Tailor to champ Ali and the stars dies at 85
A BIRMINGHAM tailor tasked with ensuring Muhammad Ali looked a knockout when he visited the city has died.
Ahmet Yusuf died, aged 85, at his home in Edgbaston on Saturday.
Mr Yusuf had still been running his tailoring business in Chad Square, off Harborne Road, in Edgbaston, until it was forced to close due to the pandemic two years ago.
He had suffered with a chronic lung condition.
Mr Yusuf was known as a ‘tailor to the stars’ and became famous for making the legendary boxer a blue pinstripe suit during his 1983 visit to open the Muhammad Ali Centre in Hockley.
In an interview, Mr Yusuf recalled his meeting with the champ and said: “Ali said, ‘who is this cowboy who wants to make me a suit?’
“Gary Newbon had to pull him to one side and explain, ‘That cowboy’s my tailor’,’’
He had seized the opportunity when the most famous person on the planet addressed his adoring public at The Dome nightspot, on Bristol Road, during the visit.
Years later, Mr Yusuf was thrilled to see him sporting the suit during a New York press conference.
“It was a beautiful suit and an honour to make it for him,” Mr Yusuf said. “The man was magic, what a guy!”
Mr Yusuf’s daughter Deniz James worked with her father at the Chad Square shop for 30 years.
She told the Post: “My dad was brilliant at spotting great opportunities.
“He had great foresight and had decided to offer to make Ali a suit. He wanted to make him a suit so he would remember the people of Birmingham.
“People loved my dad. He treated everyone the same who walked into his shop. He wouldn’t hassle people, he would just ask them if they would like a cup of tea or coffee.
“The shop became like a community hub. His Turkish friends would come round and play backgammon in the back. It wasn’t only a shop but a place where people would meet.” Mr Yusuf emigrated to England from northern Cyprus in 1954.
His father wanted him to become a farmer in their homeland, but asthma put paid to that career. Instead, he joined his cousin’s menswear business in Nicosia.
The teenager showed a real talent and arrived in England in 1954 with dreams of opening his own shop.
That became a reality in 1957 as he made suits from the cellar of his brother’s Bath Row coffee bar in Birmingham city centre. Mr Yusuf hit the ground running and soon moved to bigger premises on Bristol Road. Soon, the great and good wanted to be seen in his suits.
He leaves behind wife Muriel, four children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Mr Yusuf’s funeral was held on Wednesday at Birmingham Central Mosque.