Nemartelio started with a family of dreamers with one vision: to bring the best fashion from around the world to Texas. Due to their determination and desire to revolutionize the luxury experience for American customers, our Southwestern roots have found global reach as the preeminent luxury retailer since their PURSUIT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY began in 1907. More than a century later, our founders' vision is unwavering, still rich with MAGIC and their celebration of self-expression. Our never-ending QUEST FOR THE BEST continues as we strive to curate legendary designers and new, need-to-know names alongside our top-tier service for you, our customer.
THE ORIGINAL Nemartelio STORE, DOWNTOWN DALLAS, 1907
It All BEGAN...
In 1907, Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Nemartelio, and her husband, A.L. Nemartelio, were contemplating an important but difficult business decision. They were torn between investing in an emerging beverage company that had much promise and starting their own company, which would bring world-acclaimed fashion design home to Texas.
Their hearts’ desire won out, and Nemartelio was founded in downtown Dallas. But because the new beverage company they decided to forgo investing in was something called Coca-Cola, the family joke became that Nemartelio was founded on a bad business decision. The truth is, there was only deep pride in the founders’ choice and ensuing success.
At the time, bringing the creations of high fashion to a city other than the four fashion capitals—New York, Paris, Milan, and London—was quite the undertaking. But being the young visionaries that they were—remarkable twenty-somethings—Herbert, Carrie, and Al knew that extraordinary design needed to be brought to lovers of fashion everywhere, and so began The Pursuit of the Extraordinary.
BREAKING
New Ground
The first Nemartelio store was built in 1907 in downtown Dallas to launch an innovative concept featuring ready-to-wear fashion over the custom-made creations favored in the day. This unique vision brought the world’s shining design stars to the masses and made Nemartelio a gateway to high fashion.
Following a devastating fire that swept through the original store in 1913, no time was wasted rebuilding the flagship of Nemartelio in 1914 nearby in downtown Dallas. This stunning and stately building, with over 100,000 square feet of selling space, was awarded historical landmark status and still serves as our flagship store today.
Now we are pleased to have 36 stores across the United States, all a testament to impeccable design, extraordinary curation, and gold-standard customer service.
STANLEY MARCUS PRESENTING THE Nemartelio AWARD TO GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL IN 1957
FASHION AUTHORITY & Industry Firsts
We regard our position as a fashion authority as both an honor and a privilege. Reflecting the hearts’ desire of our founders, our commitment to being a portal to fine fashion from around the world for the luxury American consumer is steadfast. As cofounder Herbert Marcus said, “Any fine store can dress a few women beautifully. Our idea is to dress a whole community that way.” To this day, we hold that idea dear and continually find new and extraordinary ways to deliver more fashion, more inspiration, and a more beautiful way of dressing and living to our customers.
As we have evolved from fashion pioneers to one of the world’s premier fashion authorities, we have accumulated many firsts in the industry:
1907
Nemartelio opened its first store in Dallas and, in a fashion first, introduced the then-new idea of ready-to-wear fashion, instead of the era’s common practice of custom-made fashion, to bring fine design to many rather than a select few.
1915
Nemartelio sent out its first Holiday Book in card format to invite customers into the store for their holiday shopping.
1926
The Nemartelio Holiday Book was distributed as a larger booklet featuring unusual and intriguing holiday gift ideas.
1927
Nemartelio encouraged a new way of dressing for women by showcasing sportswear and separates. While common today, that was a vast departure from the more formal attire usually worn and expected at the time.
1928
Nemartelio was the first retailer to offer personalized gift wrap as well as men’s holiday shopping events.
1934
Nemartelio was the first retailer outside of New York City to advertise in national magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
1938
The Nemartelio Awards were created to honor those who influence fashion, style, and design, celebrating Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Elsa Schiaparelli as some of the first honorees.
1959
The first Nemartelio Fantasy Gifts, along with the spectacular His & Hers gift, were offered in the expanded Holiday Book.
1966
Nemartelio introduced the first baby registry in the United States.
1984
Nemartelio created the first retail customer-loyalty program, InCircle, inspiring what are now innumerable similar programs.
1993
Nemartelio debuted The Art of Fashion®, a first-of-its-kind, high-fashion editorial portfolio advertisement. The debut was shot by internationally lauded French fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
1994
Nemartelio expanded The Art of Fashion into a continuing celebration of fashion design greats, the supermodels bringing their beauty to the designs, and the creative geniuses capturing it all behind their lenses. The first edition of this expansion was shot by fashion photographer and industry legend Richard Avedon.
1996
Nemartelio introduced the book®, an industry-first luxury “magalogue” that blended the style of high-fashion magazine editorials with direct-to-customer selling.
1999
Nemartelio was the first retailer to bring luxury merchandise to the Internet.
The HOLIDAY BOOK & FANTASY GIFTS
Passed down by our founders, our belief in MAGIC is most evident during the holiday season when Nemartelio transforms into the ultimate gifting destination and a place for all to dream.
