Sam's Tailor / Samstailor / Roshan Melwani

Submission 11,301

Part of a series on Viral Marketing. [View Related Entries]

About

Roshan Melwani, also known by his username Samstailor or by his business' name Sam's Tailor, refers to a British, Hong Kong-based tailor who uploads videos to TikTok and Instagram in which he's overtly passionate about his clients and the bespoke suits he's made for them. His online presence started in 2013, however, he went viral for his videos in the early 2020s. He went viral mostly due to his catchphrases (such as referring to his clients as "gift wrapped") that were humorously perceived by some viewers as sus because they were vaguely or overtly sexual. For instance, one of Samstailor's most viral videos included him calling his male client a "little Chinese boy." His videos received memetic usage on TikTok and Instagram, as well as reaction videos from influencers, streamers and YouTubers.

Online History

Samstailor's online presence started on YouTube^[19] on April 20th, 2012. Their Instagram page started in 2013 when the account uploaded its first Instagram^[1] post on July 25th, 2013. Various photographs of Roshan Melwani with clients were uploaded to Instagram^[2]^[3] in 2013 (examples shown below), including images of other tailors a part of Sam's Tailor. The tailor shop appeared to have notable clientele, as evidenced in a photo of Bruno Mars at the store posted to Instagram^[4] in 2013, as well as a photo of Melwani and Meghan Markle from 2013 (shown below, left).

Starting in 2019, the Samstailor Instagram^[5] page started to gain over 1,000 likes in its posts. Around the same time, on September 25th, 2018, the Samstailor TikTok page uploaded its first TikTok.^[6] His first viral TikTok^[7] was uploaded on May 3rd, 2020, featuring a guy who was a Kim Jong-un lookalike, receiving roughly 494,100 plays and 24,500 likes in three years (shown below, left). On November 5th, 2020, he posted a TikTok^[8] that was his first to gain over 1 million plays (shown below, right).

Going into the 2020s, Roshan Melwani's TikTok and Instagram presences started to gain significant followings, aided by viral videos that went viral due to Melwani's personality, catchphrases and video style. For instance, on March 16th, 2022, Melwani posted a TikTok^[9] in which he ended the video by saying, "I love looking at guys' butts," and many of the top comments humorously referenced the aside. The video gained roughly 337,000 plays and 31,500 likes in one year (shown below, left). On July 15th, 2022, Melwani posted a TikTok^[10] with a client named Eric. The video became one of his most famous videos, gaining roughly 9.3 million plays and 1.4 million likes in 10 months (shown below, right).

Notable Reactions

Celebrities and influencers started to discuss Melwani's videos on podcasts and other forms of video media. For instance, on September 2nd, 2022, comedian Tom Segura talked about Melwani on his podcast, uploading the clip to YouTube^[16] where it gained roughly 109,600 views in eight months (shown below, left). Segura discussed Melwani again on his podcast with Joe Rogan, evident in a YouTube^[17] upload from Samstailor's channel on September 28th, 2022 (shown below, right).

Other YouTubers and Twitch streamers reacted to Samstailor's videos in early 2023, such as YouTuber^[18] GunnarTVLive.

Little Chinese Boy

On March 23rd, 2023, Samstailor uploaded a TikTok^[10] in which Melwani started by saying, "Young, tiny, Chinese boy," and continued to refer to his client as a "little, Chinese boy." Over the course of two months, the video gained roughly 4.5 million plays and 459,600 likes (shown below, left). Soon after, other TikTokers made memes with the video, such as TikToker^[11] @juankerr420 on March 27th, who used it to make a joke about weird dressing rooms, gaining roughly 6 million plays and 593,600 likes in one month (shown below, right).

On April 24th, 2023, Samstailor posted to Instagram^[12] a video that was similar in which Melwani started by saying, "I am going to eat this little, Chinese boy." The text overlay additionally read, "Little Chinese Boy Is Just 18." The video received roughly 53,400 likes in one month (shown below).

Soon after, memes using the video were shared on TikTok, such as one uploaded by TikToker^[13] @meltedcactus on May 6th, 2023, that was a compilation of many Reels posted by Samstailer, gaining roughly 10.3 million plays and 1.5 million likes in three weeks (shown below).