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Donald Barnett first comes to mind when Tom Barnett is asked what inspired him to work as a tailor. Tom then thinks about the ritual that ensued every night when his father returned from his job at the now-defunct Buffalo (N.Y.) Courier-Express.
At the end of the day, Donald would come home, and Tom would follow him to his room. Everything had a proper place, such as his suit jacket on a wooden hanger. When Donald’s shoes came off, the shoe trees went in. Every shoe made its way to the back of the closet. Next, Donald’s belt would be placed in a drawer, followed by his tie clasps, which had their own special drawer. Donald’s ties were then hung, his pants after that, and his shirts would go in a laundry basket.
As a child, Tom used to have a paper route. When he received his paycheck, he’d ride his bike to the local clothing store and spend all his money on clothes. Tom loved being in clothing stores, and now he owns three stores and has become the pre-eminent tailor for men around the National Hockey League.
“I don’t know if people even know what shoe trees are anymore,” Tom told The Athletic, “but my dad had shoe trees. My dad was a pretty good-looking cat, and he was a well-educated guy. He was always extremely well dressed, so no matter what, you would never see that man without being groomed perfectly.
“No matter what time of day, no matter where you’d be, he would always be in his best clothing. I must have realized that everything had value, because he took great care of it, and he was always impeccably dressed. I guess I always enjoyed that.”
In reality, there was no guesswork about it. Fashion seeped its way into Tom’s heart and captivated him. He loved it, and in turn, it provided him with a lifelong motivation.
For the past 32 years, Tom has been able to combine his great loves: hockey and fashion. Donald was on the inaugural hockey team at Canisius College as a goalie and taught Tom the game; 25 years later, Tom followed suit (pun intended), playing his father’s position and attending the same school, graduating in 1979. In 1990, Tom opened his own clothing company, and thanks to his sons’ interests in his loves, he now works with them — Oliver, 33, and Cloogie, 27 — too.
The trio helped design and produce the suit that Nick DeSimone, an East Amherst, N.Y., native, wore ahead of his NHL debut for the Calgary Flames on Nov. 7 against the New York Islanders.
“Our team could not have been happier for him and his family,” Tom said. “And to underscore just how guys in the game are, Nick reached out the next day to let us know that his Tom Barnett threads were a part of that memorable moment at UBS Arena.”
This is Tom’s first time working with his sons in a professional tailoring space, but it’s the second time all three have been on the same team. In 2001, Tom founded the Buffalo Shamrocks Hockey Club, which focused on personal development first and player development second. Tom was dismayed when he enrolled Oliver on a hockey team with a coach who yelled obscenities at young athletes for the slightest mistakes.
A hockey program that began with 30 players is now an organization with a maximum of 300 participants, and Tom continues to take an active role with the Shamrocks. In June 2009, during the Stanley Cup Final, Hall of Famer Mark Messier presented Tom with an award for his dedication and service to youth hockey.
Mark Messier, left, and Phil Pacsi from Bridgestone, right, present the Youth Leadership Award to Tom Barnett during the 2009 Stanley Cup Final in June. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
Tom learned, as a player and a coach, the lessons from hockey have translated seamlessly to his work in fashion.
“The first thing I thought about … teamwork, right off the bat,” Tom said. “You can’t do what we’re doing without a lot of hands-on deck helping, right? We’ve got people on the sales floor, we’ve got tailors, we have people doing social media. There’s so much that you have to do to run a business. You have to work with people, and you learn that when you’re playing in a team sport.
“You also learn how to not get too high on the good days and not get too low when things aren’t going so well. I think you learn how to deal with adversity … because when you’re also starting a hockey program and starting a business, they’re all not Stanley Cup winners the first day.”
Said Cloogie: “We had a lot of fun. I think he knows when to get the most out of everybody, but I think he makes the environment a fun, competitive one. A lot of his time is now spent learning to skate and getting kids into the game. That’s the foundation for the Shamrocks program: getting kids on the ice and believing and having fun.
“For us, growing up, he was our coach, and we’ve always had great perspective on things, a way to handle ourselves, a way to play hard, a way to be gritty. That’s also a lot of just Buffalo roots, too, right? This is a gritty city that’s blue-collar … and I think you get an appreciation for hard work. That was certainly instilled in us.”
