Tony Q’aja

Don’t be deceived by Tony Q’aja’s (AKA Tony the Tailor’s) chilled out demeanour. His relaxed and understated style might not indicate immediately his wealth of experience as one of London’s hidden treasures in the world of textiles and tailoring; particularly suits and sports fashion. Where do we start? His clientele list reads like the who’s who of sports, Hollywood, African kings, millionaires and it doesn’t end there.

Q’aja Couture founded in2003 is synonymous with high class fashion; a unique company that was created to provide a personalized styling service for the superstars of football and golf. Beyond that, Q’aja is also a couture house for Hollywood superstars; he has styled actors for various movies.

Q’aja is a product of the East End. He grew up in Leyton, “David Beckham territory,” he calls it. He was influenced by his father, a neat dresser and after school he headed straight to the rag trade. Hard working and single minded, Q’aja secured a position at Moss Bros. It was there that he gained the nuts and bolts experience that has taken him so far today. It was there that he became exposed to cel ebrity clients: Robert Wagner, The Osmonds, Larry Hagman and ultimately footballers. His natural flair for tailoring was highlighted by his affinity to styling footballers. An enthusiastic Arsenal fan he found himself in the company of his favourite football heroes at the time: George Graham, Bob Wilson, Brian Talbot and Paul Mariner. He has been commissioned by clubs ranging from Crystal Palace to West Ham to design club suits. Today his client list is mind boggling: Ian Wright, Paul Gascoigne, Sir Alex Fergusson, Arsene Wenger, Rio Ferdinand, Campbell, Veron, Tigana, Saha, Giggs, Earle, just a hint of his impressive client base. Q’aja was also featured in the classic publication, The Fashion of Football, where his stint at Moss Bros was described as follows, “By the early 70’s, his brief at the company was enviable. Anyone rich and famous who came in contact with Moss Bros went through Tony.”

Before the days of Beckham, Q’aja had already defined a milieu for himself as a stylist, designer, building a niche market that has led to the trademark Q’aja style. A lot of us might not know it, but this unassuming man has been the brains behind the flair that we have admired among some of our fashionable footballers.

“We manage people’s wardrobes. We are primarily image consultants. It’s about advising people on what fits and we always begin by interviewing the clients; we give advice on how the client should dress depending on who they are meeting. Are they going to a wine bar, business meeting or restaurant? We believe in adopting the psychology of clothing and incorporating it into what we create to suit the client’s needs in any given situation,” says Q’aja.
He added quite convincingly, “We have clients who have told us that we have made them more successful just by clothing them.” Q’aja describes this further, “It’s amazing what the feel good factor can do for a person’s self- belief and achievement.”

Nowadays, it seems that Q’aja has also become the designer guru in golf. The football side of the business is taking a temporary backseat. He has switched gears a bit; it seems golf wear has become a major part of his bus iness of late due to the popularity of his golf apparel. In fact it has boomed beyond comprehension. According to Q’aja’s CNN blog, “Q’aja Couture was born with the aim to get some spunk back into the sport. After all, if we can’t entice style into golf, eventually there’s going to be a lot of empty golf clubs around.”

Q’aja enjoys a game of golf occasionally, but his real passion is clothing the golfers. He began by making suits for Darren Clarke’s manager. Clarke took notice and approached him to ignite the same magic into golf fashion as he has done with football. Q’aja brought back what he describes as, “the colour, design, boldness, character, personality and most importantly individuality,” that golf fashion was craving for. Besides Clarke, his couture brand has attracted customers far and wide: PGA TOUR players and even Hollywood legend Samuel L. Jackson (Q’aja has dubbed him (“Mr Cool”) who aside from acting is a golf fanatic.

What is the difference between styling a footballer versus a golfer? Without hesitating he replies, Golf is a more individual sport and naturally the players are more insular in their approach to fashion. Footballers are more extroverted simply because it’s a team sport.”

What is Q’aja most proud of? “I like to make my client stand out from the crowd. I bring a certain twist even to business clothing. We have extended our image consultancy to members of the public; this type of service is no longer exclusive to celebrities.”

The Zebramodels Expo 08 offers a rare opportunity to view some of Tony Q’aja’s original designs.

By Ona Amenechi

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