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Kestnbaum's basic decision was to maintain Hart Schaffner & Marx's conservative styles and the pioneering reputation that dates to the company's founding by three cousins in 1887.* Among H.S. & M.'s firsts in the wholesale-clothing business: all-wool suits (1900). guaranteed color fastness (1915). Kesty put H.S. & M. into the synthetic-blend field with nylon as early as 1949, Orion in 1950 and Dacron in 1951. On occasion, Kestnbaum has matched his Ivy League styles with Broadway showmanship. When American troops marched into Paris in World War II, they were greeted by about 20 billboard posters proclaiming a message of welcome: "Congratulations on a job well done. Hart Schaffner & Marx Clothes, U.S.A." Kestnbaum had worked the stunt through the underground.
Since Kestnbaum became president in 1941, sales have more than tripled; net profit rose from $895,000 to $1,425,000 last year. With his new Society Brand line in another price bracket (around $95, a notch higher than the $75-to-$85 range where H.S. & M. concentrates). Kestnbaum thinks sales should keep right on rising.
* The other three: B. Kuppenheimer, Fashion Park, Hickey-Freeman. * Only descendant directly connected with the company's top management now is Director Joseph Halle Schaffner.