Anything from a brassiere to a tent...

Mr. Mito as a young man

Mr. Subhas Moti has owned Bez Valley Tailors on the corner of Seventh Street and Broadway for 30 years.  He took over the business from his father-in-law, Mr. Chitta Lalloo Parbhoo, when he retired in 1981.  The shop started out at 15 Broadway, where Midas is today, and moved to the current location in 1962, almost 50 years ago.

The son of a tailor, Mr. Moti was born in Durban in 1947.  His father’s business was on Grey Street, which was a ‘hub of Indian businesses’ in the 1950s.

  

Mr. Moti with his wife and in-laws

From an early age Mr. Moti would go to his father’s shop after school. At the age of nine he shortened his first pair of trousers, made his first buttonhole, and tacked his first button.  When he was 11 his father died suddenly. He and his five siblings were  catapulted into adulthood the three boys into careers as tailors.

Life was tough but Mr. Moti is inclined to focus on the positive. “Between then and the time I came to this business, I frequented workshops and sweatshops and tailor shops. It was an excellent learning ground’.

Mr. and Mrs. Lalloo Parbhoo

He met his wife on a visit to Johannesburg. ‘I had family in Johannesburg so I came here from time to time.  In those days when you crossed provincial borders, you had to go to Home Affairs and get a permit.  On the one trip I met my wife and we got married’. The couple lived in Durban for a while before moving to Johannesburg.  Taking over his father-in-law’s business in July 1981 allowed the tailor to generate more income, though not without hard work and sacrifice.  ‘Those were long days. I was working 12 or 14 hours a day…’

Within 18 months Mr. Moti suffered a heart attack and was forced to rethink how to run the business. He took on one assistant and then others.  They have been with him for 24 years, 18 years, and six years respectively.

Describing the changes that have taken place over the years, Mr. Moti speaks of the horrendous journey back and forth from Lenasia in peak hour traffic, and the gradual disappearance of most other tailors in the area.

Mr. Moti takes pride in his work and believes it is valuable. ‘I believe anybody who works with his hands has to make a living.  He is taking the trouble so he must also get a slice of the cake. I don’t want the whole cake...I will never be rich but I can make a decent living’.

Relationships with customers are central. ‘In my line of work I have people who have things to talk about, anything from the money market to weddings and social events and tragedies. So you hear of Johannesburg, you hear of the people of Johannesburg. And it is a vibrant city.  I’m a people person…Eventually the customer becomes your friend,’ Mr. Moti says.

Customers are from all walks of life. ‘You can’t put a finger on who the customers are…very poor, very rich. The poor one will say, ‘Please boss, I don’t have another trouser, give me a trouser so that I can wash the one I am wearing’... And then I get the guy who comes here in a Maserati and I do a fitting for him and he gives me his card and says, ‘When it is ready, please call the office, somebody will come and fetch it’. 

A local magician has been a customer for many years. The relationship led to a massive undertaking to produce items of clothing for 10-12 Reach for a Dream ‘happiness givers’. Outfits consisted of trousers, waistcoats and T-shirts with lots of pockets. ‘A pocket is a tailor’s nightmare’, Mr. Moti says. 

Although business is uncertain from one day to the next, the atmosphere in the shop is vibrant and collaborative. ‘Ours is a team effort but I am in the middle of every single job,’ Mr. Moti says.  ‘Nobody does marking and cutting except me and I give the customer the fitting so I know what I have to do. You get a person who is slender on the waist but big on the seat; and you may get a man who has a paunch and a very small behind.  It is all about measurements and you have to be on top of your trade otherwise they bring it back and you have to redo the job at no cost’.

Asked about some of his more challenging assignments, Mr. Moti says, ‘Our work can be  anything from a brassiere to a tent! Now the brassiere that would come to us is not an ordinary brassiere. It comes from the specialists and it is an awkward size. For instance, one that came to us was a 32 triple H! We provide the necessary workmanship’.

An ‘operation’ with a tent involved sewing zips onto the windows of the tent so they wouldn’t flap in the rain.  A machine was moved onto the pavement to complete the job because the tent was too big for the shop.

Mr. Moti with his wife, three daughters and extended family

Bez Valley Tailors has countered criminal attacks like many other businesses in Jo’burg. On one occasion three armed men relieved Mr. Moti of the R500 float, his personal possessions, and the leather waistcoat he was wearing that day. 

I asked how long he intends to carry on with the business. ‘I will be here for at least another ten years…at least,’ he says.