A little while ago we published a piece about the men behind Knights & Lords tailoring house in Dubai. Everybody loved it, loved the writing, loved the photographs, loved everything. What’s funny about it is how many people I have come across in the past few months who don’t like Ashish and Pawan and don’t understand their methods. I asked these people what their issues were. Apparently there are people out there who really claim that Ashish and Pawan are members of the Illuminati! All I have seen are gentlemen with elegance and class and who can keep the head on a cigar longer than anyone else in the cigar lounge. So, I asked the hard questions to those who have taken issue with their very existence. Here are those questions. (All questioners have been kept anonymous.)
You mention the Astral Plane quite often. What is the Astral Plane?
The Astral Plane is a dimension that is one step above or beyond the one that we currently perceive through our senses. Right now, we live in the dimension where everything is perceived by our five senses which is what we see, touch, feel, smell or taste. Now when we take the sense of “feel” for example, we take a step inwards as now we can include emotions. We feel angry or happy or sad, the feeling we cannot see but the effects of it we can with changes to your facial expressions or actions and such. Something that we taste can also produce a feeling if you like the taste or not and can materialize in the physical dimension by changes to your expressions and such so all the senses in this dimension that we perceive are strongly inter-connected making everything we see and don’t see very real for our perception.
The Astral Plane is a dimension that is slightly deeper in a part of our sub-conscious mind which is closest to the conscious mind so essentially one step into the border of the sub-conscious. Because it exists in our sub-conscious, our consciousness cannot perceive it in the same way as our five senses. This is a dimension that is more fluid and cosmic. It is a dimension where things such as your personal aura exists, cosmic magnetic fields exist along with heavenly bodies that manage and play a part in the functioning of this cosmic multiverse. When you enter the Astral Plane and look at the world from there, you essentially step out of your body and see the world from a cosmic level. You understand the realm of the large multiverse that functions in a coordinated planned manner to manage the different universes including the one that you are in. You understand that the ever-expanding universe with different galaxies and uncountable heavenly bodies where your galaxy is one of them. You understand that among the many worlds within this galaxy is the solar system in which the earth exists as one of the planets and on which you are one small being connected to this large multiverse through existence which operates with a coordinated precision and plan linked to “the source” which is a domain that is beyond space and time and a soup of all ideas in this creation.
You constantly project yourself into the Astral Plane at a sub-conscious level without realizing and making changes in the cosmic level which affects the dimension we live in and perceive with our senses. When your thought or want or a situation or what you want to create manifests in this dimension that we live in through our actions, we categorize it as a miracle. When you do the same thing consciously by projecting yourself into the Astral Plane to and doing what is required to fulfill what you want, you are able to create and bring into existence items or situations or whatever you want which otherwise is beyond the capacity of the limited faculties and abilities of our senses which function in our dimension (the dimension that we live in and perceive through our senses). We feel that every true craftsman has the ability to project themselves into the Astral Plane enabling them to create what otherwise can only be imagined by others. They may do so knowingly or unknowingly (consciously or sub-consciously) but they definitely do it at will while others do it by chance.
What is the Eye of Bespoke?
The Eye of Bespoke is that domain we referred to in the previous question as “the source”. It is a domain that exists beyond space and time and is the source and soup of all ideas that eventually manifest as a creation and exist in this multiverse. People have referred to it by different names and we refer to it as The Eye of Bespoke because it was done so by our master as well, it being the Eye that guides us and becomes our eye to bring into existence what we desire through our craft. Since it is a domain beyond space and time, it is essentially the soup of all ideas and knowledge of everything in the past, present and future converged into one domain. Everything in this multiverse was initially a small idea in this domain.
Everything that will be in this multiverse in the future is already a small idea in this domain. People who become adept or experts at what they do may it be artists or craftsmen and other such archetypes have successfully created a bridge between this dimension and the other dimensions such as The Astral Plane through their craft since they have increased their understanding beyond just their five senses after being able to create what can otherwise just be a figment of someone’s imagination. Through their travel within their deeper dimensions, they are able to tap into this domain which is “the source” or The Eye of Bespoke and draw guidance from the knowledge of all craftsmen, artists or any other archetype to which they belong of the past, present and future enabling them to create what otherwise they cannot fathom or imagine due to the limited faculties of their senses. In this case we essentially are just a channel through which The Eye of Bespoke brings into existence what is already part of the plan as an idea in it and is only being executed through us.
What are your thoughts on the Illuminati in general and what do you think of the people who claim you are part of them?
