John Bartlett
![]() Type of Place: Men's Clothing Designers Description:
Since I discovered designer John Bartlett's work, in the late '90s,
- Pamela Grossman;May 26. 2008
I've considered him one of my "underknown finds." This is I'm sure somewhat unrealistic, as actually he's well-known to many, having won numerous fashion awards and excelled in the business for quite a while; but he's not yet the household name that he could be. That will likely change next spring, however, with the arrival of Claiborne by John Bartlett, his menswear line for Liz Claiborne. And when he's the name on everyone's lips, I'll get to say I liked him way back when. I like him because he pursued his concern for global and social issues by earning a sociology degree from Harvard before entering the field of fashion design. I like him because, at the beginning of this decade, he put business on hold for a spell, packing up and traveling to Thailand and Cambodia to study yoga and Buddhism. I like him because, at the end of one of the fashion shows of his I was lucky enough to attend, his post-show "bow" was a quick, shy wave to the audience before he ducked back behind the curtain; any briefer and we would have doubted he'd shown his face at all. And I like his clothes--classic and crisp, with a wearable, understated vibe. Browsing the racks at his cozy West Village flagship shop, I admired a short-sleeved oxford shirt in beige with white stripes ($165); a festive (but not flashy) coral short-sleeved oxford ($150); a black-and-white-striped short-sleeved oxford ($135); charcoal cotton pinstripe shorts ($140), also available in dark grey and navy seersucker at the same price; and a cotton-knit track jacket in navy with light blue stripes or cream with navy stripes ($180). Coming upon some packaged incense, I wondered if such an item might be too "heavy" for Bartlett's fresh styles; but this particular incense offered what I described in my notes as an uncluttered "clean-guy smell"--very pleasant, and a current bargain at $7. And in a display of art books, I loved one on filmmaker Albert Maysles: another artist in the much-less-famous-than-he-could-be category (too caught up in the book to write down the price). Back to clothes, I especially loved the t-shirts ($55) featuring Tiny Tim, Bartlett's mascot and a major love in his life. Tim is a Rottweiler mix whom Bartlett found at the Northshore Animal League. He'd been christened Tiny Tim because he was found, having been injured and abandoned, on Christmas Eve. One of his legs had to be amputated, but Tim's spirit remained intact--and he now has a great life with Bartlett, as well as prominent representation on everything from shirts to undies. All proceeds from the t-shirt sales go to Northshore. (A dedicated animal lover, along with everything else? I knew I liked John Bartlett!) Just before heading out, I took a look at the handsome ties ($50-$105), in tasteful checks and stripes. Very nice--but one possible addition seemed obvious. "Not that anyone asked me," I said to the employee at the register, "but John could put the Tim logo on some ties." "Dogs are coming!" he replied. "They're in the next line for ties!" Ah-ha! Proud of my fashion prescience, I made my way through the sunny Village streets, making sure to say hi to the dogs I passed. John Bartlett--if you hadn't known of him before, remember that you heard it all here first.
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