History

Wong Kung Lai first migrated to Vancouver in 1911 at the age of 20 from southern China. He was required to pay a hefty $500 head tax, a fee that all Chinese immigrants had to pay to enter Canada. While his first job was as a house boy servant on the west side of the city, the Wong’s Benevolent Association on Pender St. connected him with a tailor from England and provided him with the opportunity to do an apprenticeship. As a new immigrant from China, he had to quickly overcome the challenges of building a career in a foreign environment. In addition to the extraordinary challenge of learning English, discrimination and racism against people of Chinese descent were rampant. Very few employment opportunities were open to you if you were Chinese, and for those that were, you were taken advantage of through cheap wages.

As a Chinese immigrant, you typically had to choose between being a farmer, logger, cannery worker, laundryman, or grocer. Wong Kung Lai set his sights on tailoring, as this line of profession to build a good life for himself and his future family. The skilled trade you could pick up if you were Chinese was tailoring. With little money in his pocket and low start-up costs for tailoring businesses, he chose to tailor. Although English was very difficult for him to understand, Wong Kai Lai learned best with his hands and his eyes. He watched his teacher’s techniques closely and learned how to select material by feel. A quick learner and budding entrepreneur, Wong Kung Lai founded Modernize Tailors on November 3, 1913, at the historic Chinese Freemason Building, where the business is still located today.

A Family Business

With his business off to a successful start, Wong Kung Lai married his wife in China in 1920. Back in Vancouver, Modernize Tailors quickly became a family affair. They raised ten children whose childhoods wove in and out of the tailor shop. Everyone helped out, especially during the busiest times of the year and holiday seasons. As the oldest boys in the family, Bill and Jack - born in 1922 and 1923 respectively - spent the most time with their father at Modernize. From a very young age, they were introduced to different parts of the tailor shop, playing with extra pieces of wool and spools of thread. Over time they learned how to take on small jobs after English school. They also went to Mon Keang Chinese school at the Wong’s Benevolent Association where their father also devoted much of his spare time as a member. Chinatown was their backyard where they enjoyed their free time and socialized with other children in the neighbourhood.

Turbulent Times

After nearly two successful decades, the Great Depression hit the tailor shop hard, followed by the attack on Pearl Harbour and the atrocities of Japanese-Canadian internment. As Japantown in Vancouver was emptied out, Chinese families like the Wong’s grappled with the shock of losing part of the community and needing to ensure others of their own identity. Modernize was not shielded from the fear and chaos, and covered their shop windows with black wool as a form of protection.

During these turbulent times, Canadians depended on rations provided by the government. They were given coupons to survive. Returning veterans who were given a clothing ration for woollens, or fabric made of wool, kept tailor shops like Modernize alive with their need for full suits to be made.

A better Life

After the war, Wong Kung Lai reunited some of his family members by bringing over numerous members of the Wong family to work for him and create a better life for themselves. This was a common pattern for early Chinese migrants across the Pacific. Many were “paper relatives” as they were required to purchase papers and take on the identities of other migrants who had already made it into Canada, due to the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act (often referred to as the Exclusion Act) which prohibited Chinese from immigrating.

Mastering the Craft

As Uncles to the Wong children, these newcomers learned the trade of tailoring from Wong Kung Lai and over time, became highly skilled tailors themselves. One of the longest-serving members of the Modernize family was Park Wong. Park seized every opportunity to create the perfect jacket. He eventually mastered the craft and was crowned as the “Master Jacket Maker” at the shop.

By 1946, oldest sons Jack and Bill earned their engineering degrees from the University of British Columbia. Despite their great accomplishments, systemic discrimination against people of Chinese descent was still alive and well. Like their father, they were denied real employment opportunities and decided to press forward by returning to the tailor shop. At the start, Jack handled the layout and cutting, while Bill took on the ironing and pressing.

In 1953, together they carried forward their family’s legacy once their father retired. Now at the helm of Modernize, they carried and adapted the business through Chinatown revitalization in the 1970s and its beautification in the 1980s, as well as the shift towards fast fashion and big box stores. They built a loyal following as customers would return time and time again, and continued to become an integral part of the Chinatown community. Their clients ranged from local community members to loggers visiting from along the coast, to Hollywood stars. They developed trust with their clients, and in some cases even traded suits for other goods, such as smoked salmon from First Nations customers.

Mia Wu

At the remarkable age of 91, Bill kept the business going and continued to go into the shop every day even after his sibling and lifelong business partner Jack passed away in June 2013. The following year, Bill met Mia Wu, a budding and promising tailor who had just moved to Vancouver to train at Blanche Macdonald, a world-renowned fashion school. She was quickly welcomed into the Modernize family as an apprentice after asking Bill about buttonholes and expressing an interest in learning more.

She became his apprentice, working closely under his mentorship, as well as other members of the family such as Park Wong. She quickly honed her skills under the generous wings of Bill and Park, eventually deciding to carry forward the business as the new owner once Bill could no longer continue working himself. She worked with him until his passing in 2017.

A Legacy

On April 8, 2017, Bill passed away peacefully in his sleep at the remarkable age of 95. He is survived by his children Steven, Glenna, Susan and Peter, and grandchildren Karen and Michael. 

Today, the Modernize Tailors legacy lives on as the last tailor shop standing in Chinatown.

If you want to know more about the Wong family, check out the book ”Wong Family Feast by Joanna Claire Wong”