‘I THINK WHAT YOU’VE GROWN UP WITHOUT DEFINES YOU RATHER THAN WHAT YOU’VE GROWN UP WITH’
It would be unusual for anyone involved in the making of this magazine not to have their interest piqued by the opportunity to interview the first person to make a purchase at the Anderson & Sheppard Haberdashery. That man, John Demsey, can reflect on a life fully lived and achievements that exceed even the loftiest ambitions of the well-heeled and rakishly minded. This is because, as Executive Group President of Estée Lauder, there are few men who have had greater influence on the cultural zeitgeist of the past 20 years. When one peels back the layers of Demsey’s story, one finds a man dedicated to bespoke craft, a connoisseur of art, architecture and pop culture (he swiftly named his desert island discs unprepared), and a man dedicated to one of the most important aspects of life, dogs. His Upper East Side townhouse has undergone a three-year renovation that reflects all aspects of his personality and caters to his daughter and six dogs. His sartorial “Rolodex”, as he refers to it, includes his 16-year-old self persuading his parents to buy him a Tommy Nutter suit, as well as longstanding relationships with Anderson & Sheppard, Joe Morgan, and Cifonelli. And I will leave you, dear reader, to guess whom Gaziano & Girling’s ‘Demsey’••
