I recently received a cashmere jacket that I commissioned from Donghyun Kim, a Korean tailor who goes under the brand name Tranquil House, in Seoul. 

The jacket has some minor issues, however, after four fittings now. We had two in Seoul during the week I was there, and have since met three other times - two fittings in London and one final meeting last month. 

I thought Kim would be a useful one to cover, as in the burgeoning area of Asian bespoke he’s one of very few that offers an English style. Although tailors in China, Japan and elsewhere originally came from something of an English tradition, they aren't that close to that now. And most modern tailors in Asia trained in Italy - or draw their inspiration from it. 

Kim was a cutter and tailor at Cad & The Dandy for three years before moving back to Seoul, and he has a lovely modern, airy studio where he also develops ready-to-wear. Some of it is very nice, and it’s all creative and unusual. I particularly liked the heavy-canvas work shirt below.

The fittings in Korea were OK. The balance of the jacket was good by the time we got to the second one, in the actual cloth, and it seemed to be sitting well on the neck and shoulders. 

The sleeves didn't look too bad either, but by the time we had the third fitting in London, the top of the sleeve looked tight, with prominent creases running across the top of each one. There were minor issues around the back of the neck, and the skirt sat out slightly, so Kim took it away to work on again. 

At the fourth fitting, he said he had recut one sleeve and they did both looked improved, though there was still a little tightness and he seemed to not know how to fix it. He also said he wanted to try again, this time with a wider shoulder, so he had made a heavy, Russell-check tweed to do a first fitting on. 

That last meeting was in April. The sleeve issue was definitely minor now - the kind of thing you wouldn’t notice among a raft of bigger issues on a ready-to-wear jacket, and probably wouldn’t notice on a made-to-measure either. 

The body fit was also perfect, beautifully smooth and balanced, as good as I’ve seen from anyone. But the sleeve still wasn’t dropping smoothly.

The Russell-check jacket looked more promising, with the wider shoulders and perhaps the material helping - the cashmere was a very soft, vintage Zegna one, which is one of the hardest things to work with; thick tweeds are one of the easiest. 

My expectations had probably been raised by how good the other Korean tailors I had visited had been. Assisi, Luca Museo and B&Tailor had all produced very good fits after one fitting. 

For context, the issues were also minor compared to other less-than-positive reviews there have been on PS over the years, such as Robin Petterson or Biagio Granata. The Tranquil House product is still a good piece of bespoke, just not among the best I’ve experienced. 

The jacket is also finely made, with nice neat buttonholes and precise handwork; most Neapolitan tailoring is rough by comparison. I like the style too, which is sharp but fairly soft for an English make - more Richard Anderson than Dege & Skinner. It reminds me how flattering that longer jacket and straight shoulder can be on me, particularly with a lower buttoning point than I had in the past.

Tranquil House is also good value compared to other English tailors (suits start at $2900).

I never enjoy writing negative things about products or makers, even though Permanent Style’s reputation was to some extent made by honest-but-critical reviews. 

I also hate the fact that any mention of anything negative makes something a ‘bad’ review, no matter how many positive things are mentioned alongside it. In fact, sometimes a review like P Johnson is actually positive, but people just remember it for the furore in the comments. 

There are many things on the other side of the scales here with Tranquil House, and I hope readers take those into account. I would also applaud Kim for his openness to discussing what was right and wrong, and interest in putting it right. Like the review of Massura few years ago, I will always cover something again when there has been improvement or change. 

tranquilhouse.kr; communication is through email on the website. 

Suits start at $2900, jackets $2145. My jacket was in a vintage Zegna cashmere, but the Russell tweed shown is Porter & Harding 32248, in the Hartwist bunch, 19ozb.