NEW YORK – You might recognize Howie Greenspan from somewhere. Maybe you’ve seen him in the showroom of his company, Priorities at 231 West 38th Street here, or standing in his booth at the Fashion Coterie, or perhaps you know him from TV.
Greenspan might just be the newest celebrity on Seventh Avenue, ever since he finished his run on NBC’s “Martha Stewart’s Apprentice,” which aired its finale on Dec. 21. Out of the 16 contestants, Greenspan was the ninth one cut.
But that doesn’t mean he didn’t impress Stewart. The 33-year-old Closter, N.J., native was winning almost every task he was given – arranging and selling flowers and baking a wedding cake were only two. His downfall was when he and his team members had to sell air-cleaning products on QVC.
Now the owner of Priorities, a $5 million contemporary sportswear firm, is in talks with Stewart’s handlers to produce a clothing line with her. A spokeswoman at Martha Stewart Omnimedia had “no comment” on a possible deal with Greenspan, but, if things go his way, the venture could be his move into the misses’ apparel sector.
“I’m hoping to do something with her,” Greenspan said. “She’s really a big fan of Priorities; she wears it regularly and has even highlighted it on her own morning show.”
Greenspan and his wife, Stefani, both tried out for “Apprentice,” not knowing which one (Martha’s or Donald Trump’s), they would be considered for. They started the application process with low expectations that they would make it on either one. Stefani was chosen for the final tryout round to be a contestant on Trump’s “Apprentice,” and Howie was selected to be on Stewart’s edition of the show.
“I was happy to be on Martha’s show; I thought it related to my field pretty well,” he said. “Being in fashion and the arts, it worked out to my advantage.”
Dawna Stone, founder and publisher of Her Sports magazine, won Stewart’s “Apprentice” contest and is now working as director of development for Body & Soul, a magazine published by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stewart’s “Apprentice” has since been canceled.
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Stefani didn’t make it onto TV, but Stewart’s show was quite the experience for her husband, who’s gathered a substantial fan base. There’s fan mail coming in through his Web site, Howiegreenspan.com, and a Customs agent in Canada recognized him in the airport. All the attention is a big change for him. After all, for the past five years he’s been quietly building Priorities with Stefani. Howie handles the business end of things; Stefani takes care of design.
A former Wall Streeter, Greenspan left his job in finance five years ago to help his wife expand Priorities, which was, at the time, a small contemporary T-shirt line. The company had its first big break a couple of years ago with the famous “Mrs. Pitt,” “Mrs. Kutcher” and “Mrs. Timberlake” line of shirts, which gathered a lot of press for the couple and opened a range of new retail accounts for them.
Today, the company distributes products through the U.S., Germany and Japan. It just opened a children’s division and is now selling to about 2,500 better specialty stores, including Intermix here and Kitson in Los Angeles. Priorities offers a full range of sportswear, including cashmere sweaters, blazers, dresses and T-shirts. Sticking with its original ‘kitschy’-ness, the spring collection includes Eighties-inspired neon rock concert T-shirts, tube tops and dresses. There’s also a line of cartoon items, such as T-shirts with screen-printed characters from DC Comics, Wonka, Looney Tunes and, most recently, Hanna-Barbera.
Besides being in talks with Stewart to help her launch a line, Greenspan has other things in the works, including the possibility of a licensing deal with another celebrity. Greenspan declined to reveal the celebrity’s identity at this stage.
“Also, we’ve had people interested in buying our company, so that’s a possibility,” he said, although no time frame has been set.