From the moment J.Crew’s Ludlow was released in 2008, it set a new standard for what a good men’s suit should be. It was the first off-the-rack suit to combine a slim, pretailored fit with fine Italian fabric at a price that a recent college graduate could afford. But how did a mall brand best known for its wildly popular women’s clothing come to define a new century of men’s suiting? I spoke with its lead designer, J.Crew’s former senior vice-president of menswear, Todd Snyder, to find out.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
What was the state of menswear when you first joined J. Crew back in 2004?
When I started in the industry in the late ’80s, early ’90s, suits were big; they were happening. Hundreds of brands were doing tailoring. Then came casual Friday, and grunge, and that pretty much killed the suit. When I joined J.Crew, menswear didn’t really exist. There was the rollneck sweater and barn jacket, and that was about it. Also, Jenna Lyons — a good friend of mine — was the womenswear designer at that time, and she’s very talented and hard to compete with. But when Mickey Drexler took over as CEO, he had a mandate to make menswear cool and relevant, so he brought me onboard to chip away at that together.
