After five decades, designer Alexander Julian is still making his mark on menswear
Alexander Julian strides across Rush Wilson Ltd. in Greenville, shaking hands with a customer who’s trying on a shirt-jacket hybrid. “That’s washed lambswool,” he says, as the customer revels in the fabric. “It gives you the fine tailoring of a luxury sport coat fabric, but made in a casual outerwear piece.”
In the 50 years since Julian opened his first clothing shop at age 19 (more on that wild tale shortly), he has lost none of his passion for fabric, construction, design, and connecting with his loyal clients. That’s one reason he relaunched his heritage brand in 2015, working with his son Huston Julian to provide elegantly comfortable garments in high-end stores like Rush Wilson. “There’s a new category I’m trying to define,” he says. “I call it Indoor/Outerwear. It’s a new way to shake up the dice.”
Q&A with Alexander Julian
Congratulations on receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina this spring.
Thank you—I started school there at age 17 and I just got a degree at age 75. I got an honorary Doctorate of the Arts. As a student, I took 160 hours of coursework but not the right things, so I learned in the field.
You dropped out and opened your first store, Alexander’s Ambition, at 19. How did you manage that?
Using my father’s money when he was out of town. I spent today’s equivalent of a million bucks. I had power of attorney as manager of his store. [Julian’s father Maurice opened a clothing store, Julian’s, in Chapel Hill in 1942, which is still operating today.]
What happened when he got back?
I was disinherited for three days—that time. I don’t think he ever forgave me, but I had good weapons on my side. I had a beautiful infant daughter and he was kind and generous, but he was pissed off.
Looking back, do you think it was the right thing to do?
It worked out for my father . . . He resented the fact that I was right. He taught me everything, but he also taught me to be who I am. There was something new happening [in men’s fashion] and it needed different housing, a different message.
Then you closed the shop and moved to New York in 1975. Did it take a while to become successful in fashion there?
I opened my label in 1974, moved to New York in 1975, got nominated for Menswear Designer of the Year in 1976, and won for the first time in 1977. When I was 33, I was inducted into the Hall of Fame. It was just a unique position, because of how I was raised. My parents were the Godparents of Preppy, according to the New York Times. I had the benefit of that upbringing, plus that ability to spend a million bucks, which very few people have.
You have a line called Colours, and you were credited with bringing color to mens fashion. Was that your intention?
No. I didn’t go to design school, so I didn’t know what not to do. Every clothing store has one thing in common: fabric. Shape, silhouette, details—they are all important. I was known for silhouette before I was known for color.
Your signature line went on hiatus while you focused on designing hotels and other projects. What prompted you to bring it back?
My youngest son had the idea. This is the upper-end line. The Colours line, the popular line, has been around, and is in stores like Burlington and T.J. Maxx. My eyeglasses are doing a good business at Costco. [He also has a furniture line available at Wayfair and other stores.]
We have to ask about your iconic UNC basketball uniform design.
It has completely overwhelmed everything I’ve ever done, because it’s so popular. I did the (Charlotte) Hornets uniforms, and that was a really big deal. But for UNC, as I told the press back in ’88, when (basketball coach) Dean Smith called me, it was like having God on the phone asking for new halos for the archangels. If I messed it up, I couldn’t go home.
Why did it make such an impression?
I was using iconography that was a link to my world. Argyle is always in fashion; it’s a truism. I wanted timelessness, something that would always have a certain amount of cool to it.
Find Alexander Julian’s signature line at Rush Wilson Ltd., 23 W. North St., rushwilson.com
Hollywood Ties
“I did costumes for the movie The Player, and I did a lot of TV stuff back in the day. Michael J. Fox wore 100 percent my stuff on Family Ties, and they thanked me on air. Seinfeld wore a lot of my shirts.”
