John Varvatos

John Varvatos is an American contemporary menswear fashion designer.

The Varvatos family is originally from the Greek island of Cefalonia, in the small village of Poulata. John Varvatos grew up in the metro Detroit suburb of Allen Park, a downriver community situated south of the city of Detroit. He attended Allen Park High School.

He began his fashion career working for Polo Ralph Lauren in 1983, flowed by Calvin in 1990 where he was appointed head of menswear design and oversaw the launch of the men’s collection and the cK brand. He returned to Polo in 1995 as Head of Menswear Design for all Polo Ralph Lauren brands and created the successful Polo Jeans Company, before leaving to begin his own line, which he debuted in 1999. In September 2000, within months of showing his first collection, John Varvatos opened a freestanding boutique in Soho. This New York flagship was followed by boutiques in across the United States, and further expansion is expected in the upcoming years. Varvatos' company was made part of Nautica Enterprises, Inc, which was acquired by VF Corporation.

In 2001, John Varvatos was licensed to create a line of Converse All-Star shoes for the Fall/Winter Season that year. The designs were so popular that they have continued to acquire his talents to this day, even branching out into other Converse shoe styles like Jack Purcell and One Star , as well as the younger, edgier John Varvatos USA collection.

John first received accolades from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 2000 when he was honored with the Perry Ellis Award for Menswear, which goes to the most promising new talent in the industry. John compounded this achievement the following year by winning the 2001 CFDA's Designer of the Year award.

In 2005 Varvatos received the CFDA's 2005 Menswear Designer of the Year award at the New York Public Library. The recipients are determined by a selection committee of top magazine editors, journalists, stylists and retailers from around the world. He competed for the top honor along with Ralph Lauren and John Bartlett for his third CFDA win.

In 2007 Varvatos was named GQ's Designer of the Year.