Tailor-made clothing has always been a vestige of the wealthy, and the betrothed. But customisation is becoming more mainstream.
Part push back against the generic qualities of fast fashion and part a desire by consumers to have a personal connection with their investment pieces, a number of Melbourne-based brands are extending customisation beyond the monogramming craze that has swept Australia in the past couple of years.
![Annie Abbot, of habbot, is offering customers the chance to create their own pair of brogues in October.](/web/20161016180128im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/n/0/9/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grn3gt.png/1475378375239.jpg)
During October, habbot is offering customers the chance to build their shoes from the ground up, using its signature brogue as the template for an individual product.
The #myhabbot initiative allows clients to pick from 14 leathers, as well as the finishes and laces on their brogues, which are handmade in Italy by a family business.
![Amanda Briskin-Rettig, of A-ESQUE, has launched a customised lettering service to help customers gain a personal ...](/web/20161016180128im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/p/g/o/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grn3gt.png/1475378375239.jpg)
"I love the challenge of coming up with several new combinations each season and know personally a group of long-term habbot customers that would love the opportunity to have a turn at this too," said owner Annie Abbott.
She said the idea for a customisable shoe had been bubbling for a while. A pair of shoes ordered in October will be delivered in January.
"That's how long it takes for all our shoes to be made but no one would [normally] know that," she said.
A-ESQUE's Amanda Briskin, who founded Mimco in the 1990s before selling it in 2007, has just introduced the Initials Bureau, a lettering option that can be added to some styles of bag and wallet.
![A signature Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag with customised stripes and initials.](/web/20161016180128im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/p/g/c/k/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grn3gt.png/1475378375239.jpg)
She said the popularity of fashion personalisation was an expression of people connecting with the things they choose to buy and making them their own.
"We've chosen to take it to another level where we're not stamping an existing piece but building your initials into the piece," she said.
![The habbot brogue program allows customers to design their own pair, based on the brand's signature style.](/web/20161016180128im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/p/h/u/0/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grn3gt.png/1475378375239.jpg)
By using larger letters, Briskin-Rettig said the initialling becomes a greater focus of the piece than a mere afterthought.
"There's a playfulness, it's not just about your own initials but there's a whimsy to it."
![A-ESQUE is offering a personalised service, where customers can have their initials sewn on to their bag.](/web/20161016180128im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/p/m/s/w/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grn3gt.png/1475378375239.jpg)
One of the earliest purveyors of monogramming, Louis Vuitton, also has a customisation program, which allows women to add stripes and their initials to a bag for roughly $500 above the price of the plain version.
Other brands venturing into customisation include Mimco, which has a full-time embosser at its new Chadstone store, and menswear brand Peter Jackson, which just introduced a made-to-measure suit program.
In Sydney, Salvatore Ferragamo has introduced a men's shoe customisation program, while US streetwear brand Superdry offered a "design your own hoodie" in the lead-up to Father's Day.