Rudy Festari stays true to Italian roots
If there are more men wearing European-style suits in Houston, thank Rudy Festari, owner of Festari for Men. Festari, a native of Rome who proudly dons linen suits and sandals, opened his namesake menswear store in the early 1990s after working in a variety of shops in the Galleria. Boxy double-breasted suits were the norm; the bigger the better.
“There weren’t many of us doing European clothing back then,” Festari said. “It was a challenge because I didn’t want to sell traditional men’s clothing. I had to break through that wall with the macho big Texas guy.”
As Houston evolved into an international city, Festari found that more men could be nudged into the sleek Italian style. It helped that their wives wanted them to dress that way.
“A lot of our business has been about making those relationships and showing men that they could wear slimmer cuts,” he said. “Everyone was 6-foot-2 and wearing buckles with their names engraved on them when I started. So we had to find the small population of men would could be converted.”
Festari’s own evolution happened just as organically as his business’.
At 14, he moved from Rome to New York with his parents and three brothers. Not knowing a word of English, Festari picked up the language from an Italian classmate and worked hard to speak without an accent.
In high school, Festari got a part-time job at a men’s tailor shop, where he swept floors and took measurements, then later worked as a salesman for a small boutique in Queens. “I didn’t think about my future career. I just knew I had a love for clothing,” he said.
By 19, Festari heard that Houston was a land of opportunity with the Galleria, a brand-new shopping concept, opening in 1970. It was modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II, one of Italy’s oldest shopping malls, in Milan. He moved to Houston without knowing anyone and walked the mall, applying for jobs at any store he could.
“The Galleria was everything,” Festari said. “There were a lot of people from Mexico and the Middle East who would come there just to shop, so you never needed to search for customers.”
A year after moving to Houston, Festari met his Austin-born Latina wife, Debbie Festari, who was “beautiful and could dance.”
Festari thought she was Italian — but he thought everyone with dark hair was Italian, he said.
The couple, who have two adult sons, Valentino and Elton, and three grandchildren, will celebrate 39 years of marriage in June. (They were married in
New York and celebrated their honeymoon at the famed Studio 54 nightclub.)
Festari moved his store into its current location in the Pavilion on Post Oak shopping center in 2009 during an economic recession, but he said his business never faltered.
“We had a strong ready-towear business and realized that more men wanted custom suits,” he said.
Festari’s made-to-measure, or custom, suits now account for 60 percent of his business. His suits range from $1,100 to $10,000 and are made from luxurious fabrics by Zegna, Loro Piani and other Italian brands. He’s also evolved his suit offerings to include not only Italian slim-cut suits but also more traditional looks for men of all sizes.
Debbie’s support has helped the business, Festari said. She founded their Una Notte in Italia (A Night in Italy) gala in 1991. The event, which features some of Houston’s most notable sportsmen and businessmen on the runway, has raised millions of dollars for local charities and exposed more men to the Festari brand.
When it comes to fashion, the super-stylish Festari said he still takes pointers from his family.
“I used to go to my son’s baseball practices straight from work, so I would be in a suit. Valentino was not impressed. I think he thought it was too much, so I had to stand far away from the field or go home and change into my sweats. My grandchildren feel much the same way,” he said. “And even Debbie occasionally tells me what to wear.”
In the past few months, Festari for Men, like retail stores throughout the country, closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve never been closed this long, six weeks, in 27 years. It’s was a shock to shut down the business so suddenly. Even during Hurricane Harvey, we were only closed for three days,” he said.
But Festari kept busy at home. “I got a lot accomplished. I straightened and fixed everything in the house from closets to kitchen drawers to the garage,” he said. “I was about to fix the neighbor’s closet when we opened back up. I was ready to get back to work.”
He also did a lot more gardening and cooking, skills he learned from his mother in Italy. Sundays, especially, are about family and food, he said.
It all goes back to his Italian roots, which is why he’ll never stop wearing sandals with linen suits.