I first met Saks' custom clothing specialist Domenico “Mimmo” Spano at a seminar when I was just an MR intern. When I ran into him again a couple months later in a subway station, I didn’t need to reintroduce myself—he remembered exactly who I was.

At left, the author gets a smooch from Mimmo.

Mimmo’s humility and genuine good heartedness are part of what makes him such a special person; his superb fashion sense (especially his signature carnation on his lapel) is a part of what makes him such an amazing stylist.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a dinner at Saks honoring Mimmo last Thursday night where he received Saks’ first annual menswear ICON award from GMM Tom Ott. Mimmo’s top clients and press were invited in take part in the celebration.

Left: Saks GMM Tom Ott, Mimmo Spano, and Saks fashion director Eric Jennings.

The room was filled with love and admiration for the custom “stylist” and everyone had a personal story to tell. One guest, Don, who owns 12 to 14 of Mimmo’s suits, told me “Mimmo promises his suits won’t wear out, or go out of style.” But he jokes, “That doesn’t guarantee that I won’t grow out of them!” His son Douglas already owns five bespoke suits, and he won the raffle, bringing his collection up to six. Douglas said that he would never think to put horizontal and vertical stripes together, but it works. “I feel more confident at meetings and giving presentations when I’m wearing one of Mimmo’s suits.

Below: Mimmo poses with some of his customers.

Mimmo admitted he was “overwhelmed by the attendance.” He agreed that he has a special relationship with each one of his customers. Like when he was one of 50 guests invited to celebrate a customer’s 50th birthday. He says, “All of my clients are originals and create their own sense of style, I just try to enhance it a little bit.”

Peter, another client’s son, said his graduation gift from the University of Pennsylvania was a custom suit. “Over the years Mimmo has become a close friend of the family. He even took me out for a drink when I turned 21. He’s celebrated Christmas Eve with my family for the past couple of years, and what’s funny is he’s always the last one to leave.”

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