ADDISON -- At the exclusive Edward Baumann Clothiers in Addison recently, there was a crimson carpet leading to a special event inside. And when we asked some of those who stepped on it who they were wearing, they proudly told us, “The finest tailor in the history of the world."
Martin Greenfield -- the same name that’s been dropped by some of the brightest stars who’ve ever walked red rugs. At this reception, put on by the Dallas Business Journal, TV screens displayed some of Greenfield’s more notable clients. There were presidents and some of the most recognizable politicians, actors and athletes in modern American history.
We spotted Donald Trump, and Greenfield shared, “He’s a tough person to deal with in any way." Then we saw Sammy Davis, Jr. and Greenfield remembered, “He was running around and dancing and singing and I said 'I will kick you’re a** if you don’t sit here so I can fit you'."
Then we asked about former New York Knicks player Patrick Ewing, probably his biggest customer in more ways than one.
“He’s 7’1," Greenfield said. "He’s got…my suits… maybe 250 suits."
Greenfield has also outfitted President Obama.
“I’ve dressed him for five years."
He’s also clothed other presidents. Among them is President Ford, who he remembers struck him as “a lazy dresser."
Greenfield recounts how he sent President Ford a letter “and said 'Mr. President you have to dress like the president and I will send you a tailor.'"
Greenfield has anecdotes about them all, which he shares in his book Measure of a Man, in which tells his own remarkable story of being a Jewish boy taken prisoner by the Nazis and later freed by American forces.
The book tells an especially powerful tale about one of the presidents Greenfield went on to dress.
“Eisenhower… people like that I cry when they die."
Years before he made suits for Eisenhower, Greenfield remembers he was liberated by American soldiers under Eisenhower’s command.
"When they came in, April 11, 1945, I knew I am going to live."
Greenfield’s Czechoslovakian family, which was put into the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, never saw that glorious day. His parents, two sisters, and a baby brother were all exterminated by the Nazis.
“I never saw anybody again," he said.
Just before he was taken down by attack dogs while clinging to his father, Greenfield’s dad told him one thing he will always remember.
“He said, 'You are strong. You are disciplined. You will survive. You honor us by living, not by crying.' That was the last message,” Greenfield recalls.
Part of the reason Greenfield lived was that he was a hard worker in the concentration camps, including a random assignment to be a tailor for the Nazis.
After he was liberated, Greenfield made his way to America and started working in a clothing factory, rising through the ranks.
Thirty years later, he became the owner.
“I started with $35 and wound up with enough money to buy the business."
Now, for the first time, he’s branching outside his Brooklyn business and offering his prized custom suits to the southwest U.S., partnering with Edward Baumann Clothiers in Addison.
“We’re honored to be working with him," says owner Robert Baumann.
The two men, who share an obsessive attention to detail and a tireless work ethic, agree that they are in many ways cut from the same cloth.
Baumann explains, “What we actually do is art. It’s not just sewing something together. It is truly understanding the individual… knowing their personality and dressing that man.”
As Greenfield signed copies of his book at the store, he took special notice of one of the men in line and said, “I remember this suit."
It was one of his. He had the man turn around. Greenfield then pulled on the jacket and made some slight adjustments and exclaimed, “Perfect."
The 87-year-old tailor who has seen, and survived, some of the darkest days of history reminded the crowd how fortunate they are to be part of the fabric of the country that saved him and allowed him to become such a success.
“I have traveled all over the world. There is no place like it -- where you were born. Don’t take it for granted. You are lucky to be here. You could become anybody in the world.”