Barron Trump’s White Glove Tailor Describes What He Really Likes
Who knew Barron Trump is a bit of a clotheshorse?
Apparently, the 18-year-old New York University knows what he wants, when it comes to suits – custom. Ahead of the inauguration, President Donald Trump’s youngest son worked with Bespoke Pearce’s chief executive officer Nathan Pearce to select a few suits, dress shirts and an ultra-dark charcoal cashmere overcoat. The connection with the Baton Rouge-based start-up was one that Barron Trump made through the social media influencer and entrepreneur Justin Waller, a Baton Rouge native who is one of Bespoke Pearce’s top customers. After Waller was invited to Mar-a-Lago for a few events, he and Trump began hanging out together and somewhere along the line Trump asked him who makes his suits, according to Pearce. “Justin said he wanted to introduce me to Barron. Literally a week later I was on a flight down to Mar-a-Lago.” Pearce said.
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The 6’9″ NYU undergrad has also traveled to Louisiana, preferring to go solo without an entourage of any kind, according to the founder. The pair have reviewed all of the fabric selections, buttons and linings for his clothes. (His mother Melania was a model.) In a word, Pearce described Trump as “intelligent,” saying, “He’s this super-bright kid. He’s well beyond his years in terms of experience, knowledge, history. He’s just very fascinating to talk to.”
Reminded how years ago Trump wore a T-shirt imprinted with “The Expert,” Pearce laughed.
“You know what is another word I would say [about him]? Hospitable. He is down-to-earth, nice as can be and hospitable,” Pearce said, recalling how Trump shook his hand upon meeting him and thanked him multiple times for traveling to see him in Palm Beach. Trump offered to show Pearce around Mar-a-Lago, took him to its pro shop and told him to pick out some things that would be billed to Trump’s account. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him over the last one or two years,” Pearce said.
Being the type of guy “that keeps business as personal” as he can, Pearce said he doesn’t take Trump’s business for granted and wants him to be as satisfied with his choices as he can be. “I recognize that Barron Trump could be choosing from tailors all over the world, and he chose me and Pearce Bespoke. I’m super-grateful and super-proud of that,” Pearce said. And to make sure that customers are as satisfied with their products as they can be, Pearce said his outlook never changes, “Take care of your customers. They take care of you. Word gets out. “
High-profile clients like Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Dylan Crews, and Heisman Award winner Jayden Daniels have helped to put the word out about the five-year-old Bespoke Pearce.
Describing Trump’s sense of humor as dry, Pearce said, “He’s hilarious. But as I said, he’s super-sharp. You put him in a room with star businessmen and he will hold his own. He can talk to them all day because he’s witty, smart and has a dry sense of humor.”
Laughing at the odds of working with Trump, Pearce said, “I tell my franchisers and clothiers across the country, ‘Look, I’m not anything special. It’s just a matter of taking care of your clients. You can meet the right client at the right time, who loves their clothes and shows them off to the right people.”
But that swings both ways. Pearce explained with a laugh, “If you’ve done your job and you’ve made them happy, they will tell the world about you. If you don’t, and you drop the ball and forget about customer service, they still tell the world about you.”
As a 21-year-old undergrad at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., Pearce and one of his fraternity brothers started a clothing company called Fraternity Collection with about $2,000 and a fraternity. Within their first year in business, sales were nearly $2 million. A year later they bought a former L.L. Bean factory in south Mississippi, but they had promised beforehand to rehire its former cut-and-sewn operators. The company became a 100-person operation. After an appearance on the business-themed reality show “Shark Tank” in 2009, Pearce secured a $250,000 investment for 20 percent equity in the company from Mark Cuban. That led to distribution at nearly 1,000 stores – most of which were mom-and-pop operations. After Pearce sold his stake to local investors, he helped build up a private label company in Bangladesh with partners there, he said, adding that one million dress shirts a month were being produced for major brands at one point.
Five years ago Pearce unexpectedly ventured into the custom suit business, after a master tailor convinced him to give it a try. After traveling together and seeing how the tailor would call on attorneys, bankers and politicians in their offices, he was hooked. “He would open his briefcase, show them the fabrics and sell them custom clothing. I thought it was the coolest things I’d ever seen – didn’t even know that business existed,” Pearce said.
With franchises that cover 50 territories, Pearce Bespoke’s annual sales are expected to exceed $4 million. Franchise owners make “all the profit margins,” according to the founder, who said, “All we do is give them the training, the supply chain, the infrastructure, the business plan and help them recruit.”
The company launched women’s four months ago, including blazers, dresses, trousers, overcoats, raincoats. Women’s sales are expected to increase from 25 percent of the overall business to 50 percent by the end of the year, Pearce said. Pearce Bespoke also has B2B partnerships with country clubs, casinos, yacht clubs, universities and NIL athletes. NIL refers to the rights of college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. “If you want to outfit the entire athletic department at a Division 1 school, women make up at least half of that. You have to be able to cater to them,” he said.
With nearly 50,000 suits expected to be sold in 2025, Pearce aims to have 100 franchise locations in the U.S. by the end of the year. Talks are underway for international distribution, Pearce said. His three-year plan is to have 1,000 locations and annual sales of more than 500,000 suits.
Pearce said, “Our model is basically a mobile tailoring business. We go to people’s houses, co-working spaces. Our mission at Pearce Bespoke is simple to create convenience for people and to create confidence. It’s a white glove concierge service. If you button breaks, our clothiers come and pick it up and replace it. If you lose 10 pounds, they alter it for you and bring it back to you.”
The founder said potential investors have been knocking at his door, but none of them are related to Trump or to his brother-in-law Jared Kushner.
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