What’s one more thing that can make television personality Stephen A. Smith raise his voice in praise? Apparently the work of local custom tailoring service Andre’ Julius.

“That suit is pretty fly. I can’t front,” Smith told 2008 Super Bowl champion and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, who was sporting an outfit from the service’s owner and designer, Andre’ McLaughlin.

At Andre’ Julius—which opened in 2022—McLaughlin aims to provide each client with a personalized experience during the garment design process. This approach applies to a range of items, from standard suits and tuxedos to denim jeans and leather jackets, he notes.

Given the intimate nature of the process, McLaughlin operates on an appointment-only basis. Clients can book sessions at one of the brand’s two showrooms in Richmond and Williamsburg, arrange consultations online or request a meeting at a location of their choice.

“I think it’s important that they can reach me personally,” McLaughlin said. “This experience is an investment. You come in here. You have this living room atmosphere. I want them to feel like they’re at home and that they can sit back, relax and have a glass.”

During appointments, McLaughlin engages clients in discussions about their lifestyle, profession and the intended purpose of their outfits. He then guides them through an extensive selection of globally-sourced fabrics and allows them to choose specific details such as buttons, lapels, linings and pockets. For more unique requests, McLaughlin offers “specialty designs,” which involve creating custom mock-ups.

Approximately 30 body measurements per client later, the designs are sent to production. McLaughlin uses “custom tailoring factories” to accommodate increasing volume to have the garments ready in the next four to eight weeks, he said. But he’s done expedited commissions as well, with turnarounds as short as 2 to 3 days. It’s a process he says he’s honed in a short amount of time.

“I taught myself everything within 6 months to a year how to source fabrics, what the fabrics mean, the quality of the fabrics, how to alter garments, how to put things together regarding suiting, as far as a good look,” McLaughlin said.

“It wasn’t something I dreamed of all my life. It was just something that happened … that I kind of pushed out the door in a fast manner.”

Logan Marlar, a senior sales director for a software sales company, spoke about McLaughlin’s ability to “build something around the person” while still nudging them out of their comfort zones. Marlar has bought multiple pieces from the store, including a custom tuxedo and multiple sport coats.

“A lot of these people have their set materials, their set patterns, and their set designs, and they stick to it,” Marlar said.

“He [showed me] hundreds of different patterns, hundreds of different materials, hundreds of different colors. And I was just able to have the confidence from the first conversation to say,

‘I will be in a better place if I let him take the wheel than if I try and figure this out.’”

The Randolph-Macon College alum leads all “front-of-house” work: designing, measurements and in-house alterations, he said.

His clientele spans both men and women – 200 and counting. Ryan Clark is another such client. Now a brand ambassador for Andre’ Julius, he said that McLaughlin brought creativity, authenticity and confidence to the table as he styled, designed and made Clark’s outfits.

“Pretty much everything I do, every event, Andre’ has been a part of that, styling me and also really building many of my outfits from scratch,” Clark said. “He’s just done a really good job of elevating my style for TV.”

Base pricing for your everyday suit starts at $800. Most people don’t go past $3,000, regardless of the design in question. According to McLaughlin, every client who buys a custom suit or tuxedo also gets a complimentary photoshoot. Yet for him, the business is about more than just suit prices.

“I just want to be one of the best designers to ever do it, especially being a Black-owned, Christian-based company,” McLaughlin said. “I want to be the best to ever do it.”