Founded by JJ Lee, Esque/By has slowly become one of New York’s fashion destinations – and for good reason. Why should you have to fit your clothes, rather than have your clothes fit you?
Changing rooms on the high street can be a dreadful place. Bad lighting, too many mirrors or too few, awkward fits and questionable garment construction. Shopping can sometimes feel like a lucky dip, a “good day” kind of situation: if the odds are in your favour, you’ll leave your favourite store with new clothes and a confidence boost. If not, you leave with a ruined day and thoughts worthy of a spiral. We’ve all been there. But at what point, exactly, did we accept this lack of consistency as the standard? And, more importantly, why is it the norm for the human to fit the clothes, rather than the other way around?
Perhaps the problem is that we forget there is an alternative: a centuries-old craft, so precise and specialised that it will, quite literally, never let you down. Bespoke tailoring. Enter JJ Lee’s Esque/By. “Fashion became much more personal for me through my mom,” says Lee. “After breast cancer and surgery, I watched her relationship with clothing and her body change. Something as ordinary as a fitting room could become incredibly vulnerable.”
A tech graduate, Lee studied computational and systems biology before building a career in product innovation, eventually launching her New York-based brand from a deeply personal understanding of the power of garment design. She began altering and creating pieces with her mother, adapting clothing around her changing body rather than expecting her body to conform to conventional sizing.
“I saw what happened when the clothing adapted to her rather than making her feel like she needed to adapt to it. Over time, I watched her confidence come back.” Built on that belief, ESQUE/BY combines traditional bespoke craftsmanship with technology to create highly personal garments designed around the woman wearing them. “Why do we accept that our bodies are the problem when clothes don’t fit?,” she continues, pointing to the question at the core of her designs.
Strong shoulders, polished silhouettes, graphic lines – all the influences of tailoring and menswear form part of Lee’s craftsmanship, available at the studio. But after years of working closely with clients to create pieces that adapt precisely to their bodies and needs, she is now gearing up to take the full leap and apply that knowledge to her first ready-to-wear collection.
“If you had told me as an engineer that I would eventually start a bespoke tailoring studio — a craft that has existed for centuries — I probably would have asked: what is there to innovate?,” she says. But the answer, as with so many industries and crafts today, is technology. Unlike the prevailing discourse that suggests technological advances in the suit-making process could lead to a devaluation of the craft itself, as ESQUE/BY grows, Lee wants the company to play a role in protecting the craftsmanship that makes this level of clothing possible. “If those skills aren’t passed down, we don’t just lose jobs; we lose knowledge that can take decades to develop, she says. “Growth shouldn’t require us to move further away from our makers. I want growth to give us the ability to invest more deeply in them.”
So, next time you’re in New York, a new pin shall be added to the map.
