Allow Sam’s Tailor to Reintroduce Himself
You've seen him all over social media and now, in our first cover story: Roshan Melwani has a new story to tell. He also wants to bring romance and tight clothes back.
Fall in Hong Kong is practically summer. When September ends, the humidity disappears, but the heat does not. The familiar sights of July and August persist: sweat pooling on the shirts of passersby shielding themselves with umbrellas; bankers and lawyers ditch ties for open collars, or remove their suit jackets entirely.
But even when the city’s temperature hits 34°C (93°F) in late September, Roshan Melwani’s suit jacket stays on, buttoned up, with a black tie strung tightly around his neck. It’s a part of the brand, of course, as Roshan needs no introduction. He manages Sam’s Tailor, a Tsim Sha Tsui-based family-run atelier which, for generations, has serviced famous politicians, celebrities, and businessmen, from George W. Bush to Bruno Mars.
But in the last few years, Roshan transformed into a viral sensation through his short-form content. His signature videos, where he touches, fondles, and slaps his clients — often “young Chinese boys” — in overtly sexual ways, have turned the family business into a mainstay on the internet. They’ve also earned Roshan 389,000 followers on Instagram, nearly 2 million followers on TikTok, a profile on the SCMP, and a Know Your Meme page.
At 6’4, he’s no stranger to the spotlight. “When I was in my early teens, no one was as tall as I was. I always stood out,” he says. “The spotlight was always on me.”
But since 2024, the internet’s spotlight has dimmed slightly, if it hasn’t already panned elsewhere. On two occasions this year, the Sam’s Tailor Instagram account was disabled by Meta for unspecified reasons. Search for his account on TikTok, and the original with nearly 2 million followers is gone (only Roshan’s backup account remains). While Roshan has since regained Instagram access, his provocative videos are cut before the punchline or receive fewer views and likes than they once did.
As engagement drops and tension with platforms rises, it’s hard not to wonder, is the bit getting old?
“I think the bit is already old,” Roshan says. He’s grown tired of creating ‘young Chinese boy’ related content — even with a growing backlog of such videos filmed since August, he’s hesitant to release any of them, now or in the future.
But if that’s the case, what’s next for the internet famous tailor? If views and likes from provocative content ultimately drive Roshan’s sales, how will business stay afloat?
The answer is unclear, but Roshan doesn’t waver: “I have never ever mapped out anything in my career,” he says. “I’ve never written a plan. I’ve never written a to-do list.”
Years before the whole ‘young Chinese boy’ schtick, Roshan was also creating descriptive content with his own humor. “I was a content creator before online videos were called content, and before a creator was called a creator,” he says. “It is impossible for anyone to say that my content is a one trick pony.”
Indeed, there is a side to Roshan not seen in the provocative online content, one that isn’t shown in podcasts he’s done or magazine features he’s appeared in. But, “I have a story to tell,” he says. So let him share it. Speaking to THE CHOW, Roshan gives a closer look to who he is behind the camera through his recommendations — bringing romance back, wearing slim fit clothing, spending time with family, and eating at Morton’s steakhouse.
ASKING: Where did the romance go? 🌹
Roshan’s been pondering this very question. “Everything seems so scripted nowadays,” he says. “Everyone seems so made up. I want to see something more intense. I want to see something more romantic.” (If his content didn’t already make it clear, he’s a man of passion and of deep, visceral feeling).
“There’s a great movie from the 90s called Before Sunrise, starring Ethan Hawke. I remember I watched it on a Cathay Pacific flight. That was one of the greatest Western romance films ever. The characters didn’t really do anything. There wasn’t sex in it. They just walked around and fell for each other.”
“Most of the legendary movies that live with you are romantic flicks. Love resonates so much. And if you find a great love story, it doesn’t matter if you are heterosexual, homosexual, asexual, or bisexual, because you can associate with love.”
WEARING: Slim-fitting clothing 👖
Even while Gen Z suit trends veer towards long, flowy slacks and oversized blazers, Roshan’s suits wrap tightly around his body. His pants and cuffs are narrow. “Gen X — including myself — spent so much time looking ripped,” Roshan says. He’s a product of “the era of slim fit and the era of six packs.” With tight clothes, you had to exercise and be lean (otherwise, it’d show). Back then, “people everywhere had to become healthier,” he says.