From what we understand, historically Illuminati was a Bavarian secret society founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776 and were essentially people who met and discussed everything under the sun from politics to religion and any other topics in an attempt to “illuminate” or “enlighten” themselves. This group was later disbanded and simply lived on in the minds of people due to their sheer fascination of it being a society that was secret and hidden with the assumption that they had and shared secret knowledge with each other which the general public does not have. Today it seems like conspiracy theorists relate anything and everything to the Illuminati and put it online although the society was historically disbanded and doesn’t even exist anymore. These people link many famous people, world leaders, artists and celebrities today to the Illuminati for no apparent reason or relevance for that matter. Why they claim us to be a part of it is something that still baffles us.
The only reason that we can think is that maybe because celebrities that are clients of ours such as Mike Tyson and others have also been linked to the Illuminati by these conspiracy theorists and perhaps they feel because we know them and craft suits for them, we must be part of what they are known to be a part of as well. It may also be that conspiracy theorists attach success and fame or the ability to be extraordinarily good at what you do with the Illuminati as they feel it cannot be done otherwise which again makes no sense but seems to be a pattern they follow when they try to link people to the Illuminati. The bottom line is that we are bespoke tailors and cannot think of any proper reason why people would claim that being a bespoke tailor means they are probably part of a secret society or Illuminati. It has absolutely no relevance or sense at all, at least for us.
At which atelier on Savile Row did you train?
This is a question we can answer in person but not in print simply because our tailoring house and our masters don’t take it very well if their names are used to market ourselves or advertise ourselves or be used in a manner that benefits us or our tailoring house. We are to create our own mark and not live on the name and success from where we have learnt since they had created a name all by themselves at their time. What we can say though in print is that we both were in different tailoring houses and hence had different masters. The only common thing was that both our respective tailoring houses used the Drape Cut method of suit making which we too use and follow today. The Drape Cut was initially created by Anderson & Sheppard in Savile Row and till today remains a highly coveted cut and the pride of many Savile Row tailors. We both got back together after we had mastered the Drape Cut and our respective masters asked us to spread our wings and create awareness for the craft in a place where the understanding of it was still nascent making us start our own tailoring house in Dubai.
Where do you live?
Since our tailoring house is in Dubai, we obviously live in Dubai as well. Our residential address is obviously private and irrelevant here since we can almost always be found in our tailoring house.
Are you married? Children?
Yes, Ashish is married 11 years now and Pawan for 6 years. Ashish has two sons, and Pawan has one son so far.
You don’t look anything alike, are you really brothers or are you a gay couple under the radar in Dubai?
We were born to the same parents making us brothers related by blood. We certainly don’t look alike since we are not twins, even twins are not necessarily always identical or similar as far as looks are concerned. We have an age difference of four years between each other and have our own respective families with wife and children. We believe that answers the question and speaks for itself.
What occupies you during your downtime?
On weekends we are spending time with family and weekdays you will usually find us enjoying a cigar in one of the cigar lounges after work.
“The commission of bespoke tailor-made suits is only complete if, in the end, it has set you on the path for a purposeful journey. A journey that will eventually open your Eye of Bespoke.” What do you mean by this? What is a purposeful journey and what makes you think getting a suit made will do that for you?
The journey that we are referring to here is the journey that will make one explore their deeper dimensions and enable them to achieve their ambitions by making them reach their full potential. A craftsman uses his craft as a bridge between themselves and the deeper dimensions within them to bring into existence what can otherwise only be a part of someone’s imagination. Just like a craftsman uses his craft as a bridge, other people need something similar, to act as a bridge between themselves and their deeper dimensions to be able to make what they imagine themselves to be, manifest into existence. This is achieved by the suit which we craft by keeping two aspects in mind. The first one is easy which involves understanding the personality of the person and his being and crafting it with precision and perfection in a manner that fits his personality and acts like an extension of himself.
The second aspect which is more important and difficult is crafting it in a manner that balances his outer appearance with his inner self. This is done by ensuring it is completely aligned with his inner dimensions at the Astral level and in tune with The Eye of Bespoke. Once he puts on this suit he feels this is him, his personality and everything that he hand-picked and believes himself to be, but it is also connected with his inner dimensions which a part of him he has never explored or realized. The suit acts as a bridge enabling him to tap into his inner dimensions by acting as an anchor and a catalyst in the dimension that he lives in and perceives through his senses. His mind realizes that if this suit is possible to bring into existence which not only fits his body and his personality but also balances his inner being by creating this kind of dimensional shift at the Astral level and being tuned to the source of all existence which is The Eye of Bespoke, to achieve his vision of who he wants to be is in fact a much smaller and easier task to do while wearing the suit.
