Brioni

Brioni arrived late in Dubai, but with a long record. Nazareno Fonticoli and Gaetano Savini opened its first shop on Rome's Via Barberini in 1945, and in 1952 Brioni staged what is regarded as the first men's fashion show, in the Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti. Clark Gable, John Wayne and Cary Grant wore its suits in the 1950s. In 1959 it opened an industrial-scale atelier in Penne, Abruzzo, where a large share of its production remains, and its tailors train at the company's own school there.

The Dubai Mall boutique, opened in July 2025 and furnished with vintage Italian pieces, sells ready-to-wear and offers what Brioni calls Bespoke. The Peak described the process in 2015: a master tailor studies the client's posture, measures him and fits a trial garment; a pattern is drawn in Penne; and the finished suit is fitted again, marked and returned to Penne for final work. Brioni has not said whether a master tailor is based in Dubai. Elsewhere in the Gulf it has held bespoke events with a visiting master tailor, as in Doha in 2019, so ask how many fittings take place in Dubai and when.

The level of make is the open question. Francesco Pesci, then chief executive, said in 2012 that Su Misura follows the same steps and standards as ready-to-wear, starting from a personal measurement file, and Gentleman's Gazette judged Brioni jackets in 2023 to be fully canvassed but on a par with high-quality made-to-measure, with some machine stitching. It suggested budgeting about $10,000 for made-to-measure; Brioni publishes no prices.

Choose Brioni for a polished suit from a famous name, ordered without leaving Dubai. Against Zegna, in the same mall, it has the longer tailoring pedigree but publishes less about its Dubai service. For a pattern cut and fitted by a cutter who works in the city, look to Dubai's independent bespoke tailors.