Meet the designer who built a $100 million sportswear empire in under five years and turned his creative vision into a multi-decade, multi-category business.
Join the Gromek Institute for Fashion Business and the School of Fashion for a fireside chat with internationally recognized fashion designer and entrepreneur Jeffrey Banks followed by a book signing celebrating his book, Storyteller: Tales from a Fashion Insider. Moderated by Bridget Foley, former Executive Editor of WWD.
After training at Parsons and working alongside Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, Banks launched his signature menswear line in 1977. But his real business acumen showed with Merona Sport, where he pioneered the concept of "spectator sportswear" and scaled it to $100 million in less than five years. Banks understood early what many designers resist: that commercial success doesn't compromise creativity, it amplifies impact. What followed was a masterclass in brand architecture: licensing deals in Japan, private label development for Bloomingdale's, the first brand extension for Johnnie Walker, and product categories spanning menswear, womenswear, and home décor for HSN.
Banks is a pioneering designer who helped redefine American fashion at a time when few in the industry looked like him. Rising to prominence in the 1970s, he was among the first and few Black designers to enter fashion’s upper echelons, challenging barriers with creativity and conviction. His work opened doors for generations of designers who followed, showing that what can be imagined can be made real.
Bridget Foley is one of fashion's most respected voices. As former Executive Editor of Women's Wear Daily, she shaped industry conversation for years, bringing sharp analysis and deep understanding of both the creative and commercial sides of fashion to every story.
Beyond business, Banks has dedicated himself to industry service and education. He's served on the Emeritus Board of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), the Board of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and as a Design Critic at Parsons. He's also an accomplished author, documenting American fashion history through books on tartan, preppy style, and design legends including Perry Ellis, Patricia Underwood, and Norman Norell.
In this session, Banks will share candid insights on scaling creative businesses, navigating licensing and brand extensions, and the strategic decisions that turned design talent into commercial success. His career offers a blueprint for building sustainable fashion enterprises across categories and decades.
For students, academics, and professionals alike, this conversation is an opportunity to learn from someone who mastered both sides of the fashion equation. Jeffrey is a designer who proved that understanding business makes you a better creative, not a lesser one. So come with questions about merchandising strategy, licensing, brand building, and what it really takes to turn artistic vision into commercial viability.
Books provided by Pointed Leaf Press
Jeffrey Banks is an internationally recognized fashion designer. His consummate personal taste and way of putting clothes together have perennially earned him a spot several times on the “International Best Dressed” list. His professional style combines genuine talent for design and merchandising with an acute understanding of what contemporary men really want to wear.
Bridget Foley is a long-time journalist and fashion critic. Foley spent most of her career
at Fairchild Publications/PMC’s Women’s Wear Daily, including two decades as its
executive editor. There, she had a long running column, “Bridget Foley’s Diary.” She
currently writes for titles including Town &; Country and Family Style. She has written the text for several books, including Rizzoli’s Tom Ford 002 (2021) and Tom Ford 001 (2004) and Assouline’s Marc Jacobs (2004). Most recently, she wrote Thames &; Hudson’s Catwalk: Ralph Lauren, publishing in May.
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Jeffrey Banks is an internationally recognized fashion designer. His consummate personal taste and way of putting clothes together have perennially earned him a spot several times on the “International Best Dressed” list. His professional style combines genuine talent for design and merchandising with an acute understanding of what contemporary men really want to wear.
“For clothes to appeal to modern men, they really have to work,” says Banks. “Men like the look of modern clothes, but they have to feel contemporary.” For Banks the future of fashion is in the technological strides that allow designers to combine modern techno-fibers and fabrications with luxurious natural fibers. Banks strongly believes that menswear can always use an infusion of exuberant color adding, “men enjoy its liberating spirit.”
Banks’ approach to design has earned him some of fashion’s most prestigious awards and honors. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Banks earned a Special Coty Award for men’s furs with Alixandre, followed by another Coty for his signature menswear collection and an “Earnie” for his signature boyswear. Banks has also received the Cutty Sark Award for Outstanding U.S. Designer of Menswear as well as the Pratt Institute Award for Excellence.
Banks designed with both Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein while in school. As the designer of Merona Sport, Banks built an $100 million sportswear line in less than five years. He launched the concept of “spectator sportswear” for men, women and children. In addition to designing his signature menswear line, he has had a long-standing menswear license in Japan. Banks has also designed private label sportswear and clothing for Bloomingdale’s. He conceived and developed the Johnnie Walker Collection of men’s sportswear as the first brand extension for this prestigious distiller. He has also recently designed Jeffrey Banks Womenswear and Jeffrey Banks Home Décor for HSN.
Jeffrey Banks devotes a good deal of time serving the fashion industry and other favorite causes.. He is a member of the Emeritus Board of Directors of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and was a senior Board Member of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). He has also served as a Design Critic at the Parson’s School of Design. In addition, he served for eight years as the Vice Chair of the Hetrick Martin Institute Board of Trustees. Recently, Banks was honored by the not for profit organization Publicolor and helped raise 1.1 million dollars for the organization. He currently serves on the Board of The Ali Forney Center for homeless youth.
Jeffrey Banks is also an accomplished author having penned the following titles : TARTAN: Romancing the Plaid ( 2007) American Fashion Menswear ( 2009 ) PREPPY : Cultivating Ivy Style ( 2011) PERRY ELLIS : An American Original ( 2013), PATRICIA UNDERWOOD: The Way You Wear Your Hat (2015), and NORELL : Master of American Fashion (2018).
Bridget Foley is a long-time journalist and fashion critic. Foley spent most of her career
at Fairchild Publications/PMC’s Women’s Wear Daily, including two decades as its
executive editor. There, she had a long-running column, “Bridget Foley’s Diary.” She
currently writes for titles including Town & Country and Family Style. She has written the
text for several books, including Rizzoli’s Tom Ford 002 (2021) and Tom Ford 001
(2004) and Assouline’s Marc Jacobs (2004). Most recently, she wrote Thames &
Hudson’s Catwalk: Ralph Lauren, publishing in May.
