Jonathan Simkhai has shown a lot of patience and perseverance since starting his luxury women’s ready-to-wear brand 13 years ago.
The now-bicoastal designer started learning the ropes of the fashion industry at the age of 11 when he worked at a sweater outlet. At 14, he became an assistant buyer at a local boutique in his native New York.
After high school, he attended both Parsons and the Fashion Institute of Technology — although he admits that he failed out of Parsons and never finished his studies at FIT — and leaned heavily on his experience at retail and at his family’s garment manufacturing business to develop the tools he needed to one day create his own collection.
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“Whatever I needed to do, I tried to do it,” he said. That included becoming part of the CFDA Fashion Incubator program, which supports the next generation of fashion designers in New York City — “I take a lot of pride in being a New York designer,” he said — and following the advice that he received to the letter.
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That led to him to being nominated for the International Woolmark Prize in 2014 and his first runway show in the fall of 2015, the same year he won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award.
That acceptance has also shown up on the bottom line. In 2022, the company had sales of $55 million.
The success of his women’s collection, which offers sophisticated, textural versions of classic silhouettes, has led him to take the plunge into menswear.
“I’ve been making womenswear for 13 years, but I’ve been designing for other people,” he said at an exclusive preview of the men’s collection in his SoHo store. “Now I’m finally making something for myself, my brothers and my dad.”
He believes his menswear will fill a void in the market for fashionable pieces that will stand the test of time. “My womenswear is subtly sexy, and with my men’s, I also wanted some sex appeal to it. Most things are either classic or street but this is sophisticated sexy in a modern way.”
He said his women’s line is intentionally broad so that he can appeal to as many people as possible, but his inaugural men’s collection is smaller.
“I wanted to start with what I would wear. It’s my perfect wardrobe. My womenswear is much bigger but the men’s is big enough that if a guy comes in, he can buy a whole wardrobe. So if you want to look like me, you’re all set,” he said with a laugh.
In total, the line is “inspired by geometry and architectural shapes,” he said, adding, “Menswear is about the details, the fit and the fabric.”
Among the key pieces in the launch collection is a double-breasted tech twill wool-blend suit in sculpted modern proportions that features the brand’s new signature “S” monogram on the lining. “With men, there’s a more-intimate connection with the inside of their garments,” he said. That monogram is part of a rebranding of the collection to simply “Simkhai” that was unveiled as part of the designer’s fall runway show in New York in February. The launch of the men’s collection marks an extension of that rebranding strategy.
Other woven pieces include a denim jacquard campshirt with a version of the new logo as the pattern; an updated trenchcoat with hook and bar closures in the wool blend; a hybrid jacket and track pant in a poly twill blend with subtle articulation in the knit sleeves and pant and hidden sport-inspired trim; a poly satin honeycomb quilted bomber with cable knit sleeves; a rayon blend satin kimono in a relaxed silhouette, and classic cotton shirts in solid and yarn-dye stripes.
The knitwear includes wool-cashmere sweaters in cable knits, patchworked or blocked with contrast tipping, and other fine-gauge knits with stitch detailing as well as a “spacedye” piece that mixed four striped and marled yarns in a half-milano stitch designed to create texture and enhance color.
There are two shirts that feature a print from visual artist George Harvey, whom he had worked with for his women’s collection: a digitalized palm print that represents Simkhai’s relocation from New York to Los Angeles, as well as a more abstract pattern. “I worked with him for the spring women’s collection and the pieces sold out in two weeks,” he said. “So we did the print in a different colorway for men.” He also created one pair of men’s shoes for the launch.
The men’s collection, which will retail from $300 for to $1,200, is being called pre-spring and will ship in October, but is being viewed as a “transitional wardrobe,” or “see now, buy now,” he said.
He’s already thinking about his next collection, which will be for spring and will include swimwear.
The men’s line will be sold at the company’s retail stores in SoHo and Southampton, New York, and L.A. as well as Dallas, which will open later this month in Highland Village. It will also be sold online, and he will consider wholesaling it on a limited basis. “We want to build a following and not put the cart before the horse.”
Beyond the men’s launch, Simkhai said his goal is to continue to grow his brand and he hopes to have 10 stores open by the end of the year.
The business is completely self-funded, boasts a strong online presence as well as a wholesale business in the U.S. and overseas with retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Selfridges, Harrods and Net-a-porter.
“My growth has been very organic,” he said. “I spent the entire Memorial Day weekend working at the Southampton store. It’s important to me to make personal connections. But when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”