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<\/a><\/p>\nOur objective is to give voice to the very DNA of the brands for whom we wholeheartedly invest our time, experience and expertise. For us, this means helping to create, maintain and disseminate sophisticated, distinctive, branded messages that are, in every way, equal to the standard of the brands themselves. We craft text and create imagery that extends beyond the classic applications of PR, publicity, print and\/or digital advertising and catalog applications. In this process, we also invent content for SM; a brilliant and beautiful beast which we all know is never sated.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pity that marketers are all too often willing to leave the lion\u2019s share of content creation to followers, influencers, and other outside players who, despite their good intentions, nevertheless impart an editorial point of view that fails to uphold the genetic code of the brand. This outside influence can disrupt the very core of the brand\u2019s image, which can prove harmful to the brand\u2019s identity. So, when we service a client, we prefer to take a 360-degree approach to messaging \u2014always mindful that safeguarding the essence of the brand is our primary purpose.<\/p>\n
VR: Your educational background?<\/p>\n TM: I was a Theatre Arts major, and, like a thousand others, originally moved to the city to pursue a career on the stage. Although I supported myself (meagerly) as an actor for a time, I find my best performances \u2013 and often the most dramatic \u2014 are given on behalf of my clients.<\/p>\n My love of tailored clothing began, as I imagine holds true for many, in observing my father. He was a blue-collar worker who, on weekends, would transform as he traded his workwear for a perfect navy serge suit, brilliantly polished cap toe oxfords, and a perfectly knotted tie. Thus attired, he would take my mother dancing. It made a lasting impression. Growing up, I was also obsessed with the movies and noted very early on that the lucky devil who inevitably ended up with Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly on his arm was invariably sporting a perfectly cut suit. That was it for me. No more cowboys, astronauts, or knights in shining armor, instead, the dapper boulevardier became my ideal (excepting, perhaps, Robin Hood \u2014 the allure of the Greenwood remains). May as well give credit to Socrates; \u201cBeauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.\u201d<\/p>\n VR: Have you any children or spouse (and how do they relate to your style enthusiasm)? <\/p>\n VR: …and your parents and siblings’ reactions back when you were younger? VR: What other hobbies or passions do you have besides apparel? VR: How did your interest in style change, and when did you turn your eyes towards the classics? VR: How would you describe your personal style? That said, I find that a prudent dose of snobbery stemming from a reflection of pride in one\u2019s tailor is acceptable, even laudable \u2014 while the supercilious self-proclamation of dandyism is never appropriate for me. Elegant understatement is key; a discreet flash of brightly hued hosiery, a subtly complex interplay of pattern and texture, and a circumspect bud in one\u2019s lapel are all very good things. A cacophonous submission to self-aggrandizement is the inverse. I was once told that a truly well-dressed gent is not noticed upon arrival, but rather upon departure, leaving a singularly stylish vacuum in his wake. I continue to aspire to being that man.<\/p>\n VR: Among so many companies you’ve tried, which artisans or RTW makers do you favour — and why these? VR: Have you any particular style or cut philosophy behind the clothes you\u2019ve commissioned? VR: Who or what inspires you? More recently, but no less resoundingly, I continue to be inspired by my former business partner, Robert E. Beauchamp, along with another great former fashion editor and for me a personal style exemplar, Robert Bryan. I can go on and on: Simon Crompton, John Pizzarelli, Luciano Barbera, Joseph Barrato, Bruce Boyer, the great Gay Talese (who recently gifted me with one of his personal Homburgs). The common thread \u2013 no pun intended \u2013 is the clear appreciation for the classics, but in each case I \u2018ve noted, classics imbued with a definite and uniquely personal sense of style.<\/p>\n VR: What’s your definition of style?<\/p>\n TM: Confidence. Nonchalance. Grace, certainly. And rigorously disciplined attention to any detail over which we can exercise control. This certainly includes our personal presentation, but extends, by necessity I believe, to how we elect to comport ourselves. Dressing well may not indeed be the best revenge, but it certainly is, for me at least, a core component to a living well.<\/p>\n VR: Finally, given your long time with Paul Stuart, how would you say they differ from other clothiers based in New York?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: I am married to a brilliant, beautiful, stylish woman who, in equal measure, encourages and grounds me \u2014 and who insists that for every new suit that finds its way into my wardrobe an old soldier needs be retired. (Often painful, that.)<\/p>\n
