Martin Greenfield was a Holocaust survivor who became a prominent tailor specializing in dressing the elite, including six U.S. Presidents and such celebrities as Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), Shaquille O’Neal, Paul Newman (1925–2008), and Leonardo DiCaprio.
- Died: March 20, 2024 (Who else died on March 20?)
- Details of death: Died in Manhasset, New York, at the age of 95.
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Martin Greenfield’s legacy
Born in a small village in what was once Czechoslovakia and is now part of Ukraine, Greenfield was rounded up by the Nazis as a teen and, along with his family, was forced into the Auschwitz concentration camp. Most of his family were murdered in the gas chambers, including his mother, grandparents, sisters, and infant brother. He survived, and in the process came to view clothing and the ability to sew as powerful forms of expression.
Greenfield arrived in the United States in 1947 at 19. After a brief time in Baltimore, he moved to New York City and began working for clothing manufacturer GGG Clothing. In the 1950s, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890– 1969) became his first famous client. Many more would follow. Later, with GGG about to shut down, he bought the company in 1977, changing its name to Martin Greenfield Clothiers.
Over the years, Greenfield worked with a metaphorical laundry list of high-profile clients. These included an array of presidents, both future and sitting, including Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973), Gerald Ford (1913–2006), and Barack Obama. He tailored such athletes as LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing, and Wayne Gretzky, as well as A-list actors like Paul Newman, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ben Affleck.
In addition to working with celebrity clients, Greenfield and his company tailored clothing for clothing lines like Brooks Brothers and Neiman Marcus, as well as designed suits for the HBO show “Boardwalk Empire.” In 2014, he wrote a memoir with Wynton Hall, “Measure of a Man: From Auschwitz Survivor to Presidents’ Tailor.”
On learning the power of clothing after stealing a Nazi’s shirt in a concentration camp:
“The day I first wore that shirt was the day I learned clothes possess power.”—from an excerpt in “Measure of a Man: From Auschwitz Survivor to Presidents’ Tailor”
Tributes to Martin Greenfield
Full obituary: The New York Times
