Suave Owl spreads wings as couple mark fifth birthday
A menswear shop in Bath is celebrating its fifth year in business and its founders say the brand is “thriving”.
Tony Harvey and his wife Jessica hit upon the idea for Suave Owl in 2017 after he struggled to find a suit for their wedding.
The ex-soldier discovered that he was “quite a bit bigger” than the average man and that made clothes shopping difficult.
The couple realised that there would be other gents in the same sticky fix, who just wanted a dapper suit to fit their frame, and that was how the Suave Owl concept was born.
At the time, Tony was a regional manager in the lift industry, having served as a Royal Engineer, and Jessica was a nurse in the NHS.
The brand’s name also sprang from the Harveys’ family life.
Tony and Jessica knew that looking “suave” was key to their brand identity, but they were stuck for a second word to make it catchy.
It was only when their chatty 18-month-old son learned how to say “owl” and it became one of his favourite words, that they came up with a name for the shop.
“It’s so easy to feel disheartened when industry measurements do not fit into real life. We want men of all shapes and sizes to know that they can come to us and that we will have their back,” Tony and Jessica said.
Suave Owl opened in Keynsham that year and quickly became a destination in its own right - even offering a secret bar, inspired by Peaky Blinders, in 2019.
Fast-forward three years and the Harveys relocated to a larger shop on Milsom Street in Bath.
Revamping the store during Covid brought its own challenges but the couple’s hard work has paid off. This year, Suave Owl has benefited from more new customers than ever.
But Tony and Jessica are not about to rest on their laurels. They are expanding their casualwear range to run in tandem with the original suit business. Suave Owl now has its own brand, selling shirts, polos, T-shirts, and even gin, to the gents of Bath.
Another big addition is sponsored sports teams. Suave Owl has sponsored both Bath Rugby Ladies and Somerset County Cricket Club since 2021.
Both teams represent the brand either on their kit or by wearing its items after games.