Josh Breshgold’s love of clothing started not with access, but with absence. “I wanted it, but I couldn’t have it,” he says of the contrast between his classmates’ wardrobes and his annual Kmart trip. “That probably made me want it even more.”
Then came his bar mitzvah. Most kids fidget in formalwear. But at thirteen, wearing his first suit, Josh felt something shift. “A lot of kids don’t want to wear that stuff. But I liked it,” he says. “It had an impact.”
The moment didn’t spark his career. It simply planted a seed, a quiet awareness that how we dress can affect how we feel, and how the world sees us.
Years later, a summer apprenticeship in Singapore gave that seed a purpose.
It was 2007. Josh was a 19-year-old student at Western Michigan University who wanted out of his bubble. So he flew halfway across the world to work—for next to nothing—in a Singapore tailoring shop. “I told them I’d get coffee, run errands, whatever. I just wanted to learn,” he says.
They agreed. And then they tested him. “The owner dropped me off at a random bus stop and said, ‘Find your way to the shop,’” Josh recalls. He passed the test—and in doing so, he found his footing in this new world. “I still live by that,” Josh reflects. “You have to get uncomfortable to grow.”
Within days, Josh knew custom clothing was his path. “People came in to see who was making their clothes. It was personal, relational. I loved that.”
He also learned something else from his mentor in Singapore: to trust his instincts. “You’re never going to learn if you don’t cut what you think you should cut,” Josh recalls. “Make the mistake. You’ll learn way more than if you just play it safe.”
Today, Josh is the founder of Joshua Gold Custom Clothier, headquartered in Royal Oak with clients across the state. His philosophy? Less noise. More intention.
“I’m not chasing trends,” he says. “I want to make things you could’ve worn 10 years ago or 10 years from now.”
In other words, what Josh creates isn’t just about style; it’s about understanding his clients. He starts with questions most stores never ask. How much do you travel? Run hot or cold? What’s your morning like? “I make shirt tails longer for guys who reach into overhead bins. I add waistband rubber so shirts don’t ride up. It’s all based on real life,” he explains.
He calls it a holistic wardrobe: clothes that reflect your lifestyle before they reshape your image. “We’re adding clothes,” Josh notes, “that add confidence. Comfort. Utility. Joy.”
Josh launched his business in 2009—mid-recession—with zero clients and one product: custom shirts. He spent his final weeks of college cold-calling every lawyer in Michigan: “They wear suits. They need to be reachable.”
He'd make 100 calls a day. Get ten callbacks. Book two appointments. Rinse and repeat. “It sucked,” he says. “But I was stubborn.”
Now, he has a full showroom and a team. But that early resolve still shows—in the way he delivers a rush order before a client’s trial, or remembers a client’s spouse’s name before the second fitting. It’s beyond craftsmanship; it’s commitment to his clients, some of whom he’s seen cry in the fitting room.
“They’re 50, successful, but never spent time on themselves,” Josh explains. “And then they try on something that actually fits. They feel seen.”
Josh recalls a man with a terminal illness, brought in by his son for one last celebration. “He was in pain. But when he looked in the mirror, he smiled. That stuck with me.”
Moments like that reveal the quiet truth behind Josh’s work: custom clothing is about building a relationship with yourself.
“It’s a form of self-care,” Josh says. “I see clients twice a year. They don’t have to think about clothes. They just know they’ll look good.”
Josh has noticed how little of most men’s wardrobes actually get worn. “They’re wearing like 10 percent of their closet. The rest is collecting dust.” So he developed his flex suit: a streamlined, versatile look designed to mix and match. “Fewer, better pieces,” he says. “I want clients to wear the hell out of every piece they own.”
That includes date nights—an event many men in long-term relationships tend to overlook. “You see a couple on a date and it looks like the woman put so much effort in… and the guy’s wearing a huge, ugly golf polo. I just think it shows more respect to your partner if you actually try.”
He’s quick to remind people that trying doesn’t mean you have to become a clothes snob. “We’re approachable. I make this very clear when I hire anyone: this is not the shop that judges people. We’re not the snooty store. I know what it’s like to grow up with less, to not have. So we welcome everyone.”
I wonder what experience Josh intends for his clients to have.
“I want people to feel taken care of,” he says. “That someone put real thought into how they move through the world.”
My takeaway: clothing is more than clothing. It’s the thing that helps you lift your head a little higher.
And Josh Breshgold? He’s the one who makes sure it fits: your frame, your life, your moment.
Ready for a wardrobe that fits your life? Visit Josh at 206 W. 6th Street, or online at joshua-gold.com
“They’re wearing like ten percent of their closet. The rest is collecting dust.”
"I want clients to wear the hell out of every piece they own.”