Obituary: Seymour Landau

Seymour Landau, a menswear executive who’d been working in the real estate industry for the last decade, died after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Landau had been a VP and associate real estate broker for The Corcoran Group in Manhattan from 2002 to the present. He had been dividing his time between New York and Boca Raton, spending increasingly more time in Florida. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about four months ago.

Landau’s 30-year career in the men’s business started with Yves Saint Laurent. During his 11 years at Bidermann Industries, he worked for the Don Robbie and Daniel Hechter businesses. He joined Hartmarx in 1985 and worked as the sales director for Kenneth Cole clothing. He was president of the DKNY clothing business at Peerless from 1999 to 2004.

“Seymour was a born leader,” said Ronny Wurtzburger of Peerless Clothing. “He was president of DKNY for us and customers loved him. He was great at networking: Seymour was someone who cultivated friendships throughout the industry. It’s a tragedy for a man to pass away at such a young age. He was definitely a leader. Seymour would constantly be calling in, wanting to know how things were going. He was opinionated and he had a good taste level. He wanted to stay connected to all the people he worked with in the clothing business.”

Menswear veteran and longtime friend John McCoy said, “He will be missed. He was a gentle giant who knew everything and everybody in the industry. As a source of information, he was unbeatable. I love him and I’ll always have fond memories of him.”

“He loved this industry and all the gossip that goes with it,” said Peter Schwadel of Sansabelt. “He knew everything that was going on in the men’s industry; he was very knowledgeable. This business was his life, even when he was out of it. He’d call me every other week to talk about what’s happening and who’s doing what. It was in his blood. We lost a great man.”

Added Scott Polworth of Bloomingdale’s, “It’s not often you meet someone like Seymour. He was an intelligent and charismatic individual who had a real passion for better product. He could talk to you about stitches per inch or give you his financial forecast of the stock market. Seymour continued to walk our selling floor even when he worked in real estate. He would then call me to provide his candid feedback. I always learned something new when I talked with Seymour. I will really miss his phone calls, his feedback, and his friendship.”

A funeral is scheduled for 10am, this Thursday, November 7, at Riverside Memorial Chapel on 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.