Joseph Abboud on Happiness and Why American Men Don't Dress Well

The April 2011 issue of MR (Menswear Retailing) magazine features an interview with Joseph Abboud, President and CCO of HMX and its flagship brand Hart Schaffner Marx.

For those who aren't in the know, here's a fast crash course: Abboud is a great, classic-but-not-stuffy (if you know what I mean) designer of American men's apparel. He's worked for a few different companies, including Ralph Lauren, but he's most famous for his eponymous label, Joseph Abboud. A few years ago, he decided to sell this line (and its company, JA Apparel) because he was spending more time administrating than designing and he wanted to get back to the more creative aspect of the trade. Trouble ensued, however, when he founded a new label, Jaz (get it...Joseph abboud z), and JA Apparel successfully sued him for violating his non-competition clause. After spending two years in litigation and losing Jaz, Abboud went to work for HMX, who hired him as their chief designer with more or less carte blanche authority.

In the interview, Abboud talks about his legal battle as well as a number of other subjects, but two points in particular caught my attention, his comments about the American male's lack of sartorial awareness and his views on happiness. Regarding the former, he says:

My goal is for more men to embrace fashion and style rather than be afraid of it. As an industry, we've done a terrible job of conveying an appreciation for fine clothing. The Europeans grow up with it; it's in their pasta. Here, we turn guys off with ridiculous runway presentations so they think fashion is totally frivolous. If you're a major New York newspaper, don't show a guy on a runway on a horse with war paint and expect that your reader is going to understand your message. Talk to guys in a language they can understand.

So, part of the reason American men don't dress well is that the fashion industry makes the whole enterprise seem ridiculous.

Then, regarding happiness, he says:

I'm not much of a socializer: I don't have lots of friends, I don't go to many events or parties beyond what I have to do. My real happiness is my work and family. In fact, I had a great evening last night teaching my daughter Ari some tricks for memorizing the American presidents...

Last summer, my older daughter Lila interned at HMX. One of her jobs was to straighten out these boxes of old swatches and she came to me with this mushroom-colored Donegal piece of sweater that she thought I might like. It was so gorgeous that I built an entire collection around it; it was one of our deliveries for fall 2010. And the next time she was at our offices and saw that collection, she was beaming; she was like, "Daddy, I discovered that swatch!" Now that to me is happiness.

Work and family equals happiness. What can I say? The guy has his priorities straight.