This is simply referred to as inner engineering, a concept that has been around for centuries and used by leaders and war heroes since time remembered. If we take the simple example of Napoleon, he was a short man of around 5 feet 5 inches height with looks that weren’t very different at the time from other people. What truly made him Napoleon Bonaparte was the image of him wearing his red uniform with his ranks displayed on the shoulders sitting on the white horse as the leader he imagined himself to be and eventually became. The uniform that he wore played a large part to make himself the Napoleon Bonaparte he had in his mind. In regular clothes, one would hardly give him a second look as the Napoleon Bonaparte and neither would he look at himself or within himself in the same manner but in his uniform, he was the Napoleon Bonaparte that he always wanted to be and nothing else. This form of inner engineering gave birth to the simple concept of “you are what you wear”.
What makes one a gentleman?
A gentleman doesn’t necessarily have to be of noble birth but is rather adjudged by his behavioral actions rather than his circumstances. To conduct one’s daily affairs like a gentleman would mean by doing so to a very high ethical standard having immense respect for his line of work or craft. A gentleman doesn’t demand respect but is given respect by other people solely because of his fair and ethical conduct and having a general sense of respect towards everyone. Some people are gentlemen due to their upbringing that helps them develop a behaviour of compassion towards fellow people and realizing that with their actions and mannerisms they can positively impact society at large. Others may go through a transformation over time when their matured sensibility has taken shape to realize the importance of showing respect and cultivating gentlemanly attributes making it a way of living their life.
A gentleman would respect others as much as he respects himself. Chivalry, courteousness and honor are the three cornerstones in his life. These would always take precedence over anything materialistic and superficial. A gentleman lives his life always striving to be an exemplary version of his former self. He would realise that to be a gentleman is not just a prime destination but an ongoing journey constantly striving to be better than your former self and display maturity of thought whilst being compassionate in his actions and demeanour. He would appreciate history and have a respect for tradition, arts and crafts that build culture within a society. To be cultured by being an exemplary person due to ones actions, behaviour, morals and virtues is a practiced trait hence making one a gentleman.
What makes one worthy to wear a bespoke suit?
A bespoke suit is not just a suit made with exacting measurements. Perfection lies on the balance created by the marriage of physical perfection of the suit with the innate self of the person wearing it making it part and parcel of his life. We think the right balance is struck when the physical form of the bespoke suit as crafted by us is aligned with the astral form of the person who wears it while taking care of his lifestyle preferences in the worldly form. A bespoke suit in our opinion would require further tuning to maintain the balance if any of these aspects overpowers the other which disturbs the equilibrium.
A bespoke suit could be a trophy asset for a person to pat on his back for performing well in his line of work. But usually, the first bespoke suit is commissioned when a person aspires to be better than his former self and wants to imbibe positive qualities of who he wants to be rather than who he is at the moment. The bespoke suit if crafted with the right balance, as mentioned before, then acts as an anchor and a catalyst to project that aspiration to his wordly self. The forces of nature then aid him to realize that vision and what was earlier an aspirational thought would then become his reality over time.
At times, we have seen that a father would get his son to experience his first bespoke suit as a sign of coming of age and graduating to the unending path of being a gentleman. The son then wants to prove himself being worthy of the same and makes an unsaid promise to his father to constantly strive to be a better person today than what he was yesterday.
A bespoke tailor understands that the person commissioning the suit is doing so with purpose and shoulders the responsibility of crafting something that would ultimately become one with the person in physicality and personality. The silent prayer of good wishes from a bespoke tailor to the bespoke suit crafted by him goes a long way in helping the person realize his vision with laser focus wearing that bespoke suit. A bespoke tailor has the right to choose to take up suit commissions from people he feels are worthy of the same. Hence there are often times that a true bespoke tailor may choose not to take up commissions if the person willing to commission the suit thinks that the price of a bespoke suit is only its monetary value.
Why are you so obsessed with the Eye of Bespoke? Even your promotional video shows as if you are not aware of what you are doing but that something overtakes you.
The Eye of Bespoke to us is everything. Whatever we are is because of the guidance we have received from The Eye of Bespoke. Whatever we will be in the future is already known by The Eye of Bespoke and is a part of it. It is the source of all ideas, knowledge and existence in this multiverse. It is the reason why everything is what it is and everything that ever will be will be so because of it. Our obsession with this domain, entity or whatever you wish to call it is only natural when you try to imagine yourself as smaller than a tiny speck in this large multiverse which exists because of it. The video you are referring to is not a promotional one, it is an attempt to explain that what we do and the craft we practice is completely credit to the Eye of Bespoke since we lose our self and surrender completely when we let The Eye of Bespoke take over and guide us through the mapping and cutting process. We are just a channel and a medium through which The Eye of Bespoke brings into existence the suits that we craft. Our video is just an attempt to get that very message across and give credit to that superior entity which exists beyond space and time.
Why have you turned clients away?
