Tyson Fury’s tailor charts incredible journey with Gypsy King from dressing him up as Batman and beating Wladimir Klitchsko to being too fat to wear a suit
HANGING from the rails of Nav Salimian’s London showroom are four suits ready for Tyson Fury and his Las Vegas showdown with Tom Schwarz.
It marks a huge leap from the time when his tailor of five years received a voice note from the Gypsy King telling Nav he was too fat to wear his clothing.
Fury was at the height of his depression in 2016 and had ballooned to 28stone, making him too big for anything Nav could knock up.
His inspirational weight loss journey saw him drop a remarkable 10stone for his comeback against Sefer Seferi almost exactly one year ago.
Nav, marketing director and stylist at based in Brent Cross, stuck by the heavyweight star during his lowest point and his loyalty has been repaid.
Speaking to SunSport, the 30-year-old said: “He got to a stage where he messaged me on a voice note saying ‘Nav I’m too fat for your suits’ and that was at the height of his depression.
“So now we’re talking going from 3x XL to 6x XL and at that point I knew I couldn’t send him anything.
“I’d seen him go to a few events and he wasn’t looking his best. I reached out and said ‘I know you’re going through something right now, we’re still here’. A lot of people at your worst will disappear.
“So the weight loss has been something inspiring for us to see because we know his original measurements. We’ve seen him go down four or five waist sizes.
“I think when we last styled him it’s the most toned he’s ever been. It’s an amazing transformation and something we’ll look back on. He pretty much lost a human of weight.”
Creating clothing to match Fury’s colourful and larger than life personality is no easy task.
His last design, a smoke suit worn with an incredible shirt with hand drawn heavyweight champs of the bygone era, was proudly worn by the lineal champ during his presser last month.
The suits cost around £500 and take between six and eight weeks to make, with the shirts costing about £90 each.
Fury wanted something that couldn’t be ignored for his first trip to Vegas and Nav had just the idea.
He added: “Fury said to me, ‘Nav when I go to Vegas it needs to be a statement piece, it needs to be bold’. We drew inspiration from the McGregor versus Mayweather fight where he had the F*** You on the pinstripe, so we thought what can we do to top that?
“So we did a printed suit which is something I haven’t seen in boxing. We drew inspiration from the lineal championship heavyweights that he admires and we hand sketched everything.
“We had another all taken from 1910 cigarette cards so it really delves into the history and something important to him. You can’t ignore it. Love it or hate it you can’t ignore it. He’s fearless and it’s just like our designs.”
Nav first got a taste for Fury’s style when he kitted him out for his fight with Wladimir Klitschko.
But he was worried his time and effort had been wasted when Fury rocked up dressed as Batman.
Nav added: “There’s an iconic image where Klitchkso is holding all his belts and Tyson is behind wearing a polo shirt.
I think when we last styled him it’s the most toned he’s ever been. It's an amazing transformation
Nav on Tyson Fury's weight loss
“I was sent that photo and told to look after him and give him something sharp to wear.
“When we first met him I wanted something really sharp. I picked a three-piece which felt like a 1950s gangster look.
“Ultimately he liked the clobber straight away and he turned the suit into his Bruce Wayne outfit.
“For his Klitchsko presser he was running around in his Batman costume and I’m standing next to his wife, Paris, and I said: ‘Has he packed the suit?’ and she replied ‘I honestly don’t know what he’s doing’ because he arrived in a Lamborghini and he’s running around like Batman.
“I’ve taken all this clothing and I can’t see any of it. And then he comes back dressed as Bruce Wayne.
“So immediately I understood him a bit more - his humorous and playful nature. He’s fearless so I thought this is fantastic and we can explore this in the clothing.”
Nav’s tireless persistence and passion for his job has seen him dress the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Crolla and UFC duo Michael Bisping and Jimi Manuwa.
But it was former light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan who opened the door to a flurry of sporting stars.
He said: “It all started with Amir Khan who opened this door into boxing.
“I would take photos of garments, make mood boards and would send them to various celebrities across Instagram, Twitter, emails and I’d call up agents. Ultimately out of 100 phone calls Khan was the one that called back.
“He said ,‘This stuff looks cool, this is fantastic. Let me come and see you at the shops.' He came with his entourage and he showed us massive love. He shut the whole place down, people came from the streets to see him.
“Amir really opened the door for us and exposed us to a massive audience.
“That led to him opening the door for us to meet McGregor. That got us seen on various different outlets. On one of his press runs it led to a mutual friend of Tyson’s getting in touch and the rest is history.
“When I worked with McGregor it was five or six years ago when he was fighting Dennis Siver, which led to him fighting Chad Mendes.
“He wasn’t the McGregor we know today. I thought McGregor and Bisping would be massive for the brand. McGregor was undefeated and Bisping had just won the Ultimate Fighter. We couldn’t get hold of Bisping so Mcgregor was next at the time.
“It’s all so surreal. I’m just trying to roll with it. Even when you hit the height. We have these victories but I’m still here at 9:30am for a normal day.”
Nav, alongside his cousin Shaz Salimian, will be ready to party with Fury in Vegas should he beat the undefeated German on Saturday.
He is no stranger to the process after being part of the team for that controversial draw with Wilder in December.
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Nav said: “The head-to-head with Wilder in LA, we had an inner circle. Before we went out he is the calmest guy in the room, bouncing around putting his arm around people singing.
“I was more nervous than him. I’ve never been part of something like this. I’m trying to act serious and keep quiet and next thing I know I’m singing American Pie with him.
“They’ve really looked after us. He’s all about his team and family. When we’re amongst them we feel very comfortable and at ease and enjoy being part of the process."
Explaining his love, hopes and respect for the heavyweight giant, he added: “You have this thing where you feel like you’re watching greatness and you’re a part of this special moment.
“That’s why we, as a brand, we’ve stuck behind him because we know where his heart is at. We’re only midway through the journey.”