They've Worn Well -- Butch Blum's High-Fashion Taste Offered Men With Flair A Different Selection Of Menswear

When Butch Blum opened his high-fashion menswear shop in downtown Seattle 20 years ago, it was the sartorial equivalent of bringing a Miles Davis concert to a town accustomed to Gilbert and Sullivan. Existing department and specialty stores already offered serviceable suits to men with pin striped tastes. Guys with more fashion flair shopped out of town.

But Blum, a young man with taste for fashion and a head for retail, had noticed in his two years as a menswear buyer for Jay Jacobs that the Pierre Cardin suits he was slipping into the store's fashion mix were selling briskly.

The son of a Salem, Ore., shoe merchant, it didn't take Blum long to strike out on his own. At age 27, he opened a shop named after himself and stocked it with the period's hippest menswear labels, including Cardin, Yves St. Laurent, Vangils, and Helfer. Sales were good, he says, from day one.

"Truthfully, I was really lucky," Blum says. "The shop was right. We were pretty much an instant success, and not because I'd done a lot of market research or anything."

The word quickly spread among young professional men.

"Butch really was the first to bring real men's fashion into the city," said Jan McLaughlin, a Seattle wardrobe consultant. "From the beginning the store was beautifully merchandised, beautifully presented, and offered wonderful service. For Seattle, it was very innovative."

These days Blum, who owns and runs the shop with his wife Kay,

has plenty of competition. Portland-based Mario's opened a stylish downtown Seattle shop 12 years ago, and more recent competitors such as Barneys New York, Jordan, Joseph Abboud and updated merchandising at department stores are also targeting fashionable men.

And like all retailers, the Blums have had to weather recessions and the backlash from the spendthrift '80s. Even the affluent are spending less on clothes. Being downtown retailers, they also have watched two major department stores and numerous small retailers close their doors.

All of which makes the shop's 20th anniversary a milestone worthy of some note, according to Kay Blum. A Texas native with the energy of a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and similarly high-octane promotional skills, she has persuaded local arts, business and entertainment celebrities to participate in a year's worth of events.

The breakfasts, receptions, and art shows co-sponsored with local galleries benefit local charities. The store's window displays throughout the year honor local artists and athletes ranging from Dale Chihuly to the Seattle Pacific University Soccer Team. A gala in September will benefit six local children's organizations including the children's programs at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the King County Boys and Girls Clubs.

But from a fashion point of view, the shop's 20-year history is a measure of Seattle's increasingly sophisticated tastes. In 1978, Butch was one of the first retailers in the nation to sell Giorgio Armani's men's collection. When Butch and Kay, then assistant manager of the Beverly Hills Nieman Marcus store, married in 1981, Kay moved to Seattle and opened a women's department at the shop. She stocked it with private labels she ordered from the Armani factories in Italy, and was soon introducing high fashion European lines such as Claude Montana, Genny, Versace and Karl Lagerfeld.

Kay closed the women's department in 1991 to make time for their three children and to devote more energy to advertising and promoting the shop. Butch continued to hone his menswear apparel mix by creating the Butch Blum Signature label, clothing priced below his usual designer labels.

These days he's also stocking one of the newest "hot" designer labels in menswear - the Donna Karan Collection - though he's still known for his European point of view. One of the shop's signature labels is Ermenegildo Zegna of Italy.

Blum admits his fashion and prices are not for everyone. But among loyal, long-time customers his shop is still where they buy much of their wardrobes.

"I could shop out of town in Los Angeles, or elsewhere; I travel a lot for business," said Pat Obert, owner of a marine supply business and a Butch Blum customer for 15 years. "But, honestly, I prefer Butch Blum. I try to set an image for my company so I wear suits everyday, and for higher fashion suits, there's nowhere else I'd go."

Competitors, many of whom are located near Butch Blum's Fifth Avenue location, say the shop has been a pioneer in men's style in Seattle. "I think Butch Blum did a lot to set the pace in this town," said Jacqui Cohen, owner of Jordan, known for its Matsuda and Issey Miyake labels. "They laid the foundation. I think all of us who came afterward should give Butch and Kay credit."

As for the next 20 years, Butch Blum, a self-described golf fanatic, says, "I think the store will still be here. What my precise role will be is unknown." He talks of handing over more of the day-to-day operations to key employees and spending more time with his family, and on the golf course.