Not even in his wildest dreams did Esteban Guzmán imagine, as a young paper boy in Mexico City, that one day he would have a successful career making and repairing the shirts and suits of rich and famous celebrities such as Elton John, Usher, Justin Bieber, Tyler Perry and Kevin Hart, to name a few.
Thanks to his fierce determination to achieve a better life and a solid dedication to his craft, Guzmán has made a name for himself as the go-to tailor of the stars, with a celebrity clientele that spans music, television and film, as well as hundreds of professionals and other fashion conscious Georgians.
The tailor’s prestigious reputation comes from a combination of quality workmanship and a desirable location for this business. Within Phipps Plaza, Q Tailors sits alongside a veritable who’s who of high end fashion retailors, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Gucci, Versace and Giorgio Armani.
“Esteban’s quality and excellent work convinced us to rent him the space to open Q Tailors. The hundreds of clients he has, both celebrities and people in the community alike, reaffirm that,” explained Bony Pérez, operations manager for Phipps Plaza.
Guzmán’s road to success has been anything but easy. As a child, he and his siblings and mother endured beatings from his father. Tired of the abuse, Guzmán left home in 1962, at just 12 years old. To earn money, he sold gum and newspapers. One year later, Guzmán came upon an advertisement that would change his life.
“I saw in an ad that Gomez’s Tailor Shop was hiring. I didn’t know anything about the trade,” he said.
In Gómez, the young apprentice found a father figure who helped mold his character.
“From Mr. Ricardo I learned to be honest, responsible and a hard worker. He gave me a lesson that I’ll never forget. He told me that in order to be successful you have to be lucky and that luck consists of three things: work, work, and work,” he said.
Guzmán eventually returned home and over the next decade he did tailoring jobs from home, studied agriculture at a technical school, worked for nine years offering technical support to farmers and married his wife, María Antonieta Casillas.
In 1989, Guzmán, along with his wife and two children, Ariel and Ileana, made the trek to Atlanta.
Although he was a good tailor, Guzmán’s initial time back in Georgia was challenging. Throughout the 1990’s, Guzmán traversed the world of tailoring in Georgia, working at a myriad of locations.
At the beginning of 2000, Guzmán took the next step in his career and began work at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Thanks to his work ethic and personality, Guzmán began earning the respect of the sales associates, who returned the favor by recommending him throughout Phipps Plaza. The side jobs he gained as a result of the positive word of mouth allowed Guzmán to save up enough money to realize his dreams and open his own tailor shop at Phipps Plaza, in 2006.
Today, Guzmán’s daughter, Ileana, assists him with the administrative side of his business, and his wife is a jack of all trades.
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