We have turned clients away and continue to do so with good reason. We shall list it out in point form for utmost clarity:
-
If you come to us asking for a suit to be done within a time frame that is shorter than we normally take then we shall turn you away. Our craft is done by hand and the biggest investment in a bespoke suit is time. If you are time poor, then you cannot afford a bespoke suit from Knights & Lords.
-
If you feel you can pay your way into making us do the suit quicker, we shall turn you away. Money can get a lot of things done yesterday but not a bespoke suit from Knights & Lords. Respect for the craft and the time it requires are the first things that you need, not money.
-
If you come in without an appointment, we shall turn you away. We respect everyone’s time and work with appointments simply because we deal with every single client on a personal basis. If you wish to get our undivided attention, you need to remember that others wish for it too and for that reason an appointment is required to see us.
-
If you are just looking for a suit, we shall turn you away. What we make is more than just a suit, if we feel you are not ready to experience the dimensional shift that comes with our bespoke suit, we shall ask you to return when the time is right.
Why don’t you treat Knights & Lords as a business instead of a passion project?
We do not deal with it as a business because it isn’t one. Bespoke tailoring is a profession much like the profession of a doctor or a lawyer. The owner of a hospital may treat his hospital as a business but a doctor’s first and foremost duty is to cure the patient and not ensure as much profit as possible can be made from the business of curing patients. If a profession is done as a business, you start cutting corners and taking decisions that are solely geared towards a financial gain and nothing else. This often ends up making the client/patient be on the losing end in the entire arrangement. Our forefathers were of the belief that one should not be rich, one should be wealthy. They made decisions that accumulated wealth over time, the fruit of which we enjoy today. Our financial situation is comfortable enough to allow us not to rely on our tailoring house for our source of income. We craft suits for a different purpose and the motive is far from the monetary aspect of it.
Do you work on ones sub conscious during drafting to break the boundaries pre-set in their minds?
We do work on the person’s subconscious but not to break the boundaries. We try to understand what the boundaries are and try to create a bridge. A bridge between who they are and who they want to be which is essentially a bridge between their conscious and one level of their sub-conscious which as we explained earlier is a deeper dimension within one’s self. What we try to do is to create a deep dimensional shift within their inner architecture allowing them to open their Eye of Bespoke or in simpler terms tune themselves to “the source”.
What is this ritual before you cut? Accessing a universal bank of knowledge? What words are you mumbling and who are you talking to?
The ritual we practice before we cut the suit is holding up our shears at the eye center and with closed eyes we say what we are supposed to before we begin cutting. The exact words that we say cannot be in print as they are sacred in nature but what it essentially means and symbolizes is that we accept The Eye of Bespoke to be absolute, all-seeing, all knowing and the source of all knowledge. We acknowledge that everything that was, that is and that ever will be is a part of The Eye of Bespoke. We then envision the image of the person for whom we will be cutting the commission and ask for guidance from The Eye of Bespoke so that we are able to do justice to the commission and begin tuning our self to the Eye of Bespoke while keeping the image of the client in mind. We stay until we feel we are completely in tune with the Eye of Bespoke and once we feel we are, we surrender our self completely to it. We then open our eyes and begin.
Are you trying to brand yourself as elite and secretive to get people to talk about you?
We do not try to ‘brand’ ourself to start with so to brand ourself as elite or secretive is out of the question. We are very approachable and are almost always at our tailoring house. People can call and get us on the phone most of the time. We are columnists or have been featured in almost all relevant magazines and media in the country. All this by no means is elite or secretive. If we have earned this kind of reputation, it is solely to the credit of people we have and continue to turn away and/or people who have written about us claiming that we are mysterious or part of a secret society and such. From what we see, our past work and current work by no means is an indicator of being elite or secretive.
Anybody who has googled Knights & Lords has seen two submissions on medium.com about you. Are they written by you?
Apart from the two that you mention, there are many more that are there online. The two that you refer to here just happen to come up on the first page of Google and are hence more noticed. Unfortunately, it has been written by some conspiracy theorists who are fascinated by secret societies or Illuminati and seem to connect us to it. Just the thought of craftsmen and bespoke tailors on one side and secret societies and Illuminati on the other tells you how senseless and irrelevant it is. Since it has not been written by us, it can’t be removed and will always remain, however its irrelevance we are sure will get to people and will make them ignore it.
If this is a marketing ploy do you think it’s gone too far?
If it was a marketing ploy it would have been a very bad one as scaring people away from ourselves by no means is a good form of marketing, quite the contrary. If it was a marketing ploy it could have been easily taken down and reversed since something as strange and as irrelevant as this has no place and is mere clutter over and above anything else. Unfortunately, it is not a marketing ploy and it is what it is, so we do hope this particular interview helps to make the waters more clear for people reading it.
Satisfied?