The first person in the league Barnett designed a suit for wasn’t a player; it was an NHL owner. Seymour H. Knox III, the founder of the Buffalo Sabres and a Hockey Hall of Fame member, reached out to Barnett to have an outfit made for him and the team’s board of directors.
What Barnett didn’t know that day was the suit he designed would become a part of the organization’s fabric and identity. The “Sabre blazer” became Knox’s trademark suit; he eventually wore it to every game.
“The coats were magnificent in every respect and embodied the vision and excitement of a new franchise, complete with a gold bullion Sabres crest, enamel team buttons and, groundbreakingly, the interior of each coat lined with the original blue-and-gold Sabres logo,” Tom recalled. “Fittingly, Mr. Knox’s coat is now on permanent display at the Buffalo Museum of History.”
One doesn’t become the go-to clothier for the NHL without strong relationships and people beyond Buffalo buying their threads. Tom’s Rolodex is extensive. Every suit for Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson is complete with a tackle-twill “8” inside (he wears No. 8). For New Jersey Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, there’s a family crest.
Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s son’s name, Kirill, is embroidered on each undercollar, and forward Evgeny Kuznetsov’s name labels simply read “Kuzy.” Oliver used to work in the Capitals’ video department, so the players got a firsthand look at his father’s work, which fostered additional interest.
This particular skill set — exceptional people skills — is something Oliver and Cloogie say they learned from their mother, Lisa.
“She does everything,” Oliver said. “She’s the person behind the scenes and gets none of the public praise or recognition but makes sure everything’s a well-oiled machine. We get so much of our relationship-building from her. She’s so positive and caring, and little details, I would say, comes from her.”
Capitals defenseman John Carlson is another player who is a fan of the Barnetts. Carlson loves high-end quality and describes his style as modern and traditional. He’s not a trendsetter, he explained, but in preparation for the NHL’s Stadium Series, he decided to expand his fashion horizons. On March 3, 2018, the Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Since the teams were playing at the Naval Academy, Carlson and the Barnetts collaborated on a suit inspired by the military school.
What impressed Carlson the most is how much time and care the Barnetts took with making his suit. Anyone who saw him in it could immediately tell how much research was done to achieve the final product.
“It’s not something I’ll ever wear again, but I think (it’s) the attention to detail, the lengths that they went through to find out history about the Naval Academy, nailing the colors and interviewing people,” Carlson said. “They really went so far beyond what they needed to make sure that it was not only just a special appearance but the right thing to do that made it how it was intended and honoring … the Naval Academy.”
Said Tom: “These players and so many others around the league come to us for cool s—. We have been hand-crafting individual patterns for each and every client while creating garments of value. We have the unique access to the best clothes on the globe, and our talented team brings visions to life. It’s nice to be thought of and fortunate to have become a destination when opposing players come to town and the go-to resource for many of the Sabres here at home.”
The best feeling for the Barnetts is when customers first lay eyes on their new clothes. Every new client has to see Tom or a member of his team for measurements. Access to the store is by appointment only.
Tom designed each of his locations to exude relaxation, comfort and the feeling of being pampered. It occurred to him some time ago that most men don’t do things to treat themselves, so he wanted to create a space that gave them that opportunity.
An appointment can take anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. To get the finer points of a bespoke suit down, time and attention to detail are needed. Conversations ensue about what brought the men to the store, the overall style, what they’re aiming for with their clothes and how they want to dress it up. Some clients are fine with doing a measurement and leaving the Barnetts to sort out the details, but Tom, Oliver and Cloogie like the participation of the customer.
If a customer wants, they can pick out every single element of what goes into an outfit — the design, fabric and more. Tom works with international mills such as Loro Piana (Italy), Scabal (Belgium) and The House of Dormeuil (Paris) — which is “still family run and celebrating their 180th anniversary this year,” Tom noted. Ermenegildo Zegna (Italy) also is popular and among the best of the Barnetts’ dozens of mill partners.
The Barnetts want clients to have whatever they want. The customer is the boss — especially the athletes, who are now becoming more competitive with their clothes, helping them stand out.
“For a long period for our athlete clients, suits were almost purely out of necessity, and while for some that still rings true, the advent of social media and players’ competitive nature have ushered in a new era of style,” Tom said. “Bolder patterns, more vibrant colors and with signature details. Here is a very interesting twist: One of the coolest components of the evolution of ‘the dress code’ is how it is cyclical and now coming full circle. As time has passed, a lot of the SHKIII details will find themselves again on the fashion forefront.”
