"The world over, the trend is for a brand to provide a total look," explains Mr Ahmed. A man who thinks and crafts fashion day in and out, Mr Ahmed decided to introduce the total look through SFM before the international brands stepped in. "It is only a matter of time before they invade the Indian market," he says. "And I decided to provide the local flavour before they swamp the market. The store has been designed on the same basis as many premium stores in Europe-ultramodern, clean and minimalist. The idea is to target the evolving new generation Indian male by satisfying his preferences for premium quality clothing, accessories and lifestyle."

Mr Ahmed, a widely respected name in the fashion industry, has a consolidated experience of 13 years in the industry. He is a graduate of the first batch of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi. He started his career designing for Ensemble. He later continued designing under his own private label for selective high profile clients.

In 1996, Mr Ahmed was offered a job at the international Elle magazine as the founding fashion editor to establish the magazine in India. In addition to working at Elle, Mr Ahmed taught design, pattern making, draping and fashion history at NIFT. Over the last six years, Mr Ahmed has been involved with Raymonds, building its brand image through advertising and marketing.

In addition, he has also been a consultant for labels such as Levis, Wills Sport, Park Avenue and Taj Khazana. Mr Ahmed has also to his credit the launch of two of India's top women lines: AND and Araiya.

Apart from his work in the Indian fashion industry, Mr Ahmed has also been a consultant and designer for Sankyo Seiko, Japan, and the Indie Store, Japan.

In 1998, Mr Ahmed studied in the UK at the London College of Fashion, specialising in the area of Fashion Media studies.

In 1999, Mr Ahmed set up the Arenah Design Studio to provide design services to the industry as well as establish SFM. At the SFM store at Colaba, the brand offers clothing which takes a man through the day. "A man who wears a button down for work does not want to wear it when he goes for a party but the range is missing. However, our focus is always on practicality with style," explains Mr Ahmed.

The Arenah Design Studio also does clothing for companies. At present they are working on the staff uniforms of the JW Marriott Hotel, which is coming up at Juhu, Mumbai. Besides, the vast range of clothes at the SFM store, a customer can, if he so desires, avail of the wardrobe designing services to change his wardrobe to suit his personality.