The duo has practised what they preach since they founded The Armoury in 2010. Pedder Arcade includes the store’s third Hong Kong outpost and they remain steadfast in their mission to bring a curated selection of covetable men’s products to the city from style hotspots such as Naples, Tokyo and London. The Armoury also has two boutiques in New York, similarly venues for celebrating artistry in menswear.

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“Everything is connected by what I call the ‘Armoury style’ – slow brands with a focus on the classic, and items that are detail-oriented while celebrating craftsmanship,” explains Cho.

Cho, who was born in London and educated between Hong Kong and England, came back to the city in 2010 to open The Armoury. He says he discovered the world of traditional suiting when he stopped wearing a uniform as a boy. See is Malaysian-born Chinese but moved to Hong Kong aged 11 and went on to join the fashion department of supply chain management company Li & Fung after college.

The two first met on an online clothing forum where they spent hours buying and exchanging pieces while waxing lyrical about tailors and brands they coveted. The idea for The Armoury came about when they started to spend their free time at legendary Hong Kong tailors W.W. Chan.

“I was a customer but they took a liking to us and felt that we were good representatives to promote the business. Back then custom tailoring was a sunset industry – there were no young people interested, so they wanted us to connect with and bring in other like-minded individuals,” explains See.

“We started by hosting trunk shows for them in London, then we would buy accessories and shoes for their store. At this point Mark and I were already contemplating opening a men’s store, so it worked in our favour.”

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When Chan turned down a space in the Pedder Building, the duo decided to take it instead, and The Armoury was born. Initially they worked as Chan’s agents and even shared their customers; soon they were flying in other renowned tailors from around the world and stocking pieces from brands they loved including Italian tailors Rubinacci and British tie makers Drake’s, which Cho bought in 2010.

Fast forward 13 years and The Armoury’s shelves are still lined with covetable pieces but the offerings are quite different. In response to a growing trend for more casual wear, they launched a line called Dayware in 2021, featuring more pragmatic and practical items that give men more styling options.

“Originally we rode that wave of classic menswear and formal suits, but now it’s more about casual wear. We wanted to make clothing that appeals to people who love tailoring and that classic men’s style, but that don’t just want suit jackets,” says Cho.

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Popular items include a safari jacket, made in kimono silk. “People also love our sports chino, which is basically a slightly more refined version of a cotton washable pant. Our bestseller is still our polo shirt with a stand-up collar, which is one of the first casual items we ever made back in 2012,” he adds.

Over 90 per cent of items are now designed by Cho, See and their in-house team using materials they’ve sourced from fabric mills, suppliers and trade shows. Seasonal collections – they work in real time unlike fashion brands – are then produced by select manufacturers in the UK and Japan. If they do stock products from other brands, they are usually exclusives or collaborations co-designed by The Armoury team.

Another big change post-pandemic is a move away from bespoke tailoring (at their prime they were hosting up to 50 trunk shows a year) although their made-to-measure Model 101 series still exists.

“We started out young and didn’t have a huge budget. We have entry-level pieces to get people excited about tailoring, and those that want to graduate into bespoke can. If they don’t want to, there’s still plenty on offer. Men nowadays don’t want to make decisions and tailoring is about making decisions,” says See.

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Evolving customer tastes and trends have also given rise to new opportunities. Five years ago, they launched Drop93, a separate space in Ruttonjee Centre.

“I don’t want good clothes to go to waste and the best thing about tailoring is that its sustainable. You can take a suit apart and fit a new person if necessary,” says Cho. “Drop93 started as a space for old stock but it’s also a store for second-hand clothing that we take back from customers and sell. People are more open to paying for second-hand clothing because it shows appreciation for quality and craft.”

Although the duo are in no rush to open more physical boutiques, they are excited about exploring newer categories, including watches. Their first collaboration was with H. Moser in 2022 and later this year they will be launching a collection with more accessible brand Paulin. Cho is also busying himself with their YouTube platform, which was launched during the pandemic and boasts 42,000 followers. It includes insightful content ranging from interviews with style icons, purveyors and tailors, to new product launches and styling tutorials.

“Education is key to this business. I’d like to think what we do here is pretty good, and better than what a lot of others do, but customers need to understand why they choose The Armoury,” says See. “We refer to ourselves as artisanal clothiers because we want to be known as the ambassadors of all things quality.”