What began as a Dubai tailoring business is now evolving into something considerably bigger.
Founded by Scottish entrepreneurs Ryan and Calvin Smith, Suited & Booted is entering a new chapter with ambitions to become a global luxury lifestyle brand—one that extends beyond bespoke tailoring into fashion, hospitality, entertainment, content, and customer experience.
The transformation is reflected in the company’s newly opened flagship in Dubai. Designed to be far more than a traditional tailoring store, the expansive space brings together bespoke tailoring, casualwear, a barber’s chair, a coffee bar, and dedicated content and podcast facilities.
For the founders, the objective is clear: create an environment centred around the customer rather than simply selling clothing.
From Tailoring to a Luxury Lifestyle
Suited & Booted was established in Dubai in 2017, after Ryan Smith identified what he believed was an opportunity to improve the city’s tailoring experience.
“Dubai had the best of everything in the world, and the one thing I thought could have been a little bit better was tailoring,” he explained.
That observation became the foundation for the company.
The business initially built its identity around bespoke tailoring, but as customer expectations and the wider fashion market evolved, so did the brand.
Today, approximately half of Suited & Booted’s sales come from casualwear, signalling how significantly the company has expanded beyond its original business model.
Calvin Smith describes the evolution as a transition from a specialist tailoring company into a modern luxury lifestyle brand.
The next stage could take that transformation even further, with products including trainers, sunglasses, and luxury underwear reportedly in development.
Creating an Experience, Not Just a Store
The new Dubai flagship represents perhaps the clearest expression of the founders’ vision.
Alongside tailoring and casualwear, the space incorporates lifestyle and media elements, including a barber’s chair, coffee bar, and facilities for content creation and podcasts.
The concept reflects a broader shift in luxury retail, where customers increasingly seek experiences rather than straightforward transactions.
For Suited & Booted, the flagship is intended to become a place where customers can spend time, interact with the brand, access multiple services, and become part of its wider community.
Calvin has described the operation as potentially the world’s largest private tailors, while acknowledging that its identity has evolved considerably since its founding.
The result is a business that combines the heritage and craftsmanship of tailoring with the more expansive ambitions of a contemporary lifestyle brand.
Dressing Some of the Biggest Names
The company’s growth has been accompanied by an increasingly high-profile client list.
Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly been a customer for around two years, while Suited & Booted has also dressed major sporting figures including Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Sergio Garcia, and Chris Eubank Jr.
These relationships have helped strengthen the brand’s profile among athletes, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and high-net-worth customers.
For a luxury tailoring company, such clients provide more than visibility.
They reinforce the credibility of the craftsmanship and service behind the brand while demonstrating its ability to operate at the highest levels of the luxury market.
Starting With Very Little
The polished flagship and celebrity clientele tell only part of the story.
The early years of Suited & Booted were considerably more difficult.
Ryan has recalled a period when finances were extremely tight. He was living in a house without curtains and struggling to afford basic business expenses such as business cards and fuel for his car.
Yet the financial challenges did not convince him that the business would fail.
Instead, they strengthened his determination.
“I always knew I would make it work, no matter what,” Ryan said.
That confidence was supported by the relationship between the two founders.
The Power of Two Founders
The partnership between Ryan and Calvin has been central to the company’s development.
Entrepreneurship inevitably involves difficult periods, uncertainty, and setbacks. For the Smith brothers, mutual support has become an important part of navigating those moments.
Ryan explains that the pair completely back each other, with one founder providing encouragement when the other is experiencing a difficult or quieter period.
That shared resilience has helped them maintain momentum while developing the business.
It has also shaped their ambitions for the future.
Calvin describes the pair as having a strong appetite for international expansion, adding that their aspirations are “grand.”
A Global Vision
The next chapter for Suited & Booted is therefore not limited to Dubai.
The founders are looking toward global expansion, with the intention of
