Shawn Wah started his apprenticeship at his uncle’s tailor shop, KMC in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo in 1998. After a few years, he moved to Kuala Lumpur to further pursue his interest in this industry and started studying Fashion Designing, Fashion Marketing and Image Consulting. His next step upon graduation took him to MALAYSIA-INTERNATIONAL FASHION AWARDS (MIFA), a fashion event and retail company, where he specialised in fashion research, development and producing within the fashion industry.

After many years of experience with MIFA, Shawn finally found his calling again with the tailoring business, more specifically, menswear.

He is currently running a showroom and bespoke atelier, WH BESPOKE, in Kuala Lumpur City Center, which he started in 2015. This atelier serves a varied group of discerning clientele ranging from Royalty, Chevaliers and eminent persons to corporate figures from Australia, United Kingdom, South Korea, United stated, Singapore and Malaysia.

WH BESPOKE takes pride in providing meticulous attention to detail and a strong stylistic identity, working with a curation of reputable fabrics such as Vitale Barberis Canonico, Holland & Sherry, Piacenza Cashmere and Huddersfield Cloth. The atelier’s style is deeply rooted in the Italian tradition of cutting, but its suits are significantly softer in structure than those provided by the other tailors in Kuala Lumpur. Its clients often comment on the affordable pricing, considering materials used as well as the workmanship, which in turn leads to many repeat visits and purchases.

All in all, WH BESPOKE aims to provide topnotch bespoke tailoring that also speaks to the purists of this demanding art.

Outside of his atelier, Shawn can be seen working with like-minded individuals in championing menswear tailoring in Malaysia. In 2018, he headed the organising of the inaugural Suit Walk in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. This was a cultural event where participants, made up of suit or fashion enthusiasts, dressed up in their best suits and gathered within the city Centre for the day. SuitWalk 2018 was a success in promoting menswear dress-up culture among Malaysians, and it received much coverage from Chinese, English and Malay media.

More recently, Shawn created the Chevalier Club for premium tailoring in hopes to further unite members within the tailoring industry as well as to promote craftsmanship as a cultural art to others not within the industry.