\nTM: My Dad taught me to care for my clothes like they were tools \u2013 I suppose he was remarkably prescient in that. And I still take real pleasure in shining my own shoes.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: I am an inveterate and passionate reader, of history, biography, fiction. I\u2019m just in the midst of Terrance Stamp\u2019s wonderful memoir \u201cThe Ocean Fell Into The Drop\u201d which includes his enthusiastic account of the pleasure of bespoke footwear by George Cleverly. I love novels especially, and find that Ralph Waldo Emerson\u2019s famous quote \u2013 \u201cFiction reveals truth that reality obscures.\u201d \u2013 is spot on. And, I very happily maintain an unabated passion for theatre \u2014 shared, as are all the great and good things in my life, by my lady wife. But I\u2019m also an unrepentant \u2018gym-rat\u2019, and once my body began to betray me and recently put an end my lifelong pleasure in distance running, I became addicted to high intensity interval training at a local \u2018boot camp\u2019. I embrace a pretty rigorous approach to personal discipline; believing that fitness, grooming, dressing all speak to a certain mastery of self. Of course, there is also the fact that I am, arguably, as vain as Lucifer.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: I began working in clothing shops as a teenager, eventually moving from retail to wholesale \u2014 but always working on the \u2018pre-sale\u2019 if you will. I was driven by a fascination with advertising and marketing, of perpetuating the promise (that I expect initially ignited my own interest in tailored clothing) of a lifestyle unfailingly enhanced by looking the part. I also discovered a cache of old Esquire magazines from the 1930s at one shop and was struck by the brilliant illustrations of Laurence Fellows<\/a> \u2014 who remains a great favorite of mine to this day.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: Suave and sophisticated? Dapper and dashing? Well, at the very least, a bit rakish squared with a certain gentlemanly restraint. I aspire to classically tailored perfection and remain convinced that, no matter how far short of that goal I may fall, there is nobility in the attempt. It\u2019s been said that being well dressed is a form of respect \u2014 both for oneself and for all those whom one encounters in daily life. I see no reason to dispute such sound reasoning. Attention to detail, proportion, balance, offset by a bit of judicious rule-breaking.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: They are, blessedly, too numerous to mention \u2014 and seeing that I have been fortunate to have worked with some of the very finest brands, my favorites won\u2019t be too difficult to extrapolate. I will say that we are currently working with a young clothier named Paolo Martorano<\/a>, whose estimable knowledge, refined approach and absolute dedication to achieving and maintaining the very highest standards in bespoke tailoring is easily among the very best I have ever had the pleasure to experience \u2014 and is resulting in some of the finest garments I\u2019ve ever had the pleasure to wear. The simple fact of his youth is utterly inspiring to me; the opportunity to work with him is one of the benefits of this stage in my career, where I can choose to associate myself with \u2014 and genuinely embrace \u2014 those artisan craftsmen and creative visionaries whose work I truly admire, without concern about compensation. It is an unexpected perk of greying that is to be savored.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: The classics. I remain a staunchly uncompromising aficionado of both double-breasted jackets and of three-button (roll-to-two) single breasted. I am also utterly unwavering when it comes to high waisted double-pleated trousers (and, of course, the attendant, indispensable braces they require.) And it allows me to carry about all the bits necessitated by day-to-day life in commodious trouser pockets rather than spoil the cut of my jacket.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: Oh, to begin with, the usual suspects from the Golden Age of gentlemanly attire \u2014 which, quite handily, remains available to us in the photographic images and films of the 1930s: Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, The Duke of Windsor, Anthony Drexel Biddle, Jr., Cary Grant, Gianni Agnelli, the great Adolphe Menjou (the very best-dressed man in Hollywood). When I was very young I took a rather important date to see a production of a play called \u201cThe Pleasure of His Company\u201d starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. \u2014 who was, at the time I suppose about the same age I am today. His performance was more or less a master class in effortless charm and dapper affect. The impression he made on my young lady was not lost on me, nor was the program which credited Mr. Fairbank\u2019s tailor, hat maker, shoemaker, etc. I greedily quaffed that particular Kool-Aide.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTM: Paul Stuart may well be the final bastion which professes style over fashion vis-\u00e0-vis men\u2019s apparel to be found in the United States. No mere collection of varied brands, instead, a highly-curated approach to gent\u2019s natty. And like that approach, sadly something of a vanishing breed.<\/p>\n