John Varvatos
John Varvatos (born in Detroit, Michigan) is an American contemporary menswear fashion designer. He 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.
The name Varvatos is of Greek origin from the island of Kefalonia, a Latin alphabet transliteration of Βαρβάτος.
Design Positions
He first worked for Polo Ralph Lauren in 1983 then worked at Calvin Klein in 1990, where he was head of menswer design and returned to Polo in 1995, where he was VP of menswear design.
John Varvatos Clothing
In Fall 1999, Varvatos started his eponymous company, debuting his first clothing line for Fall/Winter 2000.
In 2003, John's company became part of Nautica Enterprises, Inc., which was subsequently acquired by VF Corporation[1]. 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 Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Barneys, Holt Renfrew and other stores and in the company's own boutiques located in SoHo, Los Angeles, The Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, Costa Mesa, and East Hampton.
In late 2007 it was announced that Varvatos had purchased the location that once housed CBGB, and would be opening a boutique there in the spring of 2008. He has been called a number of names for doing this. Names such as "Douche".
Fragrance and Skincare Partnership with Shiseido
In the fall of 2004, John Varvatos launched his first fragrance, a men's fragrance named John Varvatos. In Spring 2005, he also launched John Varvatos Skin, his line of skin care products for men. John Varvatos Skin products, along with John Varvatos fragrances, are made at Shiseido's US facilities and distributed by Shiseido subsidiary Beauté Prestige International. John Varvatos For Women, his first women's fragrance, will be launched in February 2008.
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 comprised 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.