Hamptons menswear shop Leonard Frisbie opens second location
Matt Frisbie in the East Hampton menswear shop he named after his grandfather Leonard. Credit: Melissa Lynch
When he opened his first men’s clothing store in Sag Harbor, Matt Frisbie decided to name it after his grandfather Leonard.
“He had nothing to do with clothing, but, essentially, I wanted it to be something that was meaningful to me personally without taking my own name,” says Frisbie. The Sag Harbor store debuted in 2020 and is now joined by a second shop that opened in East Hampton in May. “I also thought the name sounded appropriate for the style of clothing.”
Growing up in Sag Harbor, Frisbie learned to embrace the outdoors during summers spent at his grandfather's Amagansett beach house designed by architect Andrew Geller.
Frisbie fell in love with Peru while surfing in South America in 2001. After that trip, he returned to Peru and stayed for 10 years, where he discovered their high quality cotton and manufacturing sector.
“I had some friends up here who had a T-shirt line and they asked me to do the manufacturing for them there. That’s how it all got started,” says Frisbie, noting that he began manufacturing his designs for Barney’s branded clothing. “When Barney’s went out of business, I decided to do my own brand.”
Collaborating with Peruvian artisan workshops and fair trade-certified cooperatives, Frisbie produces comfortable clothes in naturally dyed muted colors.
“The idea is that you can be dressed casually but also transition into a more formal situation,” Frisbie says. “The pieces are very comfortable, but they can also be dressed up well.”
The shop carries button-down, button-up, quarter-button, rugby, short- and long-sleeved polo and work shirts. There are chinos, board shorts, sweatpants, blazers, hoodies, cardigans, crew neck sweaters, sherpa zip-ups, swimwear and more.
“I name all of the styles after friends and acquaintances and now, in some cases, good customers will get a piece named after them,” says Frisbie, adding that the Mateo — a tropical shirt worn untucked — is Matt in Spanish.
All of Frisbie’s clothes are sustainable, both for their durability and for where the cotton is grown and the garments are knit, died, cut and sewn.
“Pretty much everything start-to-finish is done in a very small radius, so there’s not a lot of transportation of materials from other countries,” Frisbie says. “It’s basically all done locally in Peru.” Prices start at $38 for boxer shorts and go up to $248 for a canvas jacket.
Leonard Frisbie, 55 Main St., 631-377-1567, leonardfrisbie.com.
