Billy Reid

Billy Reid

William "Billy" Reid grew up in Amite, Louisiana which is just south of the Mississippi line. During this period his mother operated a women’s clothing boutique from his grandmother’s home. He spent his boyhood mostly out of doors while in the company of his father and friends in the Southeast Louisiana wetlands.

He attended Southeastern Louisiana University and later the Art Institute of Dallas where he studied fashion design and merchandising. While there he initiated a career at Saks Fifth Avenue where he was mentored by tailored clothing veterans. From there, Billy had a 6 year stint at Reebok International where he traveled worldwide developing the early stages of the Greg Norman collection. In 1995, he founded his own fashion design and marketing company and worked with a diverse group of clients including Fruit of the Loom, Neiman Marcus, Reebok and Takashimaya.

Billy Reid launched his first collection in spring of 1998. Industry took note of his low-fi Southern-bred luxury as defining the collection's difference. In 2001, Billy received the prestigious CFDA Perry Ellis award. With momentum in his favor, expectations were optimistic; however, the tragedies on 9/11 would bring upon a very harsh reality that would force him to shutter his business in spring of 2002, resulting in leaving New York to settle back South in Florence, Alabama attempting to regroup.

After struggling to bring back his collection, a group of friends approached Billy in 2004 with the idea to consider a new business model. Essentially, the idea was to build shops for the collection that would reflect his personality and his aesthetic. Steeped with antiques, family heirlooms and reclaimed architectural materials, the shops take on a very personal, warm and hospitable environment.

Billy Reid, Inc. headquarters in Historic Downtown Florence, Alabama in a turn of the century book store where the downstairs is converted into his flagship shop and the upstairs serves as the design studio overlooking Main Street.

In fall of 2008, a flagship shop on Bond Street in New York City opened to great reviews and was voted Best Men's Store by New York Magazine. Additional shops include Nashville, Charleston, Dallas, Charlotte and Houston.

By John T. Edge