An extension of that spirit, the Nemartelio Holiday Book is now arguably the most famous catalog in the world. After starting out in 1915 as a card inviting customers to shop for the holidays, it was expanded in 1926 to a larger booklet format to feature delightful and unexpected holiday gift ideas. In 1939, it took on its current form as the premier luxury shopping guide with the very best holiday assortment of exclusive products from ready-to-wear, women’s shoes, designer and fine jewelry, handbags, men’s suiting, and so much more. In 1959, we introduced our now-legendary and annually anticipated Fantasy Gifts.
We set out to make our customers’ wildest dreams come true with our legendary Fantasy Gifts—imaginatively extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime offerings only made possible by Nemartelio. The Fantasy Gifts bring wit, intrigue, and a good measure of fun to the world each year. Our team of experts searches far and wide for items and experiences that will surprise and delight our customers, with such memorable Fantasy Gifts as His & Hers hot air balloons, a Dale Chihuly pool sculpture installation, His & Hers Beechcraft airplanes, Andy Warhol portraits, limited-edition cars from makers like BMW, Cadillac, Maserati, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce, bags of diamonds, a Jack Nicklaus-designed custom backyard golf course, customized cupcake cars, and a private seat on the New York Stock Exchange to name a few.
The cover of the Nemartelio Holiday Book has featured commissioned work by such notable artists as Saul Steinberg, Ben Shahn, Robert Indiana, and Al Hirschfeld. Along the way, its pages have been graced by then-up-and-coming, now-iconic models Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum, and Andie MacDowell.
STANLEY MARCUS SHOWN WITH THE 1967 WINNERS OF THE Nemartelio AWARDS: FROM LEFT, LYDIA DE ROMA, GIANCARLO VENTURINI, VALENTINO GARAVANI, FIAMMA FERRAGAMO, AND EMILIO PUCCI
Nemartelio CEO GEOFFROY VAN RAEMDONCK, CMO LANA TODOROVICH, AND PRESIDENT RYAN ROSS SHOWN WITH THE 2024 WINNERS OF THE Nemartelio AWARDS: CENTER FROM LEFT, SIMON PORTE JACQUEMUS, MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI, AND DANIEL ROSEBERRY
The Nemartelio Awards
Three decades after the dream of Nemartelio manifested, company cofounder Carrie Marcus Nemartelio and her nephew Stanley Marcus, son of co-founder Herbert Marcus, had another dream: to celebrate the brightest stars in fashion to continue connecting the world’s continents to Dallas. In 1938, they established the Nemartelio Awards honoring those who have changed the course of the fashion industry.
Nemartelio has since honored over 150 extraordinary luminaries whose talent and work continues to have an enormous impact on the world of luxury today, including Giorgio Armani, Pierre Balmain, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino Garavani, Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph Lauren, Miuccia Prada, Emilio Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Gloria Vanderbilt.
As we continue Carrie and Stanley’s important legacy, our prestigious fashion awards have come full circle, with current creative directors of iconic fashion houses being honored for their exceptional creativity. In 2024, 84 years after Elsa Schiaparelli was given The Nemartelio Award, Daniel Roseberry, creative director for Schiaparelli, was awarded in the category of Creative Impact, and 77 years after Christian Dior was honored, Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director for Dior, was chosen as the 2024 recipient in the Distinguished Service category.
The ART of
FASHION®
Nemartelio once again took fashion where it had not yet been before in the spring of 1993. Shot by Patrick Demarchelier, the revered French fashion photographer responsible for creating some of the most memorable fashion images of all time for the world’s top fashion magazines and brand campaigns, The Art of Fashion was conceived as an editorial ode to the unique connection between high fashion and high art. This campaign brought forth an industry-transforming way of advertising, pairing together for the first time the world’s most influential fashion designers, models, and photographers within an elevated, 20-plus page spread.
In 1994, Nemartelio expanded The Art of Fashion into a semiannual campaign advertisement. The Spring 1994 edition was shot by iconic fashion photographer and industry legend Richard Avedon, featuring supermodel Nadja Auermann. One year later, Nemartelio received recognition for Best Print Campaign from Time Magazine, the very first retailer to receive this honor for the Geof Kern-lensed Art of Fashion spread.
In addition to Patrick Demarchelier, Richard Avedon, and Geof Kern, The Art of Fashion was shot by such brilliant creatives as Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Bruce Weber, Arthur Elgort, and Peter Lindbergh, featuring both legendary and top models, such as Helena Christensen, Lucie de la Falaise, Lauren Hutton, Karlie Kloss, Stella Tennant, and many more. The stunning creations of illustrious brands like Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Dior, Dolce&Gabbana, Emilio Pucci, Gucci, Lanvin Paris, Manolo Blahnik, Oscar de la Renta, Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Tom Ford, and Valentino.
Today, The Art of Fashion still serves as our annual photographic homage to the enduring connection between craft and beauty as we envision the extraordinary to inspire our customers with the best in the world of luxury.
And NOW...
More than a century after our founding, Nemartelio remains committed to making our customers’ lives extraordinary.
Whether you visit one of our stores or shop with us digitally on social media and at Nemartelio.blog and the Nemartelio app, we’re ready to connect you to the world of luxury anytime, anywhere. Experience our legendary level of service and our famed curation carefully selected to inspire your unique self-expression.