Fit for a president

• Source: Global Times
• [10:16 April 12 2010]
• Comments

Gao Liming at his studio.  Photos: Guo Yingguang

By Wu Ningning

Watching the 60th anniversary parade last year meant more to Gao Liming than most ordinary people. At the beginning of the parade, all eyes were on President Hu Jintao as he stood in a Red Flag Limousine, driving along Changan Avenue to review the rows of troops.

However, unlike any other, Gao's eyes were fixed on the high-collared slate-gray Mao suit President Hu wore.

Was everything perfect? Was it comfortable?

As the tailor of the suit, Gao might well be right to worry.

"Before the ceremony, I was wondering if the President would really swap his business suit for the traditional Mao suit. If not, I would be disappointed. Whatever, I have invested enormous effort into making the suit. But now, everything is wonderful."

At the end of ceremony, seeing flowers, cheers, tears and a thunderous accolade on the TV, Gao knew he could breathe normally again after nearly two months of pres-sure.

Sartorial commitment

Working at Hongdu Fashion Company, where the famous from home and abroad have been going for decades to get their suits stitched does not give Gao pause for thought. Hongdu's tailors have been going in and out of Zhongnanhai to make suits for high-ranking officials for the past 50 years. Yet as he was asked to make a Mao suit for President Hu in August 2009, he knew this could be the most demanding part of his career.

In the first two days, Gao felt excited but restless. "I found I could do nothing, just made myself calm down," he recalls. The next two days, he racked his brains for any potential errors. "Errors are definitely my enemy, something I must avoid," Gao says. But this was his moment to show what he could do.

Previously, before President Hu's visit to Japan in 2006, Gao had made three suits for him. "I personally took the measurements of the President, and I know he suits light fabrics." What matters is not necessarily the quality of the whole suit. "The real challenge lies in the details on the sleeves and collars because President Hu would wave and salute the troops in a drive past, which could easily break up the symmetry of sleeves and collars."

Accordingly Gao painstakingly found a special solid inner lining to make sure of the balance of sleeves and collars.

When Gao brought the first fitting to Hu Jintao's office, the President was very happy with the outcome. "He said 'very good'," adds Gao, "the whole suit was trimmed where it was supposed to be, and neatly fitted without constricting."

Gao continued to adjust the suit until he felt everything was perfect.

"When sending the finished suit to President Hu, I felt the tears burning my eyes," says Gao, "how many sleepless nights I spent."

After the ceremony, Gao's work for President Hu was acclaimed. People found him via all possible ways. Gao has no illusion about the sudden fame and refuses to be labeled as a "legendary tailor."

"It is all about pride not fame," he says.

Apprentice

Despite his impressive client list, Gao's work studio is simple: There is a teak table crammed with scissors, clothes and some oddments of tailoring.

But 30 years ago, stepping over the threshold of tailor Tian A'tong's studio was Gao's ultimate dream.

"My [first] job in Hongdu Fashion Company was to operate an elevator. I met my future master Tian A'tong every day [there]," says Gao, "every time I saw master Tian and his apprentices with tape measures round their necks… I was envious. I hoped I could be one of them."

At the end of 1983, with the strong recommendation of master Tian, the most seasoned tailor in the shop, Gao Liming finally got the job he had always dreamed of.

Threading a needle was his first lesson. But everything is hardest the first time. "No matter how hard I squinted at the eye of the needle, it would not go through." It took some time to learn this most basic task, but eventually Gao succeeded.

He then was assigned to cut and make up trousers. "I was totally lost at the very beginning," Gao says. Holding the scissors, he had no idea where to start. "I had to peek at others, and then took notes. Returning home I practiced again and again according to the notes." Quickly, he stitched his first pair of trousers. "It was for a female," he remembers.

Afterwards, the ambitious apprentice attempted to make a suit. The decision was fully supported by his master. "Doing what I really want to do makes it so easy for me to enter a smooth state where I can get lots of highly productive work done." It was the beginning of his tailoring career.

After realizing his apprentice's inner talent, in the early 1990s master Tian asked Gao to work together with him in Zhongnanhai. "Normally I was just standing to the side, but I learnt all about how to measure leaders correctly and how to cut suits."