LSU Alumni Spotlight: Nathan Green

From LSU Classroom to Custom Neckties: How Alumnus Nathan Green Turned a Bow Tie Curiosity into a Fashion Career

LSU alumnus Nathan Green (2005 BACH BUS) has always been interested in showing personality in fashion – he wanted to be a hair metal lead singer as a kid – but an LSU professor is to thank for kickstarting his love for neckwear.

How an LSU Leadership Course Sparked a Love for Bow Ties

When Professor Randy Gurie invited Green and a few of his friends to his annual Christmas party following the completion of a senior-level course on leadership, they all thought it’d be cool to show up in bow ties since Gurie always wore one himself.

“I had no money to go buy one, so I went to the local thrift store,” Green said. “It was impossible to tie, but somehow I fashioned it to work, which had me curious about bow ties.”

Green’s bow tie collection only grew from there since “there would always be something [he] was looking for but couldn’t find.” This pushed him into a general neckwear obsession after the joy he found in making something himself that was otherwise unattainable due to high price points.

“They were cheaper than the ties I couldn’t afford, so it made them attainable,” Green said.

Green, 42, was born in Shreveport-Bossier, and graduated from LSU with a degree in entrepreneurship. After he graduated, he worked in the steel industry for a short time but quickly realized his heart was in fashion and retail.

Building a Career in High-End Retail

In 2012, this led him to Sid Mashburn, a “fairly new” retail store at the time in Atlanta where Green started in sales, then managed the tailor shop and eventually the entire men’s Atlanta flagship store. When his wife got a job offer in Birmingham, he transitioned into a different management role, overseeing the company’s operational business.

“It was nice for a kid from the Southeast to have an opportunity in retail without having to move to New York or L.A.,” Green said.

While in Birmingham, a 103-year-old family-owned business named Shaia’s got wind that Green was in town and recruited him to join its staff. Shaia’s ownership has been passed down through generations. Ken Shaia, fourth-generation family member and owner, re-ignited Green’s passion for making his own ties.

“He said, ‘You love neckwear,’” Green said. “’ You wear a tie every day to work; you’re one of the few guys that still does that, even in a retail setting. Why don’t you start your own thing?’”

Taking the Leap into a Necktie Business

Although he’s made some bow ties in the past, Green said those are much easier to make than neckties. So naturally, he worried about taking steps toward his own business. He was thinking “I got a pretty good thing going here,” so why take the jump? He answered his question.

“Because if you’re waiting for the perfect time, it’s never going to happen,” Green said. The idea to start a business was always there, “but sometimes life gets in the way and things have to be put on the back burner.” So, when Shaia tossed him some silk fabric and gave him the weekend to figure it out, he got to work on his life’s dream.

“All it takes is the first step,” Green said. “Once you get the ball rolling, everything else kind of just starts to fall into place.”