Joseph Abboud (born May 5, 1950) is an American

menswear Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

and author.

Early life and education

Joseph Abboud was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The Abbouds were a working-class Lebanese Maronite Catholic family that started out in the South End of Boston, and later moved to Roslindale. Abboud's father Joseph worked in a candy factory and his mother, Lila, was a seamstress. He had one sister, Nancy Ash; she and Lila died of breast cancer. Abboud graduated from the

University of Massachusetts-Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system ...

in 1972, then studied at the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Career

While in high school, he worked first for Thom McAn dyeing women's shoes and then the Anderson-Little men's store, where he sold suits.''

Women's wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

''
Joseph Abboud at 30: A Look Back at the Highlights and Lowlights
Jean E. Palmieri, January 30, 2017 As a college student, he worked part-time at Louis Boston. Abboud stated: "Louis Boston was a huge part of my career. I really landed in a world of very glamorous style, beautiful clothes, just the world of what international fashion was about. If this had never happened, then the rest of it wouldn't have happened." Abboud became a buyer at Louis Boston at age 23. Over the course of twelve years, he worked as buyer, merchandiser, and eventually coordinator of promotion and advertising. Abboud joined

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

in 1981, eventually becoming associate director of menswear design. He launched his own label in spring 1987. In 1988, JA Apparel was created as a joint venture between Abboud and GFT (Gruppo Finanziario Tessile) US. In 1991 Abboud worked with fashion director Peter Speliopoulos. Abboud was the first designer to win the CFDA award as Best Menswear Designer two years in a row. Many of Abboud's famous friends are also his customers, including American

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er and composer

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

, author and former TV news anchor

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

, and former

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

shortstop

Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, Third ...

. Abboud sold his trademarks and name to JA Apparel for $65 million in 2000. The company was acquired by private-equity firm J.W. Childs Associates for $73 million in 2004, and Abboud left JA Apparel in 2005. Abboud launched a new line called Jaz in 2007. He also created the Black Brown 1826 line for the

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

department store in 2008. The year 2008 also marked the opening of Abboud's first stores in China. In 2010, Abboud became the chief creative officer of HMX, owner of the Hart Schaffner Marx and Hickey Freeman brands. HMX made an offer to buy JA Apparel for $90 million in 2011. In December 2012, Abboud became Chief Creative Director of Men's Wearhouse. While Abboud was employed as its

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

, Men's Wearhouse Inc. (now Tailored Brands Inc.) reacquired the Abboud and JOE by Joseph Abboud trademarks in 2013.Isaac Feldberg,
Designer Abboud on his namesake brand and being a Bostonian
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', MARCH 17, 2016 After getting back the legal right to his brand in 2013, Abboud set up

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

, opened a

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

flagship store and produced full-scale

fashion show A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is wh ...

s. In March 2020, WHP Global acquired the trademarks to the Joseph Abboud brand from Tailored Brands. In turn, Tailored Brands entered into a

licensing agreement A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

with WHP Global for the continuing rights to sell and rent Joseph Abboud apparel and selected accessories in the U.S. and Canada.

Published works

Abboud wrote ''Threads: My Life Behind the Seams in the High-Stakes World of Fashion'' in which he thoroughly describes the fashion industry from designing and selling clothes to naming colors. He also writes about some of the negative experiences that he has endured such as

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, a court battle over legal rights to his name, and a failed

flagship store A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

that is now occupied by

Donna Karan Donna Karan ( ; born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as DK, is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life and education Karan was born to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabinow ...

Personal life

Abboud married Lynn Weinstein on June 6, 1976. They have two daughters and reside in Bedford, New York. He frequently appeared on

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...

's radio show and was a regular caller to the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

radio station,

WFAN WFAN may refer to: * WFAN (AM) WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New Y ...

, to discuss his beloved

, the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

' rival. In 2002, he was the first fashion designer to throw out the opening pitch at Boston's

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

for a Red Sox game. Abboud's mother and sister both succumbed to

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. As a result, Abboud has become a breast cancer activist who designed a one-of-a-kind GMC Sierra vehicle to fundraise for a ''Concept:Cure'' charity event and has participated in many other charity events for breast cancer research. GM offered a Joseph Abboud Limited Edition Buick Regal GS and LS from 2001 to 2004, and a Joseph Abboud Limited Edition Buick Rendezvous for 2004 and 2005. Abboud was honored as one of five "Men for the Cure" by GQ magazine and

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

' ''Concept:Cure'' during a breast cancer fund-raiser. ''Concept:Cure'' raised $2.6 million for breast cancer organizations. Abboud says he has a personal interest in curing breast cancer, because his mother and sister both died from the disease.

References

External links