Martin Greenfield, celebrity tailor and Holocaust survivor, dead at 95

Celebrity tailor and Holocaust survivor Martin Greenfield died at the age of 95 last week.

“Holocaust survivor, American icon, beloved by his congregational family, his abiding faith was a source of inspiration and blessing,” an online obituary from Hampton Synagogue rabbis published by the New York Times reads. “To his dear wife Arlene, children, Jay and Tod and to the entire family, our heartfelt sympathy.”

Greenfield learned to sew while he was a prisoner in Auschwitz, according to the New York Jewish Week. He had ripped a Nazi soldier’s shirt and was taught to sew by another prisoner. He then wore the discarded shirt after fixing it.

“The day I first wore that shirt was the day I learned clothes possess power,” Greenfield wrote in his 2014 memoir, “The Measure of a Man,” New York Jewish Week quoted. “Clothes don’t just ‘make the man,’ they can save the man. They did for me.”

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He immigrated to the United States in 1947 and got a job as a floor boy at the GGG clothing factory, according to Martin Greenfield Clothiers’ website. 

“Martin went to night school to learn English, got his citizenship, and worked at the factory for 30 years, becoming the production manager,” the company’s website states. “In 1977 after his employer decided to shut down the factory Martin purchased it and established Martin Greenfield Clothiers, producing clothing for businessmen and grooms, as well as presidents and celebrities.”

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Martin Greenfield, tailor for Frank Sinatra, former President Obama and Shaquille O’Neal. (Getty Images)

Some of the most notable men Greenfield dressed in his suits are Frank Sinatra, former Presidents Obama and Trump and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.

Along with outfitting U.S. presidents, Greenfield’s suits were seen on TV shows and movies, including “The Great Gatsby” and “Wolf of Wall Street,” both starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and in the movie “Joker,” where one of his suits was worn by Joaquin Phoenix as the film’s lead character.

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Martin Greenfield, owner of Martin Greenfield Clothiers in Brooklyn, tailors a new suit for Clarence Norman Jr. on Oct. 9, 2012. (Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Greenfield died March 20, according to an Instagram post by his sons Jay, Tod and David, stating that he “survived the atrocities of the Holocaust with his humanity intact, living his life delighted to meet everyone he encountered with his infectious smile.” 

Greenfield’s birth name was Maximilian Grünfeld, according to the Daily Mail. He was born on Aug. 9, 1928, in what is now western Ukraine but was then part of Czechoslovakia. The British publication states that his father, mother, two sisters and brother were all killed in the Holocaust. 

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Joaquin Phoenix, in a scene from “Joker,” wearing the red suit from tailor Martin Greenfield, according to the clothers’ website.  (AP/Warner Bros. Pictures)

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His business will carry on under the leadership of two of his three sons, according to the Daily Mail. 

Hampton Synagogue’s Rabbi Marc Schneier honored Greenfield during services Saturday morning, according to the synagogue’s website.