For good measure: Pursuit of preppiness

"It suits me fine," said Shakil A Seddiqi, as he confirmed the appointment.

And even though he added, "If you'll excuse the pun", it was clear there was plenty more where it came from.

There wasn't a pun on the word "suit" that was left unused during the hour-long conversation with Seddiqi, Chairman and CEO of Comelie London, a London-based brand known for its expertise in bespoke suits.

"A lot of my clients from the UK have been coming to Dubai. Some have relocated here and are asking to be served here. I'm looking for a suitable place to set up my business in Dubai."

Enriching experience

A picture of easy elegance himself, Seddiqi left a well-paying banking and corporate finance job to pursue bespoke tailoring.

"I took a year off to spend time with different tailors at Savile Row, a street in London's West End known for making bespoke suits. I started out with sweeping floors and making tea and coffee. It didn't matter where I came from," said Seddiqi whose wardrobe has a collection of 45 suits, including a £45,000 (Dh300,000) suit made from guanashina, a blend of three precious and rare fibres: kid pashmina, baby cashmere and guanaco.

However, it was where he came from that gave him a deeper understanding of the tastes and demands of the affluent.

"I wanted to develop a brand that was primarily geared to serve the super-rich. I was getting expensive suits made at Savile Row. But time was an issue and for the amount of money I was spending I wasn't getting the quality and service it should afford," said Seddiqi as he adjusts the Half Windsor.

Seddiqi panders to every whim of the well-healed and picky. Right down to offering advice and assistance in their office.

The right look

"I actually see people in their offices in between board meetings. They don't have the time, they have the money but they need objective advice on the right look and the right image according to their profession and position. I also offer advice on colours and fabric according to their skin tone."

Seddiqi suits are fit for nobility. His price tags are ones that make most of us make a beeline for the store's exit while trying desperately to look casual.

The client list reads names like steel baron Laxmi Mittal, Chelsea footballer Frank Lampard and singer Seal who don't miss a beat when they pick up their £75,000 (Dh498,750) Comelie London suits. Even the cheapest of the range comes at £5,000 (Dh33,000) a piece.

"What makes our suits so exquisite," said Seddiqi, "is that they are completely hand-made. It takes four hours just to hand-finish a button hole. We take 420 hours to complete a suit, while others wrap up in 80 hours. There are 3,500 stitches in the lapel alone. We do not decimate the whole process of bespoke workmanship. It takes longer to learn the craft of bespoke tailoring than it does to get a doctor's degree."

"We take 85 measurements. We spend an hour to study the client's frame and make three paper patterns. The third one is called bespoke which is completely according to the client's fit."

There are other elements that further pad up the cost. Beeswax for buttonholes, canvas made of horse hair, fabrics with gold thread and diamonds encrusted in them and other expensive fabric like guanashina and vicuna, a rare fabric more expensive than gold, are but a few befitting building blocks that make up a high-end Comelie London.

He doesn't give too much away of his plans for the Dubai arm of Comelie London, but does reveal that "we are looking within the six-month period" and that it is "coming to a mall near you".

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