UAE men’s fashion store Remy Rue goes live

Remy Rue, started by four entrepreneurs, wants to give style hunters the boutique alternative to what’s already out there — at affordable, fashionable prices.

The Directory caught up with founder and CEO Ricardo Simpson to talk fashion, online shopping and how he plans to give UAE men more stylish options.

Q: So tell us what Remy Rue is all about?

A: It’s all about sourcing good quality, unique, well-designed pieces of clothing from around the world, and offering these to the people of the UAE.

Q: How long has it been in the making?

A: The webstore has been in the making for the past 18 months. But the idea and the concept of Remy Rue is something that I’ve always wanted to do — since the age of 18 when I used to do shopping trips to London, relentlessly searching the backstreets around areas such as Shoreditch and Camden to find those individual, exclusive products that nobody else will have. I always knew that I wanted my own clothes store.

Q: Why a menswear store?

A: It was always going to be a men’s store, ever since I had the idea to own my own store. That, coupled with the fact that I’ve always felt that the UAE has a distinct lack of boutique stores. We seem to have two real markets for men’s clothes in the UAE: One is the mass produced products you find in high street stores such as Topman and H&M, and the other is the high-end designers.