A man should never appear completely perfect. The goal is to create something unique that conveys a sense of personal identity in a subtle, yet memorable, way.
“Every man wants that perfect custom suit, but you may get lost in the crowd,” says Mike Goldman, co-owner with his father, Bruce, of L’Uomo Vogue in Bloomfield Township. “It could be a velvet bow tie, a pocket square, or a unique watch or cuff links. Your personality and your sense of fashion should drive what you wear.”
Changing with the times is nothing new for Goldman, who started working with his father while attending high school. “It used to be we’d bring in new fashions every quarter, but now it’s every month,” Goldman says. “We’ve become experts in turnaround management just by the sheer volume of changes in the fashion industry.”
Keeping up with the latest trends while still offering an array of ensembles by Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, and Valentino is no easy task.
When business casual became popular a decade ago, Goldman got his first taste of what economists refer to as elasticity of demand.
Before 9/11, Goldman says dress suits accounted for 80 percent of his revenue, with the rest coming from casual clothing and sportswear. But after the terrorist attacks, the country’s mood changed; today, semiformal and casual wear sales are split evenly.
“What I’ve learned is that when the world changes, we have to change with it,” Goldman says. “We go to all the major shows, including Milan, so we know the trends for the next season. But we still offer the classics by the well-known brands. We’re not going out on a limb and buying something our customers may not want just because we got a good price on it.”
