BY KASS STONE
Times Correspondent | Saturday, January 26, 2008

Business suits him just fine

HIGHLAND | Paco Fernandez considers himself to be one of Northwest Indiana's best-kept secrets. The owner and CEO of Highland-based Paco's Custom Clothiers says he has been arranging the wardrobes of some of the most influential people in the region and across the country for almost 40 years.

A native of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, Fernandez was introduced to the custom clothier world in 1973. After several years of working in retail sales, he took a temporary sales position for the downtown Chicago location of The Custom Shop chain of custom clothiers. During the course of 28 years, he worked himself up from that temporary sales job to an executive position within the regional management of the company.

Taking that experience, Fernandez said he went into business for himself in 1999. Operating out of his East Chicago home, he began customizing suits for some of the area's power-brokers. The first customer on his own was former East Chicago mayor Robert Pastrick.

Another high-profile customer is Portsmouth, Va., mayor, James W. Holley III, who recently was profiled in Esquire magazine as the nation's best-dressed mayor, sporting a custom Paco's Custom Clothier's suit, according to Fernandez.

In the past eight years, Fernandez has branched out to have a presence in 17 different markets, including his recent relocation to Highland.

After taking measurements and helping a customer choose a suit, Fernandez sends the order to the shop of Brooklyn-based tailor Martin Greenfield, whose crew assembles the suit.

A suit can run anywhere from $700 to $25,000, depending on the fabric, Fernandez said. The most expensive fabric he orders is an imported Italian wool and mink blend called Guana Shina, which goes for $3,500 a yard.

As for the price tag on his suits, Fernandez believes it is money well spent, especially compared to what a suit bought off the rack at a store would cost.

"When you get a suit from a retailer, it is extremely difficult for a store to maintain a good selection of different styles, different fabrics in your size,'' Fernandez said. "Everything we have is in your size. It will fit perfectly and for that alone it is worth getting it done.''