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Joseph Abboud
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Abboud (born circa 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an award-winning American menswear fashion designer and author.
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The Abboud family was a working-class Christian Lebanese family that started out in the South End of Boston and later moved to the Roslindale section of Boston. Abboud's brother, Robert Abboud, is the ex-chairman of the major bank First Chicago which merged with Bank One. Abboud's mother, Lila, was a seamstress, and on a trip to Australia, he discovered that his great-grandfather had owned Australia's largest men's tailored-clothing company.
Abboud presently lives in Bedford, New York with his wife, Lynn, and two daughters, Lila and Ari [1].
Abboud graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and started working full time at the upscale department store Louis Boston. He turned down a teaching position at the Brookline High School.
Abboud first started working in the fashion industry as a 16-year-old teenager working 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."
Many of Abboud's famous friends are also his customers, including American trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, author and former TV news anchor Tom Brokaw, and former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra [2].
In 1991 Abboud worked with fashion director Peter Speliopoulos.
Abboud was the first designer to win the coveted CFDA award as Best Menswear Designer two years in a row.
Abboud wrote Threads: My Life Behind the Seams in the High Stakes World of Fashion [3]. 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 after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, a court battle over legal rights to his name, and a failed flagship store that is now occupied by Donna Karan.
Abboud's mother and sister both succumbed to breast cancer. As a result, Abboud has become a breast cancer activist who designed a one-of-a-kind General Motors Corporation Sierra vehicle to fund-raise for a Concept:Cure charity event and has participated in many other charity events for breast cancer research.
Abboud was honored as one of five "Men for the Cure" by GQ magazine and General Motors' Concept:Cure during a breast cancer fund-raiser. Concept:Cure raised $2.6 million for breast cancer organizations. [4]
Abboud stated: "Concept:Cure is a very special program for me. My mother and sister died from breast cancer. It's a disease we really have to find a cure for. I know I speak for my colleagues when I say (Concept:Cure) is not about a monetary or PR opportunity for us, it's about doing something really good." [5]
- Abboud appeared in the Seinfeld episode "The Wig Master".
- Abboud frequently appears on Don Imus's radio show.
- In 2002, Abboud was the first designer to throw out the opening pitch at Boston's *Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox-Toronto Blue Jays game.
- GM offered a "Joseph Abboud" limited edition Buick Rendezvous for 2004 & 2005.
- Abboud is a regular caller to the New York City radio station, WFAN (often referred to as Sportsradio 66 or The FAN) to discuss his beloved Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees' sworn rival.
Howie Mandel mentioned on a January 2007 episode of "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" that he wears Joseph Abboud suits on Deal or No Deal.