Climate-conscious Sligo tailor creates clothes that last for decades

Published date08 November 2021
"I get customers bringing in suits for adjustment – generally to let them out a little bit – maybe 15 years after they got them," he says, "That is not unusual. If you use a very good fabric, it will have durability."

Even if he does not paint himself as an environmentalist, Martin leads a green life, cycling to work most days and producing highly regarded honey from his hives of bees.

Indeed, the Sligo man talks as enthusiastically about the health properties of honey produced with the help of heather growing on the slopes of Knocknarea, as he does about the joys of working with Merino wool.

Describing himself as "an outdoorsy person" who considers his home on the shores of Ballisodare Bay as "a kind of paradise", Martin says that it is hard to be other than careful of the environment when one has been lucky enough to have spent a lifetime in such a landscape.

If "fast fashion" is increasingly reviled as a major contributor to climate change, he is happy to have spent more than 50 years working with "probably the most eco-friendly natural fibres".

In an era when some discount fashion chains sell garments for a pittance – something which Martin is slow to criticise – he argues, nevertheless, that a premium for a quality bespoke suit is a good investment. "I really do have a good cross section of society in terms of incomes," he says.

Quality does not come cheap, however, for suits that each require some 30 hours of labour, sell for between €1,400 and €1,900. "When one considers the labour, versus the purchase price, it represents very good value for money.

"And because you get a good number of years wear out of a decent suit, the per annum investment can be quite small."

The family tradition dates back to 1895, when his grandfather, also Joseph, set up in Ballisodare, succeeded by his Savile Row-trained son, Joseph Henry, who operated from Wine Street, Sligo, but travelled frequently to Britain and the US, where he had a considerable clientele.

Throughout, customer satisfaction has been a priority, evidenced by a Sligo Champion clipping that...

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