# Paul Stuart

Paul Stuart is a men's luxury clothing brand founded in 1938 in New York City and owned by Mitsui since 2012. The company has four standalone boutiques in the US and one in Japan. Sanyo Shokai has been its sole distributor in Japan since 1991.
Paul Stuart's style has been described as a blend of “Savile Row, Connecticut living and the concrete canyons of New York.” The Paul Stuart logo is a drawing of fictional character Dink Stover sitting on the Yale fence.

## History

Harry Ostrove started Broadstreet's men's clothing stores in New York City in 1915. Ralph worked for his father but left in 1938 to start Paul Stuart, so named for his son, Paul Stuart Ostrove. March 7, 1938 the store opened.
The company was helmed by the legendary merchant and CEO Clifford Grodd from 1958 until his death in 2010.
In fall 2007, Paul Stuart launched its Phineas Cole range, which is luxury clothing with a slimmer silhouette designed to appeal to a younger, less conservative clientele.
The retailer remained a privately-held family business until December 2012, when it was sold to its long-time Japanese partners, Mitsui.
Paulette Garafalo, formerly of Brooks Brothers and Hickey Freeman, became CEO of Paul Stuart on June 14, 2016, marking the first time someone unrelated to the Ostrove family led the company.
The company offers bespoke tailoring by Oxxford Clothes. In 2019, the company began offering a lower-priced made-to-measure service branded as customLAB, including luxury MTM jeans service. In 2019, the company celebrated the redesign and launch of its omnichannel e-commerce website with home delivery via vintage Packard automobile.
On July 1, 2022, Paulette Garafalo stepped away from day-to-day operations and assumed a new role as Executive Chairman. Trevor Shimpfky was announced as president and CEO, and oversaw the addition of new stores, the ceasing of womenswear production, and efforts to attract a younger clientele. The creative director is Ralph Auriemma, who was originally hired away from Ralph Lauren Purple Label in 2007 to develop the youthful Phineas Cole sub-brand.
In 2024 Paul Stuart dressed jazz singer Peter Cincotti for his Café Carlyle residency.

## Retail locations

Paul Stuart has standalone shops in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Southampton, New York, and Tokyo.
Since 1938, the original New York City flagship store has been located at the corner of Madison Avenue and 45th Street.
In the fall of 2008, Paul Stuart relocated its Chicago store from the John Hancock Center on Michigan Avenue to Oak Street. In the spring of 2011, Paul Stuart opened a second Chicago location in The Loop, at the corner of LaSalle Street and Adams Street in the historic Continental and Commercial National Bank building designed by Daniel Burnham, currently anchored by JW Marriott Hotels. Both Chicago stores were broken into and looted during the George Floyd protests in Chicago, and the Loop store in the JW Marriott was permanently closed. In 2024 the Oak Street store was relocated to a 5,250 sq ft space spanning two floors at 822 North Michigan Avenue in front of Chicago Water Tower, and opposite its original Hancock Tower location from decades prior.
The store in Washington, D.C. opened in spring 2015 in CityCenterDC.
Paul Stuart shoes and boots are sold at Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue.
On 1 September 2020, Paul Stuart opened a 846 ft$^2$ popup store in New York City at 505 Broome Street which focused on the brand's CustomLab entry-level made-to-measure tailored clothing.
On July 1, 2020 the brand opened a shop in the Hamptons in Southampton.
The Tokyo flagship store is located in Kita-Aoyama near Gaiemmae Station. The brand is sold nationwide at Japanese department stores including Daimaru, Keiō, Keisei, Isetan, Matsuya, Matsuzakaya, Mitsukoshi, Seibu, Sōgo, Takashimaya, Tōbu, Tōkyū, and others.

## Clientele

Fred Astaire, Mel Brooks, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bloomberg, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Ron Carter, and Billy Taylor have been customers of the brand.
Paul Stuart's style has been described as a blend of “Savile Row, Connecticut living and the concrete canyons of New York.” In its early years, Paul Stuart was known as "the poor man's Brooks Brothers"; later its prices rose, and for many years it has been more expensive than Brooks Brothers.
Paul Stuart dressed Cary Grant in Hitchcock's North by Northwest. The brand has been worn in Succession.