Marvin Lord, Leading Apparel Executive, Dies at 83

March 31, 2021

Marvin Lord, a prominent executive and dealmaker at several major apparel firms, died Monday at his home in Roslyn Heights, N.Y., following a bout with kidney failure. Lord was 83.

Lord had been retired for about a decade. He spent the last 14 years of his career as a vice president at the E.A. Hughes executive search firm, which is part of Solomon Page.

Before that, he served as chief executive officer of Maternity Resources Inc. for three years. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer of Sanyo Fashion House for three years. He rose up the ranks at Oxford Industries where he worked from his mid-20s to the age of 49 in various executive positions that culminated as president of the Holbrook Group men’s division and CEO of the Crystal Brands youth wear division.

Among his accomplishments at Oxford, Lord was instrumental in securing and managing licenses for Polo by Ralph Lauren boys wear, and the Robert Stock men’s wear license.

“He was always focused on the financial equation of a deal — the upsides and the downsides — assessing the risk,” said Lord’s son Michael. “He was a risk taker, but if the data supported the risk and the right people were involved, he would find a way to do the deal. He would be ready.

“On the personal side,” Michael added, “my father maintained a lot of positive relationships with people in the industry. He was able to call on them for their expertise and guidance in furthering the companies he worked for and his own career. He was an operations guy first, but he was tightly connected to the numbers and also had a good eye for merchandise. He would always talk about patterns and fabrics. It was part of his DNA.”

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“Marvin was an executive who began his long career at Oxford Industries where he initiated a number of businesses, most notably Polo Boys, which was one of the first of the successful Polo Ralph Lauren licenses,” said Elaine Hughes, managing director of E.A. Hughes. “Marvin was not only a colleague but a friend to many in the industry. Marvin liked helping people and was able to realize that in the later part of his career while vice president at E.A. Hughes.”

In recognition of his career accomplishments, Lord was honored by the Young Men’s Association in the mid-1980s with its AMY Award. Outside the office, Lord was an avid tennis player, and a member of the Racquet Club of Old Westbury and the Shelter Rock Tennis and Country Club.

In addition to his son Michael, Lord is survived by his wife Joan; daughter Elisa; his brothers, Leonard and Barry, and four grandchildren. For information on services honoring Marvin Lord, contact his son Michael at: [email protected].