From left: Oliver, Tom and Cloogie Barnett. (Courtesy of Tom Barnett)
Lawrence Pilut never had a suit made from scratch until he met Tom four years ago. The Sabres defenseman said his teammates continued to rave about Tom’s work, and Pilut saw the quality of the clothes every time they wore something of his. Pilut wanted a nice gray suit, so this was the perfect opportunity to find out for himself.
“I felt like, ‘Yeah, that would be a fun thing to kind of try out,’” Pilut said. “I wasn’t really a big suit guy before or anything like that, but I felt like everybody wears very nice suits over here.”
A fellow Swedish team member connected Pilut with Tom, and the pair spoke on the phone before the appointment to broadly go over ideas. Pilut then arrived at his meeting, and he said the customer service was unlike anything he’d experienced before. The Barnetts took tremendous care of him, showing him the entire stock, answering all of his questions and going over every detail of what he wanted.
This is why Pilut continues to have a close relationship with the Barnett family. Every experience he’s had with them has been exactly like the first one. Tom and his team found a way to outdo themselves when Pilut needed his wedding suit made and delivered to Sweden. He called the Barnetts a year ago and asked if they could make something happen.
The four men poured over the details. Pilut asked for a black three-piece suit with a special lining inside with the date of his wedding and his and his wife’s initials. Whenever he looks at the suit, he said he wants to be reminded of his wedding. Even though Pilut wasn’t in the United States at the time, the Barnetts had his measurements and only needed to know what color, lining, alignment and other specifications he wanted for the big day. The family shipped it with plenty of time to be sent back, in case alterations were needed, and the Barnetts delivered.
“When it showed up, it fit perfectly, so we didn’t have to do anything,” Pilut said. “It was awesome. It was a cool feeling that it showed up to my apartment and it was all ready to go and everything fit perfectly. … They really helped me out with all the lining inside and making my special day even more special by making a special suit.”
Before starting his company, Tom was a partner at The Squire Shop, a men’s store in Snyder, N.Y. When it burned down in 1989, the patriarch of the family went out on a limb and traveled to London to immerse himself in the art of bespoke fashion. He did so, becoming an understudy at the famous Savile Row tailor shops, where the British royal family has had its clothing made for more than four centuries.
To tailor for Tom, one has to study for five years before cutting; the fabric is too expensive, and even the smallest mistake means it can’t be used.
For more than 30 years, Tom has taken this sacred design process and turned it into a booming business with four stores: Snyder, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Beverly Hills, Calif.
But fashion is constantly modifying. Current trends fade, and new ones are invented. Old trends then make their way back into style, so with people’s appetites constantly changing, how do the Barnetts plan to adapt? What is the plan to remain relevant and have people continue to buy from them?
“What stood out to me initially was something that is so important to business, to sports, for consumers, for athletes … ‘consistency,’” Tom said. “It is, in fact, critical, and it is tough to be that, but upon reflection, it is our consistency in quality, in perspective, in direction, in our values that has defined us and quantifies us. It enables our clients to be confident and comfortable. In reality, yes, of course we have changed with the times, from not only a fashion dimension (but also) to some business practices.
“If you do not evolve, you die. But our sense of style, our relationships with clients and the way they are cared for has never changed. So, consistency is our quality, the true hand workmanship and our creativity and our unique ability to innovate. Importantly, we never got into this business to chase the glow of a red-carpet picture, but what we do is all about relationships, and it so happens that many of these revolve around hockey.”
Tom grew up with the game of hockey. By proxy, so have his sons, whom he is fortunate to work with. Because of that, particularly in the hockey world, he said it feels as if he’s “really only one degree of separation from any given person.”
“I didn’t retire on my first day of business. There was a lot of days when you were kind of wondering, ‘What are we doing? Why are we doing this again?’” he said. “I think it’s the perseverance of being an athlete and going to practice every day and keep shooting at the net, that kind of thing. … They work together well because I like to do both of them. I don’t know if they even make sense together — hockey and the clothing business that we do — but I get up in the morning and do those things ’cause they’re important, and I love the work.”
(Illustration: Rachel Orr / The Athletic; photos courtesy of Tom Barnett)
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