Paul (61) and Neeta (60) Daswani are the owners of Sati's, a legendary clothing store in Okinawa City in the center of Okinawa Island. Since 1978, Sati's has been a one-stop shopping haven for hot tailor-made suits with cool matching accessories. Here beach bums turn into jazz cats thanks to the Daswanis' trademark bespoke Zoot Suit: a long jacket with heavy padded shoulders over wide, pegged, high-waisted trousers, the kind of outfit that cartoon detective Dick Tracy chased skirts and criminals in. Sati's mind-boggling array of accessories includes two-tone shoes and bowler hats in every color of the rainbow, and enough bling to make a rapper out of anyone. In a city famous for its music scene, customers sing the Daswanis' praises for making suits that do all the talking.
Paul: When we dress people up, we think of them as walking advertisements. We want them to look impeccable and spiffy. We check their posture and adjust the cut so it fits perfectly. For example, if their right shoulder is lower, we add more padding there for good balance. Import clothes and off-the-rack suits are fine, but every Tom, Dick and Harry or Jane wears them, so why would you, too?
Neeta: When people come into our store, we don't care about their looks, but how they speak. We can always improve their outfits, but behavior is more difficult to fix.