The "Tuxedo" – adopted by people rich and poor as the sartorial symbol of Celebration, Good Times and Special Occasions. Designated by the motion picture industry to signify High Society, class and elegance, and even a sign of hope for better days during the Great Depression of the Thirties. Defined by tastemakers and standard bearers as the appropriate garb for those events in an individual's life when only a tradition of elegance will do. America, land of innovation, is where formalwear became a bit less formal, and a lot more fun!

The year: 1896. The place: Tuxedo Park, New York. The patron: Griswold Lorillard. For the prior 70 years, formalwear meant white tie and tails. But Griswold changed all that with his innovation. A dinner jacket sans-tails! More comfortable, less to wear, easier to dance. And the rest is history . . .

Since then, innovation has carried Griswold's tuxedo from a single-breasted peak lapel style to many other styles including the ever appropriate notch lapel, the single-breasted shawl collar, the double breasted shawl collar and the double breasted peak lapel.