Sadness was in the air when one of Dundee’s oldest businesses, Styles, shut-shop on King Edward Street, late last year. The business was founded around 60 years ago by Chuggan Laloo on Willson Street. Clothing connoisseurs from around the province and further afield ordered men’s suits from Mr Laloo whose reputation as a top-class tailor grew.
Later, the shop moved to the corner of King Edward and Victoria Streets and a little time after that, to King Edward Street. Subash Laloo, who took over the business from his father, and has since moved to Johannesburg.
Mr Laloo, now a grand 92 and still walking in Dundee for exercise has turned his thoughts of the past into writing and he shares his memories:
I was born on Allen Street in Newcastle, in 1924, to parents who were both Indian immigrants. My father arrived in South Africa in 1896 and settled in Newcastle as a tailor. My sisters returned to India whilst I remained in the care of my elder brother, who moved to Dundee to work at a tailoring business which my father had previously worked at on Willson Street.
He later opened his own tailoring business in Dannhauser, called Britannic Tailors, where we resided and boarded with a caring couple. Unfortunately, after a short illness, my brother also passed away.

As you will notice, tailoring is synonymous with my family, this is due to the fact that we belong to the Darji (Tailor) caste in India.

I was 14 years of age and was called away to Dundee where I lived under the guardianship of the Nathoo V. Morar family, for whom my brother had previously worked. I schooled in Dundee where my close friends included Shantilal Soni of Soni’s Jewellers, his brothers, Clarence James, and Mr Velayutham.

After school, instead of playing, I would learn the art of making trousers at my guardian’s shop, under the supervision of his staff James Puckree and DS Naidoo. As you will notice, tailoring is synonymous with my family, this is due to the fact that we belong to the Darji (Tailor) caste in India.

I linked up with an elder cousin of mine who owned a tailoring business in Brakpan, where I furthered my tailoring skills and also worked at various other tailoring shops. During this period, I was almost playing truant with the authorities, because it was illegal for an Indian from Natal to live and work in Transvaal due to the Provincial Barriers Act.

Passive resistance

At around the same time I had received a letter which my good old friend, Shantilal Soni, inviting me back to Dundee for potential business prospects.

In 1947, I joined the Transvaal Indian Congress, where we organised the Passive Resistance Campaign, against the then government’s policies towards Indians.
I was from Natal but could not visit or live in Transvaal without a permit. I travelled to Durban with Dr Yusuf Dadoo, President of the Transvaal Indian Congress and also a close political associate of Mandela, where we defied the Ghetto Act which prohibited Indians from entering areas reserved for whites. Part of our sentence included us having to break stones with a hammer in the prison yard.
The Passive Resistance Movement grew and inspired the struggle for liberation in South Africa. In 1948 while working for a tailoring shop, the Immigration Department arrested myself and two others for working illegally in the Transvaal. I left Germiston station on a train headed for Durban.
At around the same time I had received a letter which my good old friend, Shantilal Soni, inviting me back to Dundee for potential business prospects.
Destiny saw me getting off the train for Dundee instead of heading to start a life in Durban, and I have been in Dundee ever since. My first business in Dundee was called Modern Tailors, on Willson Street. I got married in India, and my wife and I started our family in Dundee raising three sons. My eldest son, Bharat, joined the business by introducing ready-made clothing, which then saw the transformation of my tailoring business with the commencement of “Styles Outfitters”. My second son, Rajen, went abroad to study and qualified as an optometrist, and my youngest son, Subash, also joined Styles Outfitters.

 I am grateful for being blessed with such a wonderful life.

We are proud citizens of Dundee, especially enjoying the tight-knit community and pleasure of living in a small town. There are so many memorable moments in Dundee, from being involved in cultural organisations like the Dundee Hindu Temple, gathering donations together with Shantilal Soni to build the tennis courts at Kallie’s Stadium, being a member of the Child Welfare Society, member of FOSA (which was an organization to help TB patients), having such great relationships with our loyal customers and many friends from Dundee and surrounding towns. I am grateful for being blessed with such a wonderful life.
My message to fellow readers, especially the future generation, is to always keep believing in your dreams and ambitions. Keep persevering because success comes with hard work.
Do not wait and expect things to be handed to you. This has no value. Whatever your circumstances, we all have an equal opportunity in this abundant life. I achieved my successes even though being orphaned at the age of seven. My greatest blessing has been spiritual guidance. So have faith in your creator and stay blessed.