A man who’s not afraid to color outside the lines

By Jennifer Sauer

Men’s suits are traditionally muted and somber: shades of gray, navy and black. And if you want to go a little crazy, brown... Well, Leslie Lewis, 61, goes more than a little nuts with Stailista, his designer line of men’s clothing. Think pink, lilac, lemony yellows, fire-engine red. And racks and racks of silks: brocade, shantung, taffeta. Even the occasional cheetah print.

“What I wanted to do was superimpose a woman’s fabric on a classic, tailored tradition,” he said. “The basic ingredient of the coats, and of all my clothes, has been done for centuries. There’s nothing unique about the construction of the garments.”

Landscaper turned fashion designer

Like his clothing line, Lewis has followed a nontraditional career path. He owns a successful 38-year-old landscaping business in Norwalk and likes to refer to himself as, simply, “a tree guy.” And he has no intention of stepping out of that role. “I joke with my girlfriend Marion that if no one came in the door (to Stailista), I’d watch TV here and be perfectly content,” he said. “I’m not eating off this, so I have the luxury of feeling my way through the (clothing) business. I’m testing the waters.”

Lewis’s foray into fashion started about 15 years ago when he looked for a party coat, just for fun. And came up short in all the stores. Tired of “wearing boring clothes,” he finally bought the fabric he desired, a lilac silk, and traveled to New York City to have a jacket custom made. Finally, success: a jacket with attitude and personality. “Next, I had the tailor make me a red shantung suit. And it was, like, ‘welcome to heroin,’ you know. I couldn’t stop,” Lewis said.

“I don’t see my clothes as inspired by anything but what I like. I have a natural affinity to color,” he said. One of his heroes is the French Post-Impressionist painter Gauguin. Lewis is also a little bit rock-and-roll. When he was a kid in the 1950s, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Haley made an impact. “A lot of those early rock-and-roll guys, when they got on the stage, they were gleaming,” he said.

Clothes for confident men

The response to Lewis in his wild dress was immediate and strong. It caused a stir wherever he went. “Whenever Marion and I went out to dinner, I was surprised at all the compliments,” he said. Slowly, but surely, he identified a market gap in the industry.

Lewis admits that his style isn’t for everyone, but he finds that his customers aren’t the usual suspects. “I wear this stuff everywhere, and I’m surprised by how many people dig it. From the conservative set to grease monkeys at the gas station to N.Y. street toughs,” he said. “At the end of the day, I want to sell these clothes so people can have fun in them.”

It’s stage wear. Party wear. And because Stailista clothes are bound to attract attention, they’re not for the shy or faint-of-heart. “When you’re confident and powerful, you can wear princely clothes,” Lewis said.

Stailista clothing is also popular with the ladies. Maybe that plays off a natural instinct. In many bird species, the males are the ones with the rich, brilliant feathers. Humans, according to Lewis, aren’t really all that different. “Women want to talk to you about the clothes. So why would you wear a gray suit to a bar and need to come up with a stupid line to talk to a woman? Just show up in a bold coat. It’s like bait on a hook,” he said.

And a showroom that’s over the rainbow

After Lewis found his customer base and started producing the garments, the next step was finding a place to sell them. Lewis opened his color-bright Wilton showroom/store on May 15, and prides himself on its clean, unique aesthetic. Every detail was carefully planned. He called upon a Ridgefield metal smith to craft the whimsical mobiles that spin from the ceiling. There is a special coating on the windows to prevent his garments from fading. And being the “tree guy” that he is, Lewis dug in and created an outdoor garden with European flair.

Basically, Lewis let his imagination run wild. “A big mistake a lot of people make is to think that their imagination is only a fantasy. When, in actuality, it’s going ‘knock, knock, go there,’” he said. “If you see something vividly, and you’re not doing what your imagination sees, it will get you by the throat eventually.”

Lewis sees the world in intense color, and perhaps hears it that way as well. The stereo system in his showroom is well hidden, but Lewis likes the music LOUD. During the interview for this article, Israel Kamakawiw’ole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was blasting. Mere coincidence? I think not.