In this series, we are proud to bring you interviews with the operators, supervisors, and managers who have dedicated their lives to the craft of tailoring. Enjoy.
Pranay, what is your job title? And how long have you been here?
Production manager. I’ve been here since ’88.
Were you born in the US, or did you come here?
I was born in Nepal. I was 18 when I came to the US.
Was Hickey Freeman your first job here?
Yep, and my only job since I’ve been here. My aunt used to work here. She came before me, so we came here. My sister worked here, my mom worked here. My sister went to school and my mom—until she passed away she worked here.
Who else in your family has worked here?
My uncle’s still here. My two aunts work. So everybody who came from there worked here in one place or another. My sister worked here probably three years. My mom, Gyanu Shah, was here from ’88 to 1999. One uncle is still working here, Raju, he’s been here over twenty years. My aunt was here fifteen years.
What was you first job when you came to Hickey Freeman?
Die cutting the lapel. We shape the lapel after we sew it, so it’s perfect.
How long did you do that?
For a couple of years, then I learned all of the jobs at the beginning of the coat shop. Basting canvas, making the front, padding the lapel. Then I was running that section. I became production manager in 2015.
And for somebody who doesn’t know what we do here, how would you describe what you do every day?
I have to manage what goes into the shop and when it comes out. There are due dates on everything, so you have to do it in a timely fashion. So that’s the main thing. I manage the production, balance the line, and make sure everybody has work. We can’t have one section with a lot of work and one section with nothing—that’s the main thing. Balancing and moving the work.
And what—we have "Keep the Quality Up" all over the factory and has been forever. What does that mean to you and why does it matter?
Quality means we’re the highest level, the suits we make here. If we don’t have quality, the work doesn’t mean anything.
What is quality?
We have a standard for quality. We know exactly what needs to be done at each job. The operators and supervisors just have to follow through. And for me, production and quality go together. You cannot do production without quality, and if you do quality right, production moves by itself. If you’re not stopping to fix mistakes, then everything is moving along. That’s why we’ve survived all of these years—the bankruptcy, the owners—because of the quality. Nobody makes a garment like we do.
What do you like about this place? Why do you stay? What makes it like a home for you?
I like the people who work here. I know what it’s like to come here as an immigrant. I like to help them out. That’s why I was in the union before—to be fair to them. And it’s still what I am doing now. Just be fair to them. You’ve gotta watch both sides: the production and the people. So for people who come to this country, you’re here to give them a fair deal. For sure. Give them a chance to survive in the United States of America, like I got my chance here.
And what do you see happen to people who can come here?
Their children grow up, they go to school here, they get educated. Their children will not come to work here. It you come from another country and you don’t have any degrees, this is the place for you. But, then their kids go to school, because their parents work here, and now the kids are doing very good.