“I think the baggy clothes are a cop out by Gen Z — humans want to expose themselves. The history of humanity is exposure: people want to wear tight clothes, off shoulder dresses, show some ass, everything! Nobody’s going to a party in some fucking giant suit.”
DREAMING: Swimming in Kowloon Cricket Club 🏏🏊♂️
Roshan, at his core, is a family man. His children appear often on his videos, and his son, Riaan, is glued to him at the hip. Working seven days a week, he often daydreams of spending time with his kids in the pool during hot summer weather — his “favorite thing” to do with family: “Every second that I’m awake, I’m daydreaming of being at the pool with my children. No matter what. Every day of my life, I want to leave work early and go to the pool.”
“It’s just so different from how I live my life. There’s laughing. It’s fun. You're hugging each other, holding each other, fooling around with each other, training with each other, trying different tricks.”
EATING: Steaks at Morton’s 🥩
Roshan’s second favorite family activity is a meal at a steakhouse. “The great part about steakhouses is that it’s all about a clean piece of meat,” he says. A great meal doesn’t need theatrics. Just protein and a grill. “If my kids are ever on their own, they can purchase a nice clean piece of meat, easily cook it, and know it will be delicious.”
“My kids should learn the simple things first,” says Roshan. “Teaching the foundational stuff… that’s important to me.”
A steakhouse dinner is also a lesson in etiquette — how to pronounce fancy names, use fancy cutlery, and dress in a formal setting.“They don’t teach formality in schools anymore. As a parent, that’s one of the things I can bring to the table,” he says.
Hands down, Roshan’s favorite steakhouse restaurant is Morton’s at the Sheraton Hotel. “Morton’s really introduced the concept of the true steakhouse to Hong Kong.” He remembers eating there in the 90s, where waiters would bring “carts of raw meat and seafood, covered in cellophane.”
Back then, “I didn’t know what a sirloin was. I didn’t know what a ribeye was or what filet mignon was,” he says. But the waiters “would explain everything.” It was at Morton’s where he learned what all the cuts of meat were, their taste, texture, shape, location on the animal’s body. “And I found it so educational.”
“Globally, restaurant life cycles are about two years,” he says. “For them to be operating for 25 years in a city as expensive as Hong Kong is a hats off to them. They’re my favorite place for many a reason.”
While much of Roshan’s life is spent in front of the camera, there is a part of him we don’t see behind the scenes. For one, he describes himself as “a traditionalist with an open mind.” He says he decries the “wokeness” he increasingly sees online, praises tribalism and traditionalism, and fondly expresses his deep pride for his Sindhi Indian identity — facets of himself that get blurred by his classically tailored suits and accent of ambiguous origin.
At the store, business is still as-usual. And the name “Sam’s Tailor,” is still casting echoes across the internet’s spheres, albeit a little differently. Some new content features him singing praises to current Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (“Thank you for everything you do,” John Lee says in return). In late September, British online personality Sam Pepper paid Roshan a visit, and the two creators collaborated on a livestream.
Roshan still shares provocative videos, of course, but the format has changed. One of such videos received over 460,000 likes and 8 million views. Users embraced his return to virality with open arms, reintegrating him into current internet discourse: “Close enough. Welcome back p.diddy,” reads one user’s comment.
As our interview closed, he confided how his real-life relationships have suffered from his work online: “I’ve disassociated with the overwhelming majority of my friends,” he says. “Because they’re very judgmental.”
He ended the interview speaking about Barney Simpson in How I Met Your Mother — he’s always had admiration for Neil Patrick Harris (who plays Barney), because he’s a gay man who can so convincingly play a womanizing guy’s guy. In Roshan’s own work, he too sees himself as somewhat of an actor. “When it comes to my stupid content, it’s all just the biggest joke,” he says. And though his content might suggest otherwise, he insists on staying firm in his values of family, Hinduism, and being “prim and proper” when he's not in front of the camera.
“That’s why I say, I don’t give a fuck about judgment,” he says. “Because everyone can see what is an act and what is not.”