The Evolution Of John Varvatos

Fashion’s music man took a rock & roll sensibility and created a singular menswear brand. Now he’s building a legacy...

- Priya Rao

When John Varvatos launched his eponymous American label 17 years ago, the fashion world was so different it might as well have been the Paleolithic era. “There was no online business out there. Until 2007, there wasn’t even an iPhone,” Varvatos says today from his office in New York City’s Flatiron District. The room is filled with rock & roll memorabilia: platinum records from Alice Cooper; moody black-and-white Jimi Hendrix photographs; a sound system with speakers so large that the setup takes up nearly an entire wall. “How we get information has changed so quickly,” Varvatos adds. “Today, everything’s instantaneous.”