John Varvatos

Biography

John Varvatos (born 1954) is an American menswear designer. He has worked for Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein and started his label in 1999.

In late 1999, Varvatos started his company, debuting his first clothing line at the end of 2000 in New York. The brand now includes belts, handbags, footwear, eyewear, watches and fragrances.

In September 2000, within months of showing his first collection, Varvatos opened a freestanding boutique in SoHo. The collection is currently distributed in John Varvatos boutiques including the 315 Bowery boutique in the space that formerly housed the underground music club CBGB.

2009 saw the launch of New York Nights…Direct From the Bowery, a monthly radio show hosted by Varvatos on Sirius XM's The Spectrum channel. The show includes songs and interviews from various artists who have influenced Varvatos throughout his career in fashion.

In 2012, Varvatos joined the cast of celebrity mentors on NBC's Fashion Star, a reality competition series that searched for the next big brand in fashion. In 2013, he saw the release of a limited edition Chrysler 300 in his name. In 2014, he partnered with Monte Lipman's Republic label to launch John Varvatos Records, initially signing the Zac Brown Band.

Varvatos credits his early obsession with rock 'n' roll as the catalyst for his interest in fashion. The ad campaigns for the main collection, shot by Danny Clinch, have featured musicians and bands such as Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Velvet Revolver, Chris Cornell, Dave Matthews, The Roots, and Green Day.

The John Varvatos company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020. In 2021 Varvatos founded OTD.

In Sept 2023 - Varvatos was appointed Chief Design Officer of Under Armour a publicly traded US performance apparel company founded by Kevin Plank

Music is central to the brand's philanthropic efforts, including the Save the Music Foundation and an annual Stuart House benefit. In July 2014 it was announced that Ringo Starr would be modeling for the fall/winter advertising campaign and that an associated charitable initiative would benefit The Ringo Starr Peace and Love Fund, in aid of the David Lynch Foundation.

Commenting, Varvatos said, "Both inner peace and global peace are very important topics to me".

Varvatos first received accolades from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 2000 when he was honored with the Perry Ellis Award for Menswear. The following year he won the 2001 CFDA's Designer of the Year award.

In 2005, Varvatos received the CFDA's 2005 Menswear Designer of the Year award at the New York Public Library. The recipients are determined by a selection committee of top magazine editors, journalists, stylists, and retailers from around the world. He competed for the top honor along with Ralph Lauren and John Bartlett for his third CFDA win. In 2007, Varvatos was named GQ's Designer of the Year.