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LAKE MAGAZINE: http://www.lakemagazine.com
Text by JEFF KUMOREK Photo by LLOYD DEGRANE
Tailor Made by Paco Fernandez
12 QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ASK YOUR TAILOR
Professional wardrobes are back. The dress-down trend has had a beginning, a "muddle" and now an end, as evidence mounts that men are returning to the fold of tailored clothing and personalized service. We sat down with Paco Fernandez for a wide-ranging discussion on fashion and men’s wardrobe issues.

LAKE: How did you get into the custom tailoring business?

PACO: I started in this business when I took a temporary job at the Custom Shops in Chicago. I left 28 years later as the clothing director to start a business in East Chicago on September 22, 1999.

LAKE: As many of our readers know firsthand, starting new businesses can be difficult. How was it for you?

PACO: Of course it was a difficult start when you have always had a paycheck coming in. Let me tell you who my first customer was—Mayor Robert Pastrick of East Chicago. I went to see him and told him I had just opened this new business in East Chicago and wanted him as a customer. He ordered four custom shirts. He was just wonderful and referred me to others who became my customers. A short time later, a Northwest Indiana paper did a story on me, and the phone never stopped ringing for two months.

LAKE: How many customers do you have today?

PACO: I went from zero to seven hundred and fifty worldwide. I have customers in London, Puerto Rico and Africa.

LAKE: Wow. How do you manage to provide custom service to them?

PACO: I have two other salesmen, one in Northwest Indiana and one in Illinois. I have a businessperson to run the office, but I still call on the majority of customers myself. Let me describe to you how I begin with a customer. The first contact is a 10- to 15-minute phone interview so I have some sense of the person’s taste. This is followed up with a face-to-face interview and the actual taking of their measurements. I usually go to the client’s home or office with samples for them to look at. I talk to the client to determine what stores they shop at, what labels they buy, all to better help me understand their needs. I’m not shy about asking questions. If a customer wants a suit that normally is not vented but he requests one, we will talk about it until he sees my point. I will travel to meet my customers anywhere if I have a guaranteed two-suit order. Last year I sold two $10,000 suits, one to a client in Illinois and one in Puerto Rico. I keep a file on each customer with samples of the fabric from their purchases. If there is no change in their weight, for example, they can just call and duplicate their order on shirts or slacks.

LAKE: I think that brings us to the point about cost? I am sure most people think that if you have your clothes custom made it is going to cost a fortune.

PACO: Nothing could be further from the truth. You can get a custom shirt starting at $65 and a suit starting at $695. You will immediately look and feel better. You must understand that, unless you are a perfect size, you can only do so much with a suit off the rack. Also, this is where the custom service comes in. What if you gain or lose ten pounds? If you call me we will pick it up and make the necessary alterations. You looking your best is my best advertisement. It is also important to realize the importance of that first impression your clothing makes. I always look forward to working with people just starting out in any career. Once, a young lawyer told me how confident he felt winning his first case in one of my suits, which gives me a tremendous sense of satisfaction.

LAKE: What does your average customer order a year?

PACO: Six to eight shirts, one suit, a sport coat and some slacks.

LAKE: What are your thoughts about current men’s fashion?

PACO: First, I think we are getting to the end of Casual Fridays. Some companies have reported that they thought laxer standards of dress promoted tardiness and absenteeism.  "Everything I sell is made under my own label." conservative attire. That being said, men are getting bolder; they are starting to wear colors other than white and blue for their shirts. The newest color is helio, which is a kind of lavender. This is beautiful with a gray or black suit. Another popular new color is pink, which goes very well with a navy or black suit. Men are also getting bolder with their ties. I like to say that the suit is a picture frame, with the shirt and tie as the picture. You can change the picture a number of ways and, as long as the frame is good quality, the picture will always look its best. The fabric mills have taken the lead in this by developing and coming out with new fabric and thread colors. It really is kind of an exciting time in fashion.

LAKE: I notice that we are both wearing French cuffs. I find that interesting.

PACO: You are correct. French cuffs have made a big comeback recently in the return to more traditional or classical styles. You notice I am even wearing mine with a sport coat, which is something that was never done before. To a man putting on a fine suit, a pair of cufflinks is the finishing touch. Women have always known the importance of jewelry to finish an outfit. I now carry a full line of cufflinks as well. New customers think of me as a clothier and they only think of suits, but I am a full-service clothier—whatever the need is for a gentleman, from shoes to a necktie, from head to toe and everything in between.

LAKE: That’s an important point, because some men feel fashionably challenged.

PACO: Absolutely. When you become a customer, one of the things I like to do is visit your closet twice a year. When I evaluate your closet, I don’t mean to tell you what to throw out or what to buy. That’s not what I want to do. If you are a doctor or an attorney or a policeman, your job is to worry about your business. My job is to worry about making you look good. What I mean by evaluating the closet is to see that everything you have fits. What if you gain or lose ten pounds? It can make a difference of an inch in your waistband. What if you lose a button or tear a sleeve? My aim is so that all of the clothes in your closet are wearable, and if you allow me to do this you will always look your best. My goal is to get you the very best product, the very best fit and of course the very best service. I want people to look at you and, when you open your coat, see my label. Everything I sell is made under my own label.

LAKE: I noticed that you are on the Board of Directors for The Custom Tailors and Designers Association of America. What is that?

PACO : The purpose of the organization is to help businesses like myself. I qualify to be on the Board because I possess all of the knowledge of a tailor, but I am a fitter by trade. I like to say that a good tailor is not always a good fitter and a good fitter is not always a good tailor. This is important, because if the fitter doesn’t do his job, it doesn’t matter what the tailor does. In other words, a good tailor works to see that you get the best workmanship. That is why Martin Greenfield is my tailor for all my custom clothes. When any national newspaper or magazine does a story on Martin, they refer to him as the tailors’ tailor in the United States. Martin has made suits for four Presidents and many major athletes.

LAKE: How long does it take from start to finish to get an item?

PACO: Approximately six to eight weeks.

LAKE: Any final thoughts?

PACO: I always remember what my mentor, Mr. Leavitt, the founder of the Custom Shops, says: "Intrinsic value is the best thing for the customer." I have always believed this and never forgot it.

Fernandez sees customers by appointment only.