A Great British Boutique - Tatler Magazine
January 11 2023 – Matt Beddows
Tucked away on New Bond Street you’ll find Mirpuri Bespoke, the A-list’s answer to everything custom-made and well known in the industry as the place that can make anything happen. Founder of London’s Mirpui Bespoke, Ajay Mirpuri talks to Tatler about how he came to provide his incredible services to everyone from Michael Cain to Mariah Carey.
As the second generation son of suit-makers, tailoring is in Ajay’s blood. He brought a lifetime of learning from his parents to the London outpost of Mirpuri Bespoke, the company which they started in 1976 with a workroom and showroom in Geneva. Although he studied Accounting and Economics at City University, Ajay found a way to combine his business intellect, insider trade knowledge and research from Saville Row and Jermyn Street to create a space that clients can feel free to create the perfect piece to suit their size, shape and lifestyle, ‘I thought the tailoring industry needed to be more service oriented and more client focused’, Ajay explains, ‘My father always used to say to me, “If the client doesn’t choose from the first three fabrics you show them, either you’re not understanding what they want or they don’t understand what they want” so it’s important to have that mutual understanding.’
The magic of Mirpuri Bespoke is that their loyal client base continuously come back for more, ‘Knock on wood, loyalty has been really good for us, we still service our first client’, Ajay explains, ‘He took a chance on my eighteen years ago and now I make clothes for him, his son and his grandson.’
There’s truly nothing Ajay and his hardworking team won’t do, however odd the request may seem, ‘I was once asked to make a twelve inch hip pocket. I kept thinking “What did he want to put in this? Why would he want such a big pocket?” and when the client came to pick it up he said it was for a Coutts chequebook’ Ajay explains. The service is bespoke at its very finest, and the team rises to any challenge you put in front of them, ‘It’s part of our vision, mission and values to be problem solvers.’ They were even once tasked to make a jacket with seventeen pockets for a magician and they did it, voila!
Ajay could namedrop constantly if he wanted to with his giant rolodex of A-list clients but bragging isn’t in his nature. Constantly evolving and adapting, Mirpuri Bespoke has recently been creating facemasks and has even created custom gem-encrusted pieces for Elton John and David Furnish, ‘They’ve been very sweet to us, we go back a long time,’ says Ajay and the list of top celebrities goes on and on.
Remember the famous pictures of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the rain outside the Endeavour Awards earlier this year? Ajay’s team altered the figure-hugging azure blue Victoria Beckham dress that got immense media attention, in fact, Meghan Markle had planned to wear a completely different black dress that evening, so without Ajay those pictures would have painted a very different story.
Ajay also counts George Clooney, Ben Affleck and Stormzy as happy customers too but he doesn’t see being starstruck as an option, ‘It’s not professional, we can’t have that. There’s no such thing as selfies in this business,’ Ajay explains. He also doesn’t need to PR himself, just come to the showroom before Fashion Week and the rails will be full of couture gowns ready for the likes of Naomi Campbell.
This type of service comes at a cost though, Ajay and the team need to be available 24 hours a day to alter pieces globally for Awards Season, ‘We’ve built this reputation that we are willing to do the hard work,’ says Ajay, ‘We’re all on WhatsApp and everybody has a work phone, something will come together one way or another.’
Stitched up by a last minute clothing alteration crisis or in need of some tailor-made service? Mirpuri Bespoke has got you covered.
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