Suitsupply hoping to sustain double-digit growth in China

"We decided to produce in China not because we want to produce something cheaper, but because it's the only place in the world that can make the products the way we want. China has people who are eager to learn, great quality of work, and the world's best manufacturing," said De Jong.

The company's first brick-and-mortar retail space was situated at a highway exit between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where customers could pick up and try the suits after purchasing online. This model continues despite most customers now buying directly from physical stores.

In Shanghai, for example, the store is housed in a historic villa in a residential neighborhood, instead of a sleek shopping mall.

"The idea is to remove the trimmings of conventional luxury, which are a little ballooned to justify the enormous prices, and bring things back down to earth," said De Jong.

While De Jong believes in free advertising such as word-of-mouth, the company is also known for its bold, if not controversial, visual campaigns that have touched such topics as religion and same-sex love over the years.

It was the first fashion brand to show two men kissing in an advert in its 2018 Spring Summer campaign. According to the BBC, the brand lost 12,000 followers on Instagram after the post went up.

"If you do things like that, there are always people who don't like it. But it's not important. What's important is that the people you want to reach like it," De Jong said in response to the controversy.

In fact, such images, especially those shared on social networks, have been and will continue to be one of the most robust engines driving the growth of the menswear market.

"Men today need the right fitting and styling as much as women, as the number of images every man sees every day on social media may be more than what one person saw in a year decades ago. It increases awareness and eventually translates into action," he said.

Consultancy firm Euromonitor projected that menswear will outperform womenswear by 2022 globally, though the former only accounted for less than a quarter of the broader $1.7 trillion apparel and footwear market in 2017.

Marguerite Le Rolland, a consultant in beauty and fashion at the firm, attributed the change to the greater emphasis placed by men on their appearance, partially resulting from the rise of social media.