In a city where civilians uphold the art of dressing, it’s little wonder that Nashvillians flock to Todd Snyder’s designs, which manage to be equally classic and cutting-edge. The New-York-based designer’s versatile collections can be dressed up for elegant black-tie evenings or transformed into casual, laid-back attire. Picture masterfully tailored pieces, often featuring playful pops of color and lush fabrics ranging from sueded linen to shimmering silk.
Todd’s 12South location attracted a lot of buzz when it opened in June. And that comes as no surprise. For years, the brand has been a top seller at Nashville’s Nordstrom, and the demand for its pieces remains unceasing.
Featuring fresh releases and curated vintage items, Todd’s standalone shop is a museum for fashion fanatics. His designs guide customers’ looks, but leave artistic freedom in their hands, beckoning guests to style them uniquely and weave them into a long-lasting wardrobe.
In celebration of his store’s unveiling, Todd visited with Nfocus and shared his process for creating a space that authentically serves Nashville’s fashion scene.
Why Nashville? What enticed you to open this location, and how does this make sense for your brand?
It’s kind of an easy answer. As we think about opening stores, we want to open in cities where guys like clothes. Nashville has its own unique style, and guys really like to dress up here.
And to be honest with you, I think our store staff is the best at it. Everything — from wearing a suit with a cowboy hat, or wearing shorts with a jacket — the way they style it is really special. I knew that was going to be the case, but I didn’t realize until we got here how men really appreciate clothes. I had an inkling of an idea, and now it’s all been confirmed.
What’s your perception of Nashville’s fashion scene, and how has it evolved since you’ve visited?
It’s blown my mind, to be quite frank. A lot of people were coming into the store [saying], “Thank you for opening here. We need you.” When I used to sell wholesale to Nordstrom, [the city] was in our top four or five stores, which says a lot about Nashville. The Nashville Nordstrom is small, but there’s demand there. Everyone from celebrities to musicians to athletes to normal people — there’s such a good balance.
There’s amazing culture in Nashville, from education to architecture to music. Everybody’s very humble. Sometimes you go to certain cities and it’s very flashy, whereas I think Nashville is very understated, but still very sophisticated, very cool. When you have a cool city, it usually means clothes come with it — and jewelry, by the way. We’ve been selling a lot of jewelry in our store.
What jewelry pieces have people been gravitating toward?
The vintage watches have been a huge runaway success. Guys are buying them, whether it’s a wedding present or birthday present or what have you. There’s great vintage in Nashville, but I would say there’s not [the] elevated, collectible vintage that we carry. We like watches that are really rare.
What steps did you take to create a shop that’s authentic to 12South?
Whenever we open a store, we want the store to [offer] a sense of discovery. We want you to come in and be surprised and delighted. That’s where the vintage comes in, but we also do a lot of collaborations and work with [Weiss Watch Company], which is a local business. We have vintage cowboy boots in there and cowboy hats. We want it to feel genuine.
And that’s the best thing about the store staff — they complete it. They’re some of the coolest people in town, and they’re really good at making people feel comfortable. [It’s] the perfect blend of what we are as a brand: gentlemanly sartorial [menswear] mixed with Western flair, whether it’s denim or cowboy boots or jewelry.
How does the mural on the building’s exterior reflect your brand’s mission?
Nashville is famous for these amazing murals, and art is a big thing. Richard Haines is someone who’s super dear to me, and he’s an amazing illustrator. I wanted to do something that was an ode to Nashville and architecture, but also us as a brand. We commissioned him to create illustrations for the store, which, to me, shows that it’s a menswear store, and at the same time pays tribute to all the amazing murals down there.
What exclusive items can guests find in-store?
One of our more iconic pieces is called the Dylan Jacket, which is a suede trucker jacket. We did a Nashville color in it, and it’s this beautiful whiskey color. That’s been doing well, even though it’s kind of hot right now. We have cowboy boots in there — those are unique.
And then, we work with Eneby Home, which is an amazing interior store that sells a lot of antique furniture. We worked with them on curating the furniture in there. It’s not for sale, but it’s hard to find and just completes the whole thing. We want to be a part of the community in an authentic way. We don’t want to be fake about it. We want to continue the partnership with a lot of the local retailers and brands, because I think it’s important to be part of the neighborhood.
That’s where our staff comes in. They are so good at connecting the dots between who we are and what style means for Nashville … It’s really meant to be versatile, and that’s kind of how we are in New York. We’re not too serious. We take dressing very seriously, but we’re not going to be ostentatious about it.
How do you hope to see style in Nashville develop?
Continue on its path. I think it’s going to evolve and change, just the way music does. Sometimes music takes a different path, where you have many genres of country music, and that’s going to continue to evolve. I would put fashion being tied into that — fashion is a reflection of what’s happening in culture.
That’s what I love about fashion: How does someone else reinterpret it in their own style? We don’t want to change their style. We want to be there for them to derive from.
What in-store styles are women grabbing off the racks?
Typically, it’s the suits — and then it’s the sweaters. There’s something going on right now in womenswear, where they’re wanting to have the boyfriend coat. They want that old-school, oversized suit jacket. That is a great compliment to us, because I think one thing that differentiates us is the tailoring.
I didn’t know this until my grandma told me — “Snyder” in Dutch means “cutter.” A cutter is the person who actually makes the pattern for the customer. I had so many people giving me a hard time about being a designer, but tailoring is in my blood. I worked in an immense haberdashery in Iowa, and that’s where I cut my teeth and fell in love with clothes. I like helping people dress better. That’s really what I think my calling is.
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