FROM OUR AUGUST 2024 ISSUE: MAKING IT BIG IN MEN’S CLOTHING

The entire MR team proudly presents our August 2024 issue. If you haven’t received a hard copy, please page through a digital version at  Issuu, and we’ll continue to post individual stories here on  MR-mag.com. If you haven’t been getting MR in print, be sure that you are on our mailing list for future issues by completing  this form.

Montee Holland, a self-described “regular guy from Detroit,” has taught high school, served in the Marines, and sold pharmaceuticals for Pfizer. But with an intrinsic passion for men’s clothing inspired by his impeccably dressed high school and college coaches (“they would show up to games wearing suits, overcoats, French cuffs…”), he opted to leave his secure pharmaceutical job and launch the Tayion collection of fashionable, affordable men’s suits. Taking a 10 by 10 booth at MAGIC in Vegas in 2003, he learned early on that launching a clothing brand is no piece of cake.

“We did great in Vegas, attracting lots of retailers who wrote lots of orders. But while the samples I designed looked great, the production part was challenging. The small overseas manufacturer I was using couldn’t handle the quantities and things fizzled out.”

But it was at MAGIC where Montee first met tailored clothing maven Ron Wurtzburger from Peerless, who believed in this young man’s talent and offered to help him. “My success in major stores is thanks to Ronny and a marriage with Peerless,” Montee maintains. “They’re the best in the game.”
As the collection continues to grow in both Macys and select specialty stores, new categories include sport coats, vests, pants and outerwear to be produced by Peerless; Versa will produce shirts and Bespoke will do the neckwear, all under Montee’s design direction. Sizes range from 38 short to 56 long; ticket prices are $350-$400 for sport coats, $125 for vests and $135 for pants. “The overall look is clean and conservative with a twist: wider lapels, interesting linings, fine fabrics, lots of upscale details (tonal topstitching) and a modern fit,” he explains.

Asked to define “modern fit,” Montee notes that it’s not tight, but it’s certainly not baggy. “Most of our guys need a somewhat bigger shoulder and crotch. Slim fit’s not comfortable on them so we give them more space where they need it: larger chest, bigger armhole, more room in the hips, slightly widened pant. It’s still very tailored but comfortable.”

Montee shares that in-store trunk shows have been eye-opening: at a recent meet-and-greet, he sold 200 units in just a few hours! His belief in the product he sells is genuine. “When guys put effort into how they look, they perform better. It’s a matter of self-respect, which inspires an overall change in attitude.”

An educator at heart, Montee still volunteers at high schools and has secured scholarship funds for aspiring college-bound young black men. He’s participated in Macy’s Retail-Vendor diversity development program and was part of the 2024 Fashion Scholarship Gala to support the Divine Nine, an organization of historically African American fraternities and sororities. Today, Tayion is the official designer of the Divine Nine collection, exclusive to Macy’s.

“And to think that a regular guy from Detroit is making it happen,” Montee muses.