Checking Out: Tom Beebe

Where did it all start for you?
I grew up in the New York suburbs, in Mamaroneck, N.Y., so the magnetic pull from Manhattan was always very powerful.

You remember that?
I remember my parents coming home from a night out in the city – dinner and theater – and telling us about the play, about who they saw, the magic of the city. There were eight of us, and we were starry-eyed.

Do you recall your first images of New York?
I remember taking the train from Mamaroneck into the city. At one point, we’d descend into a tunnel and come out in Grand Central Station. How did that happen? Magic!

So you grew up and headed right for Manhattan?
No, I started in White Plains, N.Y., with Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. As Neiman Marcus expanded, I became an East Coast regional director. Every week, I got on a plane to Boston; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; Florida; and worked with the display staffs there, helping them make their stores look amazing.

But the city beckoned you.
Yes, I was finally hired by Clifford Grodd at Paul Stuart on Madison Avenue in 1987. I always say I was in charge of 14 windows for 14 years. But good years, and a good run. Mr. Grodd had a fine sense of what he wanted: fashion and style, but also humor.

Humor suited you, didn’t it?
Gene Moore used to say, “You have to reward people for looking at your window. If you get them to stop, give them that ‘oh, wow’ moment that sends them inside the store or keeps them coming back to see your next window.” I try to do that with humor.

Moore was a mentor?
Absolutely. We always used to look at each other’s windows, then have dinner together and talk for hours about threading, lighting, gravity, making something fly, or turning a letter upside down just to make people stop and look.

A particularly influential Gene Moore statement?
I once asked him, “What’s your favorite window?” And he said, “My next one.”

That resonated with you?
Over time. I recently did a window that I just loved. And I thought to myself, “Now I know what Gene meant.”

Where did you get your ideas?
Just walking around the city. I’d see a guy carrying a cello through Grand Central Station, or a man in a suit playing hopscotch with kids. I liked the humor of putting the pin-striped man in embarrassing situations, like all dressed up and sitting on a park bench – with a “wet paint” sign.

Are you worried about menswear?
No, it’s booming. Young guys want to look good again: beautiful shoes, sunglasses, watches, scarves. They love luxury, they’re really tuned in – very “Mad Men.”

Will Ralph Lauren be missed?
Absolutely. He changed the menswear game; he made it aspirational, a lifestyle. The new guy is from Old Navy. It will be interesting.

The next RL?
Young guys need new icons. Maybe Thom Browne. He’s offering a different cut for guys – a trimmer fit. Guys are into fit. They work out and they want to show off their bodies. And they’re confident. They know what looks good on them.