Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Paul Cavazza’s Background
Cavazza’s parents ran a clothing manufacturing company in his hometown of Marlborough, New York. They lived above the factory. He and his brothers worked there after school. “My parents,” he joked, “didn’t know what child labor laws were.” He and his brothers did tasks like sewing on collars and cuffs, making buttonholes, stopped for dinner, and then returned to the factory to tag and package the garments, and finish the night by sweeping and straightening up the factory, working alongside their parents. “By 8 or 9pm,” he laughs, “it was like ‘do you have any homework?”
When Cavazza applied to colleges, he wanted to go to FIT. His parents were dubious. His father told him he would help pay for any school Paul wanted to attend– except F.I.T. But Paul Cavazza’s dreams would not be deterred. He applied for loans and scholarships, and took a job, starting at $3.25 an hour, working at a grading and marking company in the heart of the garment district. Accustomed to the long hours of the family business, Cavazza worked at the company on 36th St. whenever he wasn’t in classes. Lou, his boss, became his friend and mentor.
Cavazza smiled ruefully, recalling “Lou said to me ‘Paulie, don’t worry. When you graduate from college, I know everybody in the garment industry. I get you 20 interviews. No problem.’ And then when I graduated, I asked him about those interviews. He put his hands on my shoulders and said ‘no. The industry is in total collapse. Work the summer for me. In the fall, things will be better. I’ll get you 30 interviews.’ So I worked for him, figuring three more months isn’t going to kill me, I worked for him all through school. Five years later, I can tell you that I never went on a job interview. Not one. And from grading and marking, I was now running the company.” By 1993, he says, he realized that he was never going to get an interview, and he was never going to get Lou to like using computers as part of his business. So he went into business for himself.
Tags: fashion industry, garment district, Interview, Paul Cavazza
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