The Latest Doormen Fashion
Doormen are the first line of defense for any building, but they are also their ambassadors of style. Since doormen are essentially the icing on a building "cake," their uniforms need to stand out.
"People don't realize that the uniforms should be an extension of any redesign of the lobby or logos," insisted Jennifer Busch, a fourth-generation Manhattan uniform designer.
Busch has a penchant for fashion that she proudly shares with the real estate industry through her work with her family's I. Buss-Allan Uniforms. Busch joined 13 year ago and is now a vice-president. She laughed, "It's in my blood."
Her father, Stuart, is now president of the company established in 1892 by her great-grandfather Isaac. The company prides itself on elegant designs and full service, domestically sewn creations.
Outfitting the City
They’re inside your favorite restaurant and out in the streets. They stand inside doorways and sit behind desks. They are in the sky and far below ground. They’re everywhere.
Since 1892, I. Buss Uniforms has been outfitting the staffs of buildings, members of the New York Police department, soldiers during World War I, ushers at the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center, Coca Cola drivers and scores of other employees and city workers.
Stuart Busch – whose grandfather founded I. Buss – has been in the business for 50 years. He knows a thing or two about dressing a building staff. Over 75 percent of I. Buss’ business is with residential and commercial real estate, and covers over 1,000 buildings. In today’s competitive real estate market, the design of the lobby or hall is often intertwined in the way the house staff looks. Each creates the mood conveyed to potential owners and current residents.
NAUMD Hands Out Image of the Year AwardsI. Buss Uniform Company was among the recipients of the 2009 Image of the Year (IOY) Awards, held during the North American Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors (NAUMD) Annual Banquet and Awards dinner in Las Vegas last month. The winners were selected by an independent panel of judges representing a selection of the fashion industry's most celebrated designers, journalist and fashion authorities.
"We are honored to be recognized by NAUMD for the design of these uniforms for the Empire State Building," says Jennifer Busch, vice president of I. Buss Uniforms. "It was our goal to create a uniform program that stands out as part of the rebranding of the Empire State Building, the world's most famous office building."
The CloserCongratulations to I. Buss Uniform Co., the 100-year-old-plus apparel maker that dresses the city’s top doormen, hotel workers and building staff. It has just won the design award from the North American Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors (NAUMD) for its work on the outfits of the Empire State Building observation deck and building staff. The Art Deco ties worn by the building staff, which reflects its height and stature with a modern design, highlight the sleek outfits. “Empire ownership wanted a uniform that was representative of the period when the building was built,” says Jennifer Busch (inset, left), the company’s vice president, who designed the uniforms. “We tried to capture this with several details, such as custom-dyed colors, to give them uniqueness, and the custom tie pattern that plays on the Art Deco theme. When I see the guards at the building, they recapture a time from the past when dressing for distinction, authority and style was important.” The awards were given out in Las Vegas. I. Buss was the only winner from the NYC area.
NAUMD 2009 Image of the Year (IOY) AWARDS ANNOUNCEDLAS VEGAS - Winners of the 2009 Image of the Year (IOY) awards were announced Saturday evening during the North American Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors (NAUMD) Annual Banquet and Awards dinner. Winners were selected by an independent panel of judges representing a selection of the fashion industry's most celebrated designers, journalists and fashion authorities.
For more than 30 years, NAUMD IOY awards have recognized high achievement in the design, creation and manufacturer of imagewear apparel. Winners have mastered the concept of merging fashion and function in their image and market planning. At the same time, the program allows for the acknowledgement and recognition of the associations members who with their clients in creating imagewear that truly promotes and projects the image goals and objectives in building an image that enhances their corporate brand.
I. Buss & Allan Uniform won the 2009 Image of the Year award for the best security apparel.
Going Up?More than 10,000 people visit the Empire State Building’s 102nd-floor observatory every day, making this fabled building one of New York City’s largest tourist attractions. Another 5,000 people a day visit the building’s office tenants.
That’s a lot of opportunities to make a first impression.
Which is a big reason the building’s owners recently launched a $500 million facelift to help recapture the glory of this landmark, which was built in 1930 and is by far the oldest structure to appear in Top 10 lists of the world’s tallest buildings.
And in the true spirit of first impressions, the Empire State Building’s huge renovation project includes an equally massive makeover for its staff uniforms. Gone is the “casual look” – polo shirts and cardigan sweaters – and in its place is a complete tailored uniform, featuring jackets and pants, shirts, custom-designed ties, hats, shoes and belts.
“We wanted to bring back a uniform that harkened back to the Art Deco design and elegance of the building,” says Jim Connors, the building’s general manager. “We wanted the staff to stand out, with a professional look that kept to the true aesthetic of the building.”
Custom-designed neckwear “ties” together the Art Deco theme that I. Buss relied on to inspire the Empire State Building’s new uniform program. “We hope we can develop these in additional colorways, and we plan to sell them in our gift shop,” says General Manager Jim Connors.
Evidence that the new design met that criteria is abundant, from the deep burgundy colorway that is central to the new uniform program – custom-dyed to match the burgundy veining in the marble in the building’s new lobby – to the custom-designed, trademarked ties that feature a stylized version of the building against a starburst pattern.
Connors is proud of the fact that the uniforms were designed and cut by another New York City icon – I. Buss-Allan Uniforms, the oldest continuously operating uniform shop in the city. Jennifer Busch, vice president and the lead designer for the fourth-generation company, says the new uniforms feature lots of other classic uniform touches...
An Occasion to Wear ‘Empire State Burgundy’Mr. Gross is a guard at the Empire State Building who is usually posted at the 86th-floor observatory. The view from there is something. The uniforms that he and his colleagues used to wear — plain polo shirts and dark slacks — were not.
But his on-duty look is changing. The building is getting something of a makeover inside, and the building’s owners decided to extend that to custom-made uniforms that have just been delivered — 300 uniforms, each including 3 jackets, 4 pairs of slacks and 11 shirts.
The uniforms were hand-trimmed in a workroom 10 blocks from the Empire State Building. The building commissioned a Manhattan company that makes the uniforms seen on many apartment doormen and on some staff members at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the United Nations and the Waldorf-Astoria.
Front Door Fashions: The High Style and History of Outfitting the City's DoormenWhen children first see New York, they're shell-shocked by the mammoth buildings lining Central Park's West, Fifth Ave. and Park Ave. It's their first glimpse of Manhattan real estate.
Then they see the doorman, an amenity created by turn-of-the-century building owners for wealthy buyers. They see stripes on the doorman's pants, braids on his jacket sleeve, and the military dark-brimmed hat. They watch him charge up with whistle in hand to halt a cab. They see him opening and closing the cab door, and marching back to the entrance to another grand building of New York.
Ever since there were doormen in New York, I. Buss Uniform Co. has been hand-tailoring their outfits. Founded in 1892, the fourth-generation family business is still hard at work designing, supplying, tailoring and maintaining the outfits worn by the men who work the entrance and elevators at New York's top residential buildings.