Stories about my brother: The presidential tailor

Joseph Faraj fled his homeland in 1977, just a few years after the outbreak of a civil war that claimed an estimated 150,000 lives.

“It was bad situation, war in Lebanon,” he said. “It was everywhere – from north to south, innocent people died.”

Faraj’s sister, who had left a few years earlier, traveled back to Lebanon and put him on a plane to the United States.

“She brought me,” said Faraj. “She said ‘you are going back to Texas, to the heaven.’”

When Faraj got set up in Texas, he joined his brother-in-law, Ghassan Karim, in the family business. Karim arrived in the United States in the late 1960s and set up a tailor shop in downtown Austin.

“I got a five-year small-business loan,” Karim told Texas Monthly in 2010, “and I paid it off in three years.”

It didn’t take long for Karim to develop a rolodex of high-profile clientele.

Within just a few years and while he was still learning English, Karim came into contact with and began tailoring clothes for then-President Lyndon Johnson.

“I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the sport coat you made for me,” Johnson wrote in a letter to Karim after he left office. “It’s mighty handsome and a pleasure to wear.”

Also around this time, his name changed from Ghassan to Gus.

“My brother, his name is Ghassan in Arabic,” said Joseph Faraj. “President Johnson said, ‘Ghassan? Your name is Gus from now.’”

The same year Faraj joined Karim, their operation moved to North Austin and soon Faraj had his first brush with Texas political power.

“I remember only one time I went to the Capitol with Gov. [Bill] Clements,” he said. “We have some work for him and I took it over there. I shake his hand, take a picture with him. I love this moment.”

Then in the mid-90s, Karim and Faraj got a call from another then-governor.

“I remember President George Bush was here in the office, we took pictures of me and him and my wife and Gus,” said Faraj. 

Throughout his governorship and campaign for president, Karim and Faraj tailored clothes for George W. Bush.

“He likes to look very sharp and always in good taste,” Karim told the Austin Business Journal in 2001. “That fits his personality.”

Then two days after he was inaugurated, Bush sent Karim a letter thanking him for all the work.

“Dear Gus,” he wrote the tailor, “The suits fit great and look good. Thanks.”

Of all the connections Karim developed with political figures, his relationship with the Bushes has been the longest and most intimate.

“He invited my brother to White House Christmas party a few times,” said Joseph Faraj. “He went with my sister.”

Over the years, Gassane Tailors has done work for people like Matthew McConaughey, Colt McCoy, Dave Franco, Ron Livingston and Ilana Glazer, but most of their clients are everyday people.

For nearly five decades, Karim spent his days greeting customers, taking measurements, directing employees and making alterations. Then about a decade ago he started showing signs of dementia.

Faraj first started to notice in 2016 after he returned from a trip to Lebanon for his granddaughter’s wedding.

“I started to feel my brother, slowly, slowly,” said Faraj, “and I feel I have to be beside him.”

Since then, Faraj has taken over operations at the shop and Karim now spends all of his days at home where he’s visited by caretakers and family.

“I miss him. I wish he’s with me right now,” lamented Faraj. “I miss him to be with me.”

On Sundays, the only day the shop is closed, Faraj visits his brother-in-law. He spends their time together updating him on business matters and telling him about customers who stop by the store. 

“He smiled and quiet. He’s very quiet person,” said Faraj. “When he was here, I never see him angry. He’s just calm.”

Both Karim and Faraj gained American citizenship and had children in the United States, but none of them are actively involved in the tailor shop.

Faraj now runs Gassane Tailors alongside his wife and his employees, something he plans to do for as long as he’s able.

“I don’t feel tomorrow I want to be retired,” explained Faraj. “No, I want to be here. I cannot live without to see people. Honest. This is me.”

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