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<\/div>\nOn different sides of the world, two men with a similar idea. An independent menswear store where guys could meet, talk, gain advice, discover stuff and buy clothes that make them feel good. Run by approachable, knowledgeable staff, and stocked with brands that you couldn\u2019t find elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Fifteen years later, Mark Cho, co-founder of The Armoury, and Mats Klingberg, the founder of Trunk Clothiers, have created distinctive \u2013 but in many ways complementary \u2013 retail identities by focusing on a curation of labels that they wear themselves. And in the process they\u2019ve become two of the most respected, and well-dressed, flagbearers for contemporary-classic men\u2019s style.<\/p>\n
Mark Cho established The Armoury in Hong Kong in 2010 with his then business partner Alan See (who has since left), driven by a passion for tailoring (he also owns British haberdasher Drake\u2019s) and a commitment to showcasing exquisite craftsmanship from hand-picked suppliers across the world. Brands include Alden, Coh\u00e9rence, Frank Clegg and Ring Jacket. <\/p>\n A committed watch collector, Cho has expanded into notable watch collaborations with Swiss mavericks H. Moser & Cie., the Japanese independent Naoya Hida & Co. and the Scotland-based Paulin. The Armoury\u2019s own line includes shoes, sports chinos, polo shirts and much else. There are now two Armoury stores in New York, and one in Hong Kong\u2019s Peddar Arcade, which includes a cigar lounge. \u00a0<\/p>\n Mats Klingberg\u2019s Trunk Clothiers, with locations first in London and then a second in Zurich, focuses on bringing in brands from Italy and Japan that become genuine wardrobe staples. Like The Armoury, Trunk has its own label, which includes cashmere knitwear, Oxford shirts, overcoats and tote bags. Trunk now stocks brands from around the world, including orSlow, Fedeli, Kaptain Sunshine and Caruso.<\/p>\n We brought the two founders together in Hong Kong recently. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n Congratulations on 15 years. What have you learnt about men and how they dress in that time?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mats Klingberg:<\/strong> I started Trunk because I wanted to demystify menswear. I think lots of men get quite confused about all the conflicting information out there. There are so many rules. The fashion press always wants to come up with what’s new, what’s in, what’s out. Trunk has played a part in being above the fray and giving clear advice that\u2019s always relevant.<\/p>\n Men need to listen to themselves, see what works, and what they feel comfortable in. Once they find their style, the trick is to not let what goes on in the outside world distract you too much.<\/p>\n When men first come in, do they know what they\u2019re looking for or do you advise them?<\/strong><\/p>\n MK:<\/strong> Some know exactly what they want. Many don’t. Even though it’s only clothing, it\u2019s a very important part of a person’s identity. If you’re not sure what you’re wearing is right, it can impact your self-esteem. But I don’t want people to get distracted by clothing. Focus on what\u2019s really important in life: work, love, family and so on. I know that lots of guys can get very stressed if they go in for a trip that includes both holiday and business, for example, not knowing what to pack. I want to keep it as simple as possible, where you can mix and match and dress up and down.<\/p>\n Early on, many guys came in saying, «I\u2019ll come back on Saturday with my partner,» because they didn\u2019t trust their own judgment. Over time, our customers really came to trust our advice because we believe in honest opinions. It\u2019s all about the long term. Everything we\u2019ve advised them to buy, their partners have liked. We\u2019re like partner-approved retailers.<\/p>\n Mark Cho:<\/strong> I couldn\u2019t agree more. It\u2019s always about how to guide men, how to be pragmatic. Those are good retail tenets. People want to be comfortable; they want to figure out what they need to wear \u2013 because, like you said, it’s the way the world sees you. They see your clothes before they hear your voice so you have to look how you want the world to see you.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to oversell or change everything every season. People don\u2019t change that fast, which is why we’ve had customers for 15 years. They enjoy our way of looking at clothes, and it suits them.<\/p>\n MK:<\/strong> What\u2019s the age bracket of your clients, Mark? Ours is roughly 35 to 55, but the big spenders are probably 55 to 65. I usually say I am my customer, but this wasn\u2019t always the case. When I was in my 20s, I was much more experimental: I shaved my hair off; went platinum blonde; went through a sort of hippie phase that maybe lasted for two months. I tried it all. My style now is very similar to how I dressed as a teenager.<\/p>\n MC:<\/strong> Our demographic has probably aged upwards along with our customers; we have a lot of who’ve been there for so long. We focus on serving the customer that we grew up with, rather than adjusting the business to draw in a new client.<\/p>\n We do get young guys, though, figuring out what the hell they should wear. How does this whole \u2018getting dressed\u2019 work? We get more cultural differences in New York, actually. We don\u2019t get it so much here in Hong Kong. If you\u2019re wealthy enough as a young person, you\u2019ve probably got some of your parents\u2019 money to buy clothing. Whereas in New York, I think young people who are well-paid and professional want to start building their wardrobe with us.<\/p>\n As well as selling many unexpected and interesting brands, you both have a custom component to what you offer.<\/strong><\/p>\n MC:<\/strong> The nice thing about having the custom programme is that you can really dig into the nuances of the fabric and how that\u2019s important and appropriate for your wardrobe. I like the idea of having certain clothing for certain occasions. Something that\u2019s so versatile you could wear year-round isn\u2019t really for me. I like having a summer wardrobe and a winter wardrobe. Within those wardrobes, I prefer having certain types of clothing for particular occasions. If you have a special occasion and special clothes for that occasion, it makes it feel more memorable, more important to you.<\/p>\n MK:<\/strong> When we started we didn\u2019t do it because I thought, «We’re in London, several brands do custom very well.» But over time I think the business developed; now it\u2019s a small but growing part of our business. It has always been more for people like me \u2013 with very long arms, normal sizes just don\u2019t fit me.<\/p>\n What gives you the most satisfaction?<\/strong><\/p>\n MK:<\/strong> Satisfaction for me is always just seeing the customer reactions, seeing them really find themselves and feel confident in how they want to dress. You can see it in their eyes, their body language, and posture. That gives me joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n MC:<\/strong> I agree. You meet fantastic customers, and you feel grateful to them, and they\u2019re grateful to you. That kind of makes the whole thing worth it. I think for both of our businesses, customers are kind of self selected. We don’t get that many bozos walking in here.<\/p>\n I’ll add one more thing: the watch collabs we’ve done is something that I’m quite proud of. Watch development projects are pretty long: two, three years. Watches have very specific aesthetics, brands have very specific design languages, and the fact that they let me mess around with that, and we then make something that was very representative of both partners, is a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n Finally, is there a typical Trunk man? Or Armoury man?<\/strong><\/p>\n MK<\/strong>: It’s people with a global mindset, they travel, they’re generally well educated, they care about things, they’re curious, they’re good people.<\/p>\n MC<\/strong>: Speaking of attracting good people, you\u2019ve had a lot of staff for a long time.<\/p>\n MK:<\/strong> Yes. I wonder, maybe I’m too good to them. I have several that have been with me over ten years.<\/p>\n MC:<\/strong> And it\u2019s important to have customers who don’t burn your staff out too, because you can really only take on so many bozos.<\/p>\n trunkclothiers.com<\/a><\/em> thearmoury.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For 15 years, Mark Cho and Mats Klingberg have run two of the best clothing stores for men. Here the two founders discuss why clothes matter, what makes them proud and the importance of bozos.\u00a0 On different sides of the world, two men with a similar idea. An independent menswear store where guys could meet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/11\/562a2512-1708x2560.jpg\")
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