Since the late 1970s, Bijan and its suits ($10,000), ties ($1,000), and exotic leather jackets (your mortgage payment) have been a secret handshake of sorts for many of the richest and most influential people on the planet. “Somebody who shops at Bijan, they’ll see their friends wearing maybe a black suit, but they’ll notice that the lining is yellow, and they know, Oh, that gentleman knows about Bijan. He’s been to Beverly Hills. He’s been to Rodeo Drive. This is a gentleman that wants the best of the best and he can afford it,” says Nicolas Bijan, the impeccably-groomed 27-year-old at the helm of the house. “It’s unintentional on our part, but there’s kind of a whole aura around Bijan that definitely plays some role in the psyche of our clients.”
The House of Bijan has grown bigger than ever. So big that Bijan is churning toward a $1 billion valuation, Nicolas says—a staggering number for a company with only about 50 employees. So big that LVMH purchased the two-story Rodeo Drive boutique in 2015 for $110 million. So big, in fact, that Nicolas claims that the Rodeo Drive store now has the highest sales per square foot of any menswear boutique in the world.
