Paul Stuart is an American RTW & MTM brand founded in 1938, with stores historically located in New York and Chicago.
Paul Stuart has always had a strong following among business tycoons and Wall Street bankers for its business suits, which are known to be both classical in style and fairly sharp. The brand also enjoys a solid reputation in Japan, where its products have been widely distributed for several years now ; indeed, Paul Stuart has two stores in Tokyo, and its products can be found in roughly a hundred department stores throughout the country.
As a brand, Paul Stuart is often overshadowed by Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren – yet as of now, the house is also steadily inching its way up to a more international audience. Europe in particular is becoming increasingly fond of the Stuart's universe and products, in spite of a total lack of European distribution at this point in time.
For a few years now, we've been monitoring Paul Stuart's growth and activities, especially since the launch of the "Phineas Cole" range which was created to seduce a new and younger audience straight from the current sartorial revolution, in lieu of the house's traditional business clientele --- in our opinion, a shift in the right direction that has caused the brand's offer to grow increasingly stylish.
Since the family business was (finally!) bought out in 2012 by the powerful Mitsui group (Paul Stuart's historical Japanese partner), the house's imminent European invasion has been a hotly discussed topic.
In the meantime, Paul Stuart keeps working on its ever-growing popularity (mainly digital outside of the US and Japan), by means of audacious and frankly very pleasant collections.
Take for instance the Phineas Cole Autumn / Winter 2014 collection, which it is our pleasure to unveil today ; a very solid and at times flamboyant range with the same definitive East-coast flair that has been the trademark of the house since its inception.
The cuts are surprisingly close-fitted for an American house and indeed a far cry from the classical sack suit. Shoulders are lightly padded (to keep them fairly natural), and lapels are generous with high notches, for a refined end result.
On the menu :
* windowpane patterned two and three-piece suits,
* double-breasted vests,
* gorgeous Chesterfield coats,
* sport jackets with oversized and bold patterns,
* horizontally striped shirts,
* geometrically patterned ties,
* and dapper robes and dinner jackets.
A house that is every bit worth our collective attention; we at PG believe that Paul Stuart may just become one of the sector's big names in the coming years...
If you haven't already, do check the Paul Stuart review by our good friend G. Bruce Boyer, which you can find as part of our RTW suits review for 2014 here.
