Lou Myles and wife Wendy Myles are seen at the Fairmont Royal York in this file photo.Janice Pinto/The Globe and Mail
Canadian sartorial legend Lou Myles has passed away at age 87.
The proprietor of Lou Myles Disegnatore, a men's apparel shop that was among the first in Canada to specialize in custom-made suits from fine imported material, died July 9 at Sunnybrook hospital after suffering a massive stroke.
At his side was his wife of 27 years, Wendy Lynne Myles (née Switzer), and daughter Kimmé Myles from an earlier marriage. "He passed this morning and had been going downhill over the past few months after fully retiring just this past December," said his only natural child, a Toronto real-estate agent.
Born Luigi Cocomile in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood on May 7, 1928, the son of a deaf Italian immigrant shoemaker who raised a family of three on $9 a week, Mr. Myles was a self-made man who rose from the mean streets to dress some of the world's most famous – and infamous – men.
His long list of customers ran the gamut from movie stars and crooners to politicians, sports figures and gangsters – everyone from Frank Sinatra and the Beatles to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali, Bobby Orr and John Gotti. The late Mafia don is buried in a Lou Myles suit.
"They're all good guys," Mr. Myles said in a 2008 interview of his more colourful clientele. "They're just on the wrong side of the law."
His sense of humour along with his raspy voice and innate flair for the dramatic made the chain-smoking, wine-loving Mr. Myles as celebrated as many of the well-heeled gents he clothed during a career that spanned more than 60 years.
His resemblance to the guy in The Godfather who finds a horse's head in his bed ("I've gotten a few limousine rides outta that one," the natural-born storyteller liked to say) brought Mr. Myles numerous invitations to appear in mobster movies, some at the request of a long-time friend, the actor Robert De Niro. He also dressed celebrities for the small screen, including Telly Savalas whose Kojak character was always dressed in a Lou Myles suit.
Mr. Myles opened his first men's-wear shop at Dundas and Yonge in 1960 before relocating to Yorkville in the 1980s and Vaughan, Ont., in the 1990s.
In the 1970s, he started manufacturing his own suits, which he sold to many prestigious stores throughout North America.
Never a tailor, Mr. Myles had great style and was able to size up a customer at a glance, knowing exactly the right cut of suit for his body type. His clothes made the man.
"His suits slenderize," said his wife and business partner. "They make a bad shape look good, and a good shape look great."
In recent years, Mr. Myles had opened a small showroom on Toronto's quiet Hillsboro Avenue. There, he saw customers on a by-invitation-only basis. "He really held court," said his daughter. "He would always say that he had a great life and that the Guy Upstairs really loved him."
Survived also by an adopted stepson, Larry Myles of Vancouver, Mr. Myles will be buried in Toronto on Sunday, July 12 at noon at Mount Pleasant Cemetery Chapel.