A hunt for Beau Brummell, at bargain prices

I saw the sign, looked away, then back again.

Were they kidding?

"Two Suits $99."

Were they made out of cat hair? Do you wear them once and then compost them? Maybe it was an example of a loss leader, an item priced below cost to lure people into the store for other purchases.

I saw that sign on a recent trip to New York and when I got back, I began trolling the fashion district in downtown L.A. to see if anyone could match the offer and explain the economics of clothing that cheap.

The district covers 115 square blocks and has the economy of a small country. There used to be a lot of manufacturing there, but that has long gone to distant shores.

Today, the streets boast some 4,000 mom-and-pop shops and stalls, with 37,000 employees peddling more than $5 billion worth of goods annually from Asia and Latin America.

As for men's clothing, I saw numerous sandwich boards advertising three suits for $299. The deal includes three full sets of accessories -- shirts, neckties, hankies, socks, belts and sometimes even shoes and cuff links.

Not bad, but I kept shopping, and one day at Downtown Suits Outlet on 9th Street, I saw a price that beat New York.

One suit, $49.

Two, then, for $98.

"It's a great deal," owner Gary Sakayan insisted as I inspected the navy blue, chalk-stripe suit he had pulled off the rack from the 42 Long section.

I slipped into it and looked in the mirror.

Not bad. And the label said "Giorgio Fiorelli Uomo, Milano-Italy."

An Italian suit for $49?

"Italian-designed," Sakayan said. "It's made in China. Some of the other stores won't tell you that."

As you might have guessed, no sheep were harmed in the making of this suit. The label said it was 65% polyester and 35% viscose.

Isn't that oil?

"Rayon," Sakayan said.

So let's say I'm strutting down the street on a warm summer day and the temperature hits 90 degrees.

Will the suit combust?

Look, Sakayan said, at $49, it's not the best suit, but it's a great value. It probably cost $20 or less to make in a Chinese factory using a pattern transmitted electronically from Italy or the U.S. Then an L.A. wholesaler paid about $30 for it and sold it to Sakayan for between $35 and $40. Sakayan buys a couple hundred at a time, sells the bulk of them for $79 or so, then whacks the rest down to $49 so he can move them out and make room for the next shipment.