The Sartorial Shop, located in downtown Vancouver, was co-founded by Zahir Rajani and Anastasia Besiou (Co-Creative Director), and is a premier destination for custom and bespoke clothing. Serving men and women, the shop has built a reputation for its meticulous craftsmanship and unparalleled attention to detail.
The Sartorial Shop offers a wide range of bespoke garments, including suits, tuxedos, formalwear, overcoats, shirts, skirts, waistcoats, and vests, each tailored to perfection. With over 30 body measurements and postural notes incorporated into each design, The Sartorial Shop’s process ensures an exceptional fit for every client. The shop provides both bespoke and semi-bespoke options for all its products, emphasizing true luxury craftsmanship.
Unlike mass-production facilities, The Sartorial Shop’s garments are crafted with care and precision, reflecting a commitment to artisanal quality.
IN HER WORDS
“Having grown up in Kenya, East Africa, entrepreneurship was always around me. I can go as far back as my first childhood memories.
“My father had two factories, which he built from the ground up, and my grandfather had several businesses, which also involved several of my aunts and uncles. Because of this, the idea of entrepreneurship was also always around me. In Kenya, and generally in East Africa, if you are looking to live a comfortable lifestyle, and because hourly pay or wages are not a thing, you would have to look at the entrepreneurship route.
“The other thing that stood out to me about entrepreneurship was having the ability to look after others and their families by being able to offer them fair and equitable employment opportunities. The idea of impacting someone’s life positively resonates with me.
“Being fairly studious, I was always on top of my schoolwork. This gave me a decent amount of free time while at university. And since I was living away from home and often on a “student budget,” I started to tutor. When I realized that tutoring was starting to pay better than a part-time student job, and it gave me the ability to be in control of my own time, I started to value the idea of entrepreneurship.
“Having grown up in the eastern part of the world, where the idea of work-life balance is very different from what we know here in Canada and North America generally, I knew that I had to own my own business to maintain it.
“I grew up in an environment that did not require sending calendar invites to get together with people or speaking to someone’s executive assistant to set up a time to have a coffee, and for me it was extremely important to be able to continue to maintain that, regardless of where I was going to live.
“I became more efficient. I went from one-on-one private tutoring to hosting tutoring sessions to group tutoring sessions! By doing so, I was able to tutor in far less time without sacrificing my earnings.
“Another opportunity arose from my tutoring; and because I had curated a good network of students while I was tutoring, I had first dibs on the textbooks they did not need at the end of the term or semester. I would buy them on the cheap, refurbish them, and then sell them for a decent profit!
“As most international students would know, working hours are capped, and in addition to being able to look after myself, I also wanted the ability to buy nice gifts for my parents. The only way I could do that was to find creative ways to earn additional income.
“I knew that some form of entrepreneurship was inevitable. As I mentioned earlier, I knew that I had to be in control of my own time. It was important for me to be able to present as a mother, like my mother was for my siblings and me. I knew that the only way to achieve this was to own my own business.
“When my husband and business partner, Zahir, wrapped up his successful career in global real estate and decided that getting back into high-end fashion and suit-making was his desire, I was on board!
“With my mother being a fashionista in her own right, it was an easy decision for me. I grew up watching her design her outfits, so style and fashion have always been around me. Owning our own business, once it was off the ground and established, would ultimately give us the flexibility to be in control of our own time, therefore allowing us to travel together and spend more time as a family.
“I am a firm believer in having faith and trusting the process. When we first started to plan out the re-opening of my husband’s family business and what that would look like, given how the landscape and dynamic of both style and fashion have changed over the last decade, we saw a pretty significant gap in the Vancouver market. A gap that, if we positioned ourselves right, we could easily fill.
“When we launched The Sartorial Shop, we had no angel investors, and, with our first child on the way, it was all a very big risk. But I believed. I believed in the vision that we had set out. I knew that, while it might take some time, it would come to fruition.
“My focus within the business is primarily on the design side of things. As a Co-Creative Director, I focus on what things will look like. I look forward to the next 6-12 months and try to envision what our current and future customers might enjoy wearing.
“Being part Greek, Kenyan, Indian, and now Canadian, I have a very mixed cultural background. As such, I believe that I have a different view on fashion and style, and so I try to incorporate all of that into what we produce and showcase seasonally.
“There is a gap which we believe exists in Vancouver and perhaps across all of Canada. You have high fashion and then overpriced fashion, but you do not have a ‘get-what-you-pay-for’ fashion. We can sell you a $2,000 suit, or we can sell you a $20,000 suit, and either way, there is no compromise on quality. What our competitors sell for $4,000, we sell for half of that, and if you were to break down the two suits side-by-side to compare them, I can confidently say that ours would stand out as the superior product.
“We have a few very interesting and exciting projects on the go and recently completed three entirely bespoke outfits for the 2025 Academy Awards. These red carpet Oscar outfits were designed alongside stylist Amanda May Daly and put together by The Sartorial Shop for the award-winning documentary Sugarcane filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat, artist Ed Brave NoiseCat, and Chief Willie Sellars. The film was produced in conjunction with National Geographic and follows an inquiry into unmarked graves at a Williams Lake, BC residential school.
“Our respective families have been our greatest pillars of support. They have been incredibly supportive throughout our journey to date, and we know that as we grow and our business continues to evolve, we can count on them to be there by our side.
“I remember the day we announced to our families that a baby girl was on the way, and shortly after that, my husband, was going to leave his full-time high-level executive role in global real estate. Wow, what a moment that was!
“I can still see the shock on their faces, but all in all, our respective families have been nothing short of exceptional when it comes to supporting us throughout this journey.
“The two grandmothers help babysit when we are both busy, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend help out at every conference, convention, and exhibition that we are a part of, my brothers with their business tidbits, and my father-in-law who makes sure that every piece of social media content is shared amongst all of his friends!
“Our business is growing just as we would like to see it grow, and as it does, we continue to plan its next phases. Growth is still very much on the table, and over the next two quarters, you will see just that. Further growth and new and exciting projects, including The Cup, Vancouver’s most stylish event, where we are the official and exclusive luxury menswear sponsor.
“By the end of 2025, we anticipate significant global expansion. Demand from prospective customers worldwide has been overwhelming, with numerous requests for trunk shows in various regions. We are actively strategizing to accommodate these opportunities. Currently, several Canadian cities, London UK, and potentially Kenya, are key locations in our plans.”
Author Profile
- Helen Siwak is the founder of EcoLuxLuv Marketing & Communications Inc and publisher of Folio.YVR Luxury Lifestyle Magazine and PORTFOLIOY.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine. She is a prolific content creator, consultant, and marketing and media strategist within the ecoluxury lifestyle niche. Post-pandemic, she has worked with many small to mid-sized plant-based/vegan brands to build their digital foundations and strategize content creation and business development. Helen is the west coast correspondent to Canada’s top-read industry magazine Retail-Insider, holds a vast freelance portfolio, and consults with many of the world’s luxury heritage brands. Always seeking new opportunities and challenges, you can email her at helen@ecoluxluv.com.
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