The Edinburgh Tailoring Company (ETC) is donating £50,000 worth of suits to local charity Grassroots Clothing in a bid to help those in need find employment.
The charity removes a key barrier to work for disadvantaged men by providing high-quality interview clothes, which the recipients can then keep for future use.
ETC was set up in the centre of Edinburgh four-and-a-half years ago, offering the ultimate service in bespoke luxury tailoring and now has an international client base to complement its private clients located throughout Scotland.
Owner Chris McGowan has found himself with hundreds of ex-display suits, jackets, trousers and shirts surplus to requirements.
The Broxburn-based businessman reached out to his network via the West Lothian Chamber of Commerce to see if anyone knew of a charity which would benefit from the garments and he was pointed in the direction of Grassroots Clothing in the Capital.
“Every single piece we are donating has been handmade to order and comes from globally-renowned cloth mills,” he said.
“There is a mixture of sample suits for social media campaigns, fashion and wedding shows. Some perhaps didn’t fit a client as well as we would have liked so have remade them with the old one going back on the hanger.
“Over the years we have used others on rotation on mannequins in the studio and such like but ultimately they now need a new home.
“I was determined to see them go to a good cause. I like helping people and I wanted to find a charity that I could work with that would put these suits to a good use instead of just sticking them on a discounted sale rack.
“Grassroots Clothing fitted the bill perfectly as they help people who cannot afford proper interview cloths and I’m delighted to be able to assist them in this way.”
Charity founder Archie Lowe said the gesture would make a huge difference to so many people.
“We offer a unique service, not only in Edinburgh but across Scotland,” he said. “Finding support from individuals, corporate organisations and retailers is key to our continued success and without this we would struggle.
“We would like to thank Chris McGowan from the Edinburgh Tailoring Company for his very kind donation to us.
“This type of support is invaluable to a charity like Grassroots Clothing as we are always in need of such kindness from retailers, especially where we struggle to support men who require larger sizes as well as younger-style clothing for youths, who tend to need smaller sizes.
“Providing quality clothing like this not only helps build the self-confidence of those wearing them but also helps personal effectiveness as they strive to get their lives back on track by gaining employment.”
