Ozwald Boateng, the suit designer whose clients include David Bowie, Jamie Foxx and Sir Richard Branson, will this week kick off an ambitious global expansion drive with the opening of a store on London’s Savile Row. Sunday Telegraph

The opening of the 6,500sq ft store will be followed by a second London store, two UK regional stores and six outlets in the Middle East through a partnership with Al Tayer, a local business. Boateng is also in discussions with potential partners in the US and Japan.

Boateng’s Savile Row store has had a long gestation due to a spat between landlords, Westminster council and traditional tailors over the future direction of the street. Established tailors on the Row have scoffed at the arrival of young turks such as Richard James and Boateng on the famous street, arguing they are pushing up rents and diluting the heritage of the area.

However Boateng said the Savile Row store, which cost 'a seven-figure sum' to design and fit out, will revolutionise the street. '[We’re] pioneering the rebirth of the road,' he said.