Conor McGregor tailor-made for success after being suited out by one-time Derry apprentice plumber

Diarmuid Graham was living what he calls an unfulfilling lifestyle less than a year ago when he decided to take the brave step and create his own brand of tailored clothing. Dee as he’s known, who attended St Pius X High School in Magherafelt, had previously been a plumbing apprentice before moving on to engineering following a serious sports injury. It was after years of slugging away at a job he wasn’t getting any satisfaction from that he decided it’s time for a change. “It was getting that bad that because there were so many men being laid off, you were nearly afraid not to do overtime. That whole uncertainty for what was essentially a dead end job was no good. I wasn’t going to stand there like that until I was 65 or 70 years of age. “This is the biggest period of a person’s life, you might as well do something that you want, something that you love. I used to think you had to go out and do a job that left you coming home black as a boot. I’m no stranger to hard work but now I’m using my brain and doing something I love.” Dee admits that during his last three years as an engineer it started to take its toll on him. His wife Aine who has been with for 12 years also started to see a difference in his personality. And with her now seven months pregnant he finally decided enough was enough. “I knew I wasn’t myself, I would always be full of craic and carry on and I wasn’t like that anymore. So I went to work one day and I looked around and said to myself this is not for me. I walked up to the door, clocked out, and when I was driving up the road home I felt a million dollars. It was a huge weight of my shoulders. “I got into the house and I told Aine I had quit and I think she nearly had the child there and then. But deep down I knew I had her support, I’ve always had her support. And by doing this I can now be the best husband, father, and person that I could possibly be.” The next steps were to get a website designed, source fabrics, start designing his suits and turning what had previously only lived in his imagination into a reality. But the moment that it all began to feel real was whenever he made his Facebook page and went public with it. “I had everything in place, all ready to go so started to put pictures onto Facebook telling people this is what I do. Thankfully people loved it and it just started to snowball from there.” It was actually through Facebook that Dee got one of his biggest profile customers to date. Conor McGregor’s official media platform The Mac Life sent him a private message and when he realised who he was dealing with he thought it was a joke. “I was doing well, I had signed with WAHL and my profile was growing and growing. Then I got a message mid October from a man saying he needed some suits for going to his friends fight out in New York next month.” Being a massive UFC and Conor McGregor fan himself Dee was well aware of the fact McGregor had a massive fight coming up in November. He already was doing a discount on suits for anybody that bought a suit of him for the purpose to go out and support Ireland’s biggest star. “I said to him you’re hardly going out to the McGregor fight, and when he responded with Conor is my best friend I decided to delve a little deeper. So I explored his Facebook page and I soon realised that this was the men behind The Mac Life. “They invited me down to their house in Dublin so away I went with sample books for Conor himself and just clicked with them right away. After a couple more trips down I had them suited and booted, ready for New York. And up the road I came with some signed Conor McGregor memorabilia under my arm.” Following what was a record breaking night in Madison Square Garden when McGregor became the first ever two weight world champion, the Mac Life crew were popping up all over social media dressed in Dee’s very own custom tailor made suits. Something he found very surreal watching on from his home. “Even during the week building up to the fight they featured me on The Mac Life official website which I don’t know how many followers they have, something colossal. I had guys from South Africa and places’ messaging me telling me my stuff is unbelievable. “But seeing them men on TV ringside at this amazing event, wearing my suits, and then after it them holding the two UFC belts wearing my suits. I’m not going to lie, it was a very surreal experience. It got even more surreal for Dee when he was invited to join the whole crew at UFC Belfast to watch McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov compete. An invite he was more than happy to accept. “I remember after UFC Belfast sitting with Conor McGregor in El Divino having a drink thinking this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. But then only a couple of weeks later they had invited me out with them again, so it wasn’t once in a lifetime. Then I was just thinking I could get used to this.” Dee takes a lot of pride in what he does. And because The Mac Life have access to anyone in the world of fashion he takes a lot of confidence from the fact that they continue to choose him. But that doesn’t mean they get treated any differently to anyone else who comes through the door. “Conor McGregor’s sister gets married now in January and they have asked me to suit up the whole Mac Life crew for the day. Of course I’m more than happy to assist them as I am with anyone that comes through my door. There is a personal touch to what I do, and I think people realise that you don’t get that everywhere else.” Photo shows the team celebrating Conor McGregor’s success in their tailor made suits.