]

Long-time lurker, first time poster. I just sat and read through this entire thread, and wow. First off, Vishaal, you have some seriously thick skin and I applaud you for sitting here and taking all of this criticism. It can't be easy. It seems like (unless I'm incorrect) the quality of product people are getting is improving with time and more accurate marketing. While I'm still not totally sold on the suits, as I'm pretty happy with MTM stuff, I'd love to test the waters with a sport coat when they become available. Vishaal, is there any inside scoop you can provide? Price point, fabrics, construction, etc?

[vishaalmelwani]

Long-time lurker, first time poster. I just sat and read through this entire thread, and wow. First off, Vishaal, you have some seriously thick skin and I applaud you for sitting here and taking all of this criticism. It can't be easy. It seems like (unless I'm incorrect) the quality of product people are getting is improving with time and more accurate marketing. While I'm still not totally sold on the suits, as I'm pretty happy with MTM stuff, I'd love to test the waters with a sport coat when they become available. Vishaal, is there any inside scoop you can provide? Price point, fabrics, construction, etc?

Hey Bjack,

Thanks for the kind words.... Imma big guy - so thick skin comes with the territory

As per whats in the works - A lot!

We will be dropping the following and when below:
1. Expanded suit line offerings - Herringbone Collection (offered in our slim fit) & Birdseye Suiting Collection (offered in our Modern Fit) - Dropping in April.
2. Travel Blazers - Shorter twill/yarn die blazers - half constructed and perfect for the traveling gent. Perfect blazer to go with a pair of jeans for a relaxed look. These will be dropping in the end of April
3. Outerwear and Overcoating - Heavier tweeds and herringbones for the autumn season. These will be launching in late August.

Besides that, we are launching our denim program as well as chino pant offerings next month. Also, a continued expansion of all of the current suiting and shirting lines.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

[Alex]

Will the new shirts feature removable collar stays?


Thanks,
Alex