Giuseppe Grella, 'Renaissance artist of tailoring,' handcrafts men's suits

Inside a tiny shop across from the Locust Valley train station, Giuseppe Grella makes some of the most beautiful, hand-tailored men’s clothing you will ever see.

Over the years, Grella’s customers have included business tycoons, members of the New York Islanders and a certain “TV personality” Grella declines to name.

On the wall of the shop is a framed letter from billionaire investor Warren Buffett praising the handmade tie Grella crafted for him.

From the nondescript outside of Grella’s shop, you wouldn’t be able to tell the high level of craftsmanship that goes on inside, said customer Gary Hromadko, 73, of Locust Valley.

“There’s nothing about it that conveys high fashion,” said Hromadko, a technology industry investor for whom Grella has made suits, sport coats and an overcoat.

It’s a different story once you step inside. Hromadko likens Grella’s work to the meticulous craftsmanship that goes into making a piece of fine jewelry.

“He’s like a Renaissance artist of tailoring,” Hromadko said.

An immigrant from Italy who came to the United States in the 1960s, Grella has worked as a custom tailor for 70 years. He has had famous customers including Billy Joel and the late James Watson, one of the discoverers of DNA’s double helix.

Now 81, Grella is part of a shrinking number of tailors who make suits by hand. He has lasted through economic downturns, casual Fridays and the COVID-era proliferation of remote work that had fewer workers going into the office, let alone wearing a suit when they do. When Gallup polled workers in 2023, 3% of men said they wore a suit to work on a regular basis.

Most of Grella’s customers are 65 and older, he said.

“Nobody dresses anymore,” Grella said.

Despite the trend toward casual attire, and a touch of arthritis in his right hand, retirement isn’t a word in Grella’s vocabulary.

He can still be found in his shop, working alongside his wife, Ilda, 77, and his sister Nancy Grella DiPaola, 77. He works seven days a week, including Sunday mornings, and has no plans to retire.

“As long as I can put my shoes on in the morning, I tell my wife, ‘I’m coming to work,’ ” Grella said. “What am I going to do, watch TV?”

It takes time

Making a suit is an expensive process (Grella's start at about $9,500, depending on the fabric) and labor-intensive. It takes about 3½ yards of fabric and 150 hours to make a suit. The garments are made in-house and stitched by hand except for some straight seams for which Grella uses a sewing machine.

“It’s all about quality, doing things the right way,” his daughter, Lucrezia Grella, said.

Giuseppe Grella's longtime customers, like Roger Blumencranz, 88, an insurance industry executive from North Hills, said they wouldn’t shop for dress clothes anywhere else.

Blumencranz has been coming to Grella for almost 50 years, and the two have become good friends.

“He’s brilliant,” said Blumencranz, who is a member of the board of trustees for Northwell Health. “He sees things that other tailors don’t see. When he makes you a suit, it’s you. It’s unique to you.”

Blumencranz estimates that over the years, Grella has made him tuxedos, blazers and more than 100 suits, most, if not all, in some shade of navy blue. He calls Grella “a genius of a tailor.”

Blumencranz's sons and grandsons also get their suits from Grella.

“I’m the president of the fan club,” he said.

Living the American dream

Grella was born in July 1945, just two months after World War II ended in Europe. He grew up in Sturno, a tiny village in Avellino Province in the Campania region of southern Italy.

The family lived on a farm with no running water or electricity.
“They weren’t living in the lap of luxury,” Grella’s daughter Lucrezia said. “It was definitely a tough time. If they had a sandwich for lunch, they were happy.”

What the village lacked in population, it made up for in the number of tailors. There were five in the village.

The career path for youngsters was to become an apprentice to learn a trade.

“Either you became a tailor, a shoemaker or a barber,” Grella said.

A skinny kid, Grella’s mother thought becoming a tailor was the best career path for him.

“The needle is very light,” she told him.

By the time Grella was 11, he was working as a tailor’s apprentice.

As a kid, he dreamed of emigrating to the United States. He had cousins who lived in Glen Cove.

“The United States was always my dream,” he said.

But, first, Grella moved to Frankfurt, Germany, in 1963, where an older brother had settled. He came to the United States in 1966, joined by his parents, sister and younger brother. Two older brothers arrived later. The family settled in Glen Cove (which is a sister city of Sturno). 

He said he always admired President John F. Kennedy for his style — “He had charisma” — and the way he looked in a two-button suit, although Kennedy’s habit of buttoning both the top and bottom buttons was a fashion no-no, Grella said.

Opening his own business

Grella opened his first tailor shop on School Street in Glen Cove in 1968. His business grew and, in 1981, he moved to larger quarters in East Hills, where he did custom tailoring and also sold men’s apparel imported from Italy. At one point, he had eight people working for him. He moved to his current location in Locust Valley about 19 years ago. Now, it’s just Grella, his wife and sister working in the business.

He played in a weekly soccer game in Glen Head until he turned 79, and he remains a fan of the sport. He grew up rooting for the Italian soccer club Juventus. His favorite professional team today is Manchester United, and he was glued to the TV rooting for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the FIFA World Cup.

Grella is also a big fan of the Islanders and the New York Knicks, a team he has followed for more than 50 years. He can still list the starting lineup from the Knicks’ 1973 championship team.

“It made me cry,” Grella said of the Knicks winning the championship in June.

He is passionate about his family. He and his wife Ilda have two children: Lucrezia, 57, who owns a boutique in Greenvale, and son Giuberto, 52, an electrician, and two grandchildren, Olivia, 22, and Christian, 19.

Even after decades of making custom suits, Grella still sweats the details and strives to make each garment better than the last.

“You always see something you’re not happy with at the end of the day,” he said.