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Warren Buffett, fashion icon?

Posted Sep 24 2009, 08:31 AM by Kim Peterson
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Image credit: © Chip East/ReutersBillionaire investor Warren Buffett gets business pitches all the time, but this one he didn't turn down.

Buffett was in China two years ago when a friend of a friend suggested he get fitted for a Trands suit. He agreed, and two tailors soon burst into his hotel room to take measurements, according to The Wall Street Journal.

And that began the ongoing love affair between Buffett and Trands, a menswear label founded by a former Chinese farmer who knows how to pounce on opportunity. Buffett received two suits for free and said no suits had ever fit him better. 

Bing: What are the best mens' suits?

He likes them so much, in fact, that he recently filmed a promotional video for the company's Web site, the Journal reports. Now, he has nine suits and recommends the brand to people like Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates.

After the video went online, shares of Dalian Dayang Trands (SHA:600233) soared by more than 70%, the Journal reports. Investors are hoping that if Buffett is a huge fan, perhaps America is Trands' next target. China's president, Hu Jintao, is already a customer, and the company's success in China has helped it grow to 15,000 employees.

Except that Buffett isn't exactly a fashion maven in the U.S. He admitted to the Journal that he went 78 years before he was complimented on his appearance (and he happened to be wearing a Trands suit at the time).

Could a Buffett endorsement help Trands make headway in this country? Probably just among the rich and famous. I don't even know where the rest of us would even find a Trands suit here. But Buffett has some ideas on that point.

"Maybe Bill (Gates) and I could start a clothing store," he mused on the promotional video, "and if we sold the suits made by Dalian Trands, some day we might even be rich, who knows?"

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Comments

 

A real patriot wearing Chinese suits, hahahaaaaa. I prefer tailored and Made in U.S.A.

Are there no American manufactures that can make well fitted clothing in America. I am sick of buying items like shoes, clothing,food,tires,cars,etc from other countries. What about the Americans who need jobs. This man should promote American made goods. He will never be in need of food,clothing and shelter. I live in a community that had close to 11,000 people show up for just a few jobs. The education system is a total mess. People are stealing everthing they can get their hands on. Taxes have gone up for people who are trying to keep the homes. Food is very expensive. Gasoline is always up and down in price. It is nothing for gas prices to go up 8 cents in one day.

I saw a guy in a suit operating a front end loader on a street repair project the other day.

I wonder how that came about?

Perhaps Mr. Buffett should read up on China's senseless torture of poor Tibetan monks. I would never buy a Chinese suit nor visit a Chinese laundry for that matter when a perfectly skilled American could make my suits or wash my underwear. The blood of innocent monks is on those suits Mr. Buffett. Why don't you try rewarding some honest blood, sweat and tears of your fellow American laborer.

After buying expensive tailored Hong Kong shirts, I will NEVER do that again. Eighty bucks a shirt and they lasted less than three years before my elbows wore through one, the buttons came off another, and a third had frayed cuffs. I felt guilty about donating them to GoodWill.

My suits are generally Italian, but I buy them from American clothiers. My primary is Bill Walker in Houston. I don't buy their shirts, though. I find that I don't like custom shirts anymore. I usually get Ralph Lauren from the outlet mall in Katy.

olt0ow I want to say - thank you for this!

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