Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariano Mendez.
Hi Mariano, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’m a third-generation Tailor, in Jacksonville! My grandfather Pedro Mendez Sr., who immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba, opened my family’s first Tailor shop in Downtown Jacksonville in 1927. My Father Mariano Mendez Sr. opened his store Mariano’s Tailor Shop in St. Nicholas on Beach Blvd in 1975.
I began working with my father when I was in high school, every weekend but I really didn’t learn anything about tailoring until I was in college. I worked with my father every day after my classes were over. My father noticed that everything he’d show me I remembered after one time, of him showing me, he said I was a natural at it!
In 2009, my father turned his shop over to me, and I changed the name to Mariano’s Custom Tailor and kept it in the same tradition as my father and grandfather. In January 2021, I moved the store’s location to open my vision for Tailoring in the twenty-first century! At Mariano’s Custom Tailor 3314 Beach Blvd, I offer traditional tailoring and alterations plus I custom design more modern contemporary Suits, Shirts, and dresses too!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve had a few obstacles over the past 10 years! In July 2011 as opened for the morning, I walked inside the store and a very large SUV crashed into the store! I was able to jump out of the way as glass, bricks, and metal crashed around me! For the next four months, the front of the store was broad up and closed off from the public as repairs and remodeling were done.
I had to call regular customers to let them know I was still open and I constantly post on my social media accounts, to let the public know I was still open. The biggest challenge or obstacle to my business was actually when Covid-19 shut down our economy in March of 2020. I had no regular business for three months and didn’t take in any real revenue during that time.
But I kept my faith and keep coming to work every day and wore a mask and kept plenty of hand sanitizer around, eventually, our economy opened back up. I still wear a mask every day and use hand sanitizer all day! Moving the store to open my own vision has been smooth for the most part, I really have great loyal customers and new loyal customers, I’m thankful for each and every one of them!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I consider myself to be a Custom Tailor and Designer, I’m not sure if there is a name for what I actually do in fashion! I have different specialties for each of my customer’s needs. For men’s suits, for instance, I try to give the suit the look of a man’s physic, especially for someone with a slender or athletic built. I love the challenge of making a big and tall man look stylish in a suit or a short man look like a male model.
For women, I give the suits more femininity, giving them the desired fit of their natural curves. My style on women’s dresses is the very lightweight of the fabric and sexy in style, less is more! My woman customers like to show skin, so I definitely accommodate them! I don’t do anything made to measure at my store, my suits, shirts, and dresses are Custom made or bespoke and I offer order-to-size suits and formal wear.
I do the alterations on them myself in store. I personally make every dress in my store and I design the custom suits from my fabrics and styles or the customer can design a suite of their own vision with my input!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I always give credit to my father and grandfather for passing their skills down to me, my father was definitely my mentor in everything in life! I was very blessed to have him in my life until his passing in 2019. My mother, Gloria Mendez, really helped me in ways more than she knows.
She’s a big influence on why I know how to fit women in their clothes. I would listen to her on how women like to wear clothes and I love her fashion sense, she has great style! My aunt, Padrica Mendez is also an influence and mentor, she has always encouraged me to design. She’s an Artist with her clothing designs and she was an Opera Singer in Italy for around twenty years, she’s a Living Art!
My favorite client to work with was John Travolta, I did all the alterations to his clothes for the movie “Lonely Hearts” filmed in Jacksonville. I worked with him on that for about 6 weeks, he was really down to earth and cool!
Pricing:
- Custom Suits start at $950.00 to $3000.00
- Custom Shirts start $150.00 to $375.00
- Order to Size Italian Suits start at $600.00 to $1000.00
- Custom Dresses start at $150.00 to $600.00
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://marianos-custom-tailor.business.site
- Instagram: @Marianoscustomtailor1
- Facebook: @marianocustomtailor3104
- Twitter: @mariano3104
Image Credits
Ericka Kegler
