Magazine Layout - Lansky

LANSKY HISTORYElvis was just a teenager when hefirst spent his lunch hours soaking upthe music of Beale Street while gazingat the fashionable clothes in LanskyBrothers’ shop window. BernardLansky was the man who sold Elvisthose famous threads that changed thelook of popular fashion. With flashpink-edging and wonderful texturesthese clothes even stood out on fiftiesblack & white TV and their style stilldirectly affects the way we dresstoday.Many people from around theworld drop by Lansky’s to interviewBernard for various media outlets.Here is a collection of the most commonlyasked questions:Interview with shopkeeperBernard J. LanskyHow did get your start?When we first started out, we were in Armysurplus and when that ran out there was a voidin the market for high fashion men’s wear,which we moved in to. People down on BealeStreet thought that we were crazy. In thosetimes it was full of pawnshops. I wanted to dosomething different.When did you first meet Elvis?I looked up one day and saw this youngman looking at the displays in the window ofour store on Beale Street in Memphis. I hadseen him before. I knew enough about him toknow he worked as an usher at Loews StateTheater on Main Street, just around the corner.I didn’t know his name. I walked outside togreet him and told him, “Come on in and let meshow you around. ”He said, “I don’t have anymoney. But when I get rich, I’m going to buyyou out.” I had no idea what his name was, butThe original telegram was sent to Elvis on the day of his inauguralperformance on the Ed Sullivan Show.I told him, “Do me a favor, will you? Just buyfrom me. I don’t want you buying me out.” Thefirst week after I met him he bought a shirt andyou know, we were the first store to give Elvisa charge account.What did Elvis wear from Lansky’sin the ’50s?We supplied Elvis with his flashy earlyclothes (the Hi-Boy collar shirts, the peg-leggedpants, the Pink/Black combinations) and hisfamous Gold Lame’ jacket for his early hipswivelingperformance on the Ed SullivanShow. As Elvis spread the word, calls fromaround the world began pouring in. Everyonewanted to dress like Elvis.What was Elvis’ Influence on the colors,Pink and Black?The main color of the ’50s was pink andblack, because of Elvis. When Elvis was at thepeak of his pink andblack phase, he wasbuying both clothes,as well as, Cadillacsin the color pink.Prior to Elvis, guyssimply did not wearpink. It was onlyassociated with girls.All the guys in theneighborhood had tohave this distinctcolor combinationafter Elvis wore it.Where were you when ElvisDied?I was in Dallas on a shopping tripfor the store in August 1977 when Ilearned that Elvis died. I immediatelyflew home to Memphis to pay myrespects at Graceland. I never forgotwho put my store on the map and Iwanted to be there. I never thought thatsomething like this would happen. Weall thought that Elvis would be hereforever. In fact, I was on the outsidelooking in. His life wasn’t my business.My business was to sell him and dresshim. I used to go up to Graceland andpresent him with clothes or throw theminto his room, and ninety percent of thetime, he liked them. It was ‘somethingdifferent.’ And for his funeral, Elviswas dressed—for a final time—in aLansky suit.Tell us about the last time Elvisbought clothes from Lansky’s.Elvis still came around in the seventies.There was the pink Super-Fly suit. I made eightof those wild coats for him and those hats hewore—fur hats. We still took care of him in theseventies. I was always buying stuff and takingcare of business. I knew what he wanted—“When you snooze you lose.” I knew what Iwas doing! Elvis never made it back to pick upone of the coats. It can be seen on display at thestore today.Someone once quoted, Lansky Brothersas “the store that permanently changedhow America dresses.” How do youfeel about this powerful statement?That is exactly right, and Elvis was our P.R.man. When Elvis put on our threads thatchanged the whole of American society.Whenever anyone asked Elvis where he got hisclothes, he said, “Lansky’s,” and they had to gowith the flow. You know, we bought this stuffup and people thought we were crazy. BealeStreet wasn’t a flashy part of town at the time—this was where the Blues started yet we wereputting flashy clothing in the window. It wasfantastic. Blues musicians wanted to set themselvesapart from their peers. We had our owntailor shop and what really put us on-the-ballwas that they’d come in on Monday and by thenext Friday we’d have their clothes ready forthe weekend. We had so many people in thestore that everything had to be ready by 5:30pmso that they could get out to their clubs andshows. We had so many clothes that the walls ofthe shop looked like a rainbow.4