One stitch at a time — E.C. tailor has 1,700 customers in 16 cities
Feb. 9, 2006

EAST CHICAGO -- If having something named after you signifies that you’ve made it to the top in your industry, Paco Fernandez, owner of Paco’s Custom Clothiers, is having an exceptional year.

Fernandez, a nationally renowned tailor and owner of his own clothing label, Paco’s, is about to roll out a new suit design. What’s more, he’s introducing it to the world with his friend and mentor, Martin Greenfield, an international clothier who has dressed the likes of the late President Eisenhower and former President Clinton as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and a host of other dignitaries and superstars.

The new model, named “Paco” after Fernandez, is a garment with a soft shoulder and silhouette that could be styled on either double-breasted or single-breasted garments. It’s the first time that Greenfield, who manufactures suits for couture giants such as Brooks Brothers’ Private Label and Neiman Marcus’ Private Label among others, is marketing a design under his own label.

So thrilling is the thought, Fernandez can barely wipe the smile off his face.

“I’ve been on cloud nine for the last 62 days,” Fernandez said from his East Chicago office. “There is nothing more exciting than working together on a new model.”

The relationship between the two is not new. Fernandez, 52, first met Greenfield when he went to work 34 years ago as a fitter for now-defunct The Custom Shops. Greenfield was that store’s manufacturer, first for custom-made shirts and then clothing, and he and Fernandez became close friends.

“He took me by the hand and brought me to his factory in Brooklyn for a week so that I could get measuring the body down,” said Fernandez, who has been armed with a tape measure at all times. “He and his sons, Jay and Todd, often refer to me as 'Paco Greenfield,’ because I talk with all three of them at least once a day, if not more.”

When Fernandez left The Custom Shops in 1999 to start his own shop, Tailor’d to the Next Level in Chicago, Greenfield encouraged him and is now his manufacturer.

If Greenfield is among the top clothiers in the world, Fernandez has established himself in his own right, with 1,700 customers in 16 cities across the United States. Under his own label, he creates men’s and women’s clothing, including shirts, ties and shoes for men. Men’s suits are made in Greenfield’s Brooklyn factory and sent back to Fernandez for hand-finishing, while women’s clothing is made in Fernandez’ Chicago shop.

He also dresses some of Northwest Indiana’s political leaders, such as East Chicago Mayor George Pabey, former Mayor Robert Pastrick, Judge Lorenzo Arrendondo, Taskforce Tips owner Stewart McMillan and Valparaiso Councilman Chuck Williams.

Henry Mautner, an executive with a Morton Grove, Ill., manufacturer, has been a customer of Fernandez’s since the early ’90s.

“He’s the best there is,” Mautner said. “I hate going to stores, so it’s such a convenience. Plus, he knows what he’s doing, and I know that my clothes are going to be right the first time or, if they’re not, he’s going to make sure they are. That’s something you don’t see a lot in business today.”

While having clothing custom made sounds like a perk of the truly wealthy, it’s comparable to off-the-rack, according to Fernandez: His men’s suit prices average $900 to $1,200. Custom shirts start at $85, ties at $39 and shoes at $100. Fernandez produces around 1,900 suits per year and averages 75 shirts a week, he said.

And to say he enjoys his work is an understatement.

“I love what I do tremendously,” Fernandez said. “My job is to make you look your best at all times, and when I work with you, my job is to deliver an outfit, not just an item.”