Holt Renfrew Is IACDE’s Top Store

MONTREAL – Holt Renfrew was honored as Retailer of the Year by the International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives at a formal banquet here on Saturday, May 5th.

Accepting the award, menswear vice president Lanita Layton spoke of the store’s heritage (it was founded in Quebec in 1837) and described Holt’s strategy of investing both in great product and great people. “We are proud to be recognized today as a leader in luxury,” she said. “Our mandate remains to make customers feel special.”

The talented (and well dressed) menswear team at Holt Renfrew, under the direction of menswear VP Lanita Layton (far right).

The event also celebrated the changing of the guard at IACDE: outgoing president Ben Ayres of Coppley Apparel Group passed the baton to Sal Mellace of Joseph Abboud Manufacturing Corp. Mellace started his career as a tailor in Italy at age 10; hailing from a very poor town, he learned to draft patterns by sewing together pieces of paper bags. He came to the States in 1962 at age 17 and worked for both Cliftex and GFT before being named senior VP of design for Joseph Abboud in 2003. At Abboud, he’s trained 600 employees to produce 1200 suits a day in their New Bedford factory.

This was the 97th annual convention for IACDE and their growing international membership is testimony to the fact that tailored clothing is alive and well and ever changing.

For all the photos from the IACDE dinner, click here to visit Schmoozing.