Crafting luxury at Mr Cuff

Docklands is now home to bespoke tailor, Mr Cuff, specialising in ethical garments made with old-fashioned techniques.

Opening on May 6 in Docklands, Jarrad Cuff is the proud owner of Mr Cuff, working alongside his talented team consisting of business partner Marco Rachelle, husband Michael Anderson, and apprentice James, to make sure Melburnians are as well-dressed as they can be.

With a thriving flagship store already established in the CBD, the expansion to Docklands promises an exciting avenue for locals to experience the luxury of the Mr Cuff brand.

“I’m a retired circus performer – I got into RMIT and did my Bachelor of Honours afterwards and started to get into the fashion design industry,” Jarrad said.

“It’s a lot of work to become a tailor, it takes about eight years to be trained.”

However, he said that despite working so hard to enter the tailoring industry, there were few jobs available due to the fact that Australia largely manufactured overseas.

“You work so hard to become a tailor, and then there’s no work because we’ve changed the industry to manufacture overseas – we’ve kind of really pushed that industry aside, so I was quite driven to reignite it,” he told Docklands News.

We use Australian fabrics, we can cut and manufacture on-site, zero the waste out by making accessories, and really develop this system. That’s what’s happening here in Melbourne now and that’s been really important to me.

He added that at Mr Cuff, “the person you talk to, is the person who actually makes your clothes”.

All garments are custom-made, with the new Docklands store specialising in suits, which can take between eight to 10 weeks to complete.

The brand also focuses on ensuring all pieces are ethically made and sustainably sourced.

“Rather than putting sales first and luxury first, which has generally never been my thing, it’s about putting craftsmanship first,” Jarrad said.

“Seeing someone wearing my clothes is the most interesting thing I think, I’m still quite getting used to that.”

Through an expansion funding grant from the City of Melbourne, Jarrad has been able to bring the Mr Cuff store to the Docklands precinct, supporting new services and opportunities in the area.

In the heart of the corporate sector, Jarrad hopes that Mr Cuff will attract new clientele interested in bespoke attire.

“It’s an opportunity of accessing a completely different market,” he said.

“The building is brilliant, it’s one of the things that blew us away when we walked in – we’re really fortunate to be there.”

Mr Cuff is located at 833 Collins St, Docklands. •