As a fashion-obsessed preteen, Michael Nguyen worked as a Holt Renfrew stockboy, folding cashmere sweaters at the Yorkdale store. Two decades later the upscale retailer is hosting a pop-up shop of curated formal wear from the designer’s Garrison Bespoke line.
It’s an apt homecoming for the sartorial savant whose passion for fashion began in Grade 2 with the pristine white outfit he donned for first communion.
“In my tux coming down the stairs, I remember everyone telling me how good I looked, how great a guy I was; that day I actually felt like I was somebody,” the 33-year-old recalled in an interview.
“That probably was the defining moment of the importance of the way you dress.”
Nguyen turned that feeling into the pursuit of menswear expertise. The second-last of five children, he learned the art of fit by altering his older sisters’ hand-me-downs to pad his meagre wardrobe. There were two more stints at Holt, as well as on the sales floors of Harry Rosen and Grafton & Co. He studied fashion design at George Brown College after completing a parents’-mandated accounting degree at York University, and worked briefly in audit at KPMG prior to launching his own tailoring shop in 2007.
Headquartered at Wellington-Yonge Sts. with a staff of 35, Garrison has built an enviable business. It dresses Bay Street heavyweights, television characters and A-listers such as, rapper Drake, NBA star LeBron James, actor Ryan Gosling and music producer David Foster.
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The owner’s family history and upbringing are stamped on the company: Garrison’s fabric suppliers include French mill Dormeuil for whom Nguyen’s grandfather worked in Vietnam; and his determination to create a nurturing environment and experience for clients comes from watching his late mother toil at home as a remarkable yet unsung seamstress.
While the flagship store has a covert, men’s club feel, Garrison Weddings at the King Edward Hotel location — dedicated uniquely to dressing grooms and groomsmen — is marble-accented and couple-friendly. The Holt extension is an airy, female-welcoming site with shaves and shoe shines available in the store’s adjacent men’s lounge.
Recently launched at Holt, Garrison’s Celebration Collection starts at $2,800 and aims to simplify the made-to-measure experience by giving men six styles to choose from for any formal occasion.
Garrison, which suited men for more than 300 weddings last year, has developed a niche within the bespoke industry by engineering formal wear that they say photographs better because it’s heavier, more padded and darker than off-the-rack suits.
“I learned it from my work on (TV programs) Hannibal and Suits,” said Nguyen. “On both shows the actors are fluctuating like crazy in weight and they need to look very clean and crisp on television.”
With the television work and high-profile collaborations with the Toronto FC and the Toronto Raptors, it’s little wonder Garrison doesn’t advertise. The clothier also generated a lot of international buzz with a lightweight bulletproof suit developed in 2013.
“We actually haven’t figured how to scale it,” said Nguyen of the ensemble which starts at $20,000.
“It’s six weeks of one person’s time to make it. Then have testing and you still have to ensure with the client that it’s bulletproof because you don’t want to not deliver on your promise.”
At Garrison where a jacket typically takes 25-35 hours to construct and is worked on by up to eight tailors, word-of-mouth and long-term relationships are key.
“We’re in a business where people are very busy; they have a lot of priorities,” said Nguyen. “If we give them a level of experience and level of product where they going to recommend us to friends and colleagues, then we’re succeeding.
“The philosophy around bespoke is we create long-term relationships with clients and over time we get this roster where we don’t have to get new clients.”
Hanging out at the Yorkdale store where his sister worked got Nguyen that initial holiday job at Holt and stoked his fashion sense, but his parents never wanted him to make a career of tailoring.
“As Asian parents they wanted their kids to work in professional services,” he recalled. “Even today, my dad is kind of cool with what I do, but still is of the inclination that his friend’s son who is an engineer is in a better business.
“There are a lot of really valuable tools you can learn in retail and fashion. Maybe you’re not going to work in it forever, but you can learn how to sell, interact with people and customer service. There is just as much value in working here as there is in working at a law firm or an accounting firm in the summer. Parents and mentors should recognize that.”
