John Varvatos
Born	Allen Park, Michigan
Nationality	American
Labels	John Varvatos
Awards	CFDA: Menswear Designer of the Year, 2005 and 2001; Perry Ellis Award for Menswear, 2000; GQ: Designer of the Year, 2007

John Varvatos (born in Detroit, Michigan) is an American contemporary menswear fashion designer.

Biography

The Varvatos family are originally from the Greek island of Kefalonia. John Varvatos grew up in the metro Detroit suburb of Allen Park, a downriver community situated south of the city of Detroit. He attended Allen Park High School. Varvatos first worked for Polo Ralph Lauren in 1983 then worked at Calvin Klein in 1990, where he was head of menswear design. He returned to Polo in 1995, where he was VP of menswear design. John lived in Apartment #2 at 5 W 21st St, in the heart of the prestigious Flatiron District of New York City. This address housed many famous athletes, celebrities, models, philanthropists and finance moguls at one point or another throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

John Varvatos Clothing

A line of John Varvatos designed Converse shoes.

In late 1999, Varvatos started his eponymous company, debuting his first clothing line at the end of 2000.

In 2000, John Varvatos was licensed to create a line of Converse All-Star shoes for the Fall/Winter Season that year. The designs were so popular that they have continued to acquire his talents to this day, even branching out into other Converse shoe styles like Jack Purcell and One Star.

In 2003, John's company became part of Nautica Enterprises, Inc., which was subsequently acquired by VF Corporation¹. In 2005, John Varvatos entered into a partnership with VF Corporation to create a new partnership, John Varvatos Enterprises, Inc. where Varvatos serves as CEO and president of the new company.²

In spring 2006 John launched his first eyewear collection. In February 2007, it was announced that American supergroup Velvet Revolver would be the face of Varvatos' spring 2007 ad campaign.

Varvatos's clothing is sold in such stores as Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys, Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, and recently Macy's, as well as other stores and in the company's own boutiques located in SoHo, Los Angeles, The Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, Costa Mesa, East Hampton, and San Francisco.

In April 2008 Varvatos opened his 315 Bowery store in the space that once housed the seminal underground club CBGB.

Fragrance and Skincare Partnership with Shiseido

In the fall of 2004 John Varvatos launched his first fragrance, a men's fragrance named John Varvatos Classic. In 2006, BPI launched Vintage by John Varvatos, which shares similar notes as the classic. In 2008 Varvatos launched his fragrance for women. In Spring 2005, he also launched John Varvatos Skin, his line of skin care products for men. His new 'green' fragrance, called Artisan will come out later this Spring (2009). John Varvatos Skin products, along with John Varvatos fragrances, are made at Shiseido's facilities and distributed by Shiseido subsidiary Beauté Prestige International.

Awards

John first received accolades from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 2000 when he was honored with the Perry Ellis Award for Menswear, which goes to the most promising new talent in the industry. John compounded this achievement the following year by winning the 2001 CFDA's Designer of the Year award.

In 2005 Varvatos received the CFDA's 2005 Menswear Designer of the Year award at the New York Public Library. The recipients are determined by a selection committee of top magazine editors, journalists, stylists and retailers from around the world. He competed for the top honor along with Ralph Lauren and John Bartlett for his third CFDA win.

In 2007 Varvatos was named GQ's Designer of the Year.³

External links

• Official Site
• Video Blog interview with John Varvatos
• Interview with John Varvatos on Adversus

References