Baruch Shemtov was a reporter, journalist, fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the entertainment Anchor on Good Day New York on Fox 5 NY WNYW from 2017 to 2019. He was the New York correspondent for Young Hollywood, a special correspondent for Extra. Shemtov founded a line of ties that currently sell in Japan at Journal Standard's TRISECT, and online at Zozotown.[1]
Baruch Yehudah Shemtov was born in Philadelphia on September 22, 1987, to Chantzie Annette Meth (née Waldman) and Dr. Menachem Mendel Shemtov, a urologist and son of Abraham Shemtov.[2][3] His family moved to Manhattan when he was a year old.
When Shemtov was fifteen years old and "fed up with his school dress code",[12] he turned a "very typical powder-blue cowboy bandana" into a necktie and wore it the next day.[8] "People loved it and wanted me to make it for them," he shared with CNN in 2005.[12] Shemtov also came up with a new concept which he named the "double tie," a necktie with a second tie stitched on its top half.[3][12][13]
Aside from fashion and design, Shemtov made his on-camera debut as the narrator for Chabad.org's "Chanukah Play" when he was five years old.[14]
In 2003, at age fifteen, Shemtov pitched his hand-stitched prototype neckties to retailers and began working with a New York manufacturer to produce them.[12] His ties debuted at Jelly in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn,[2] and were then sold at Cantaloup and Takashimaya[3] where his first collection, consisting of his signature “double tie,” a kimono tie, and a bold metallic mesh tie,[15] sold out.[2][7] His ties were modeled at New York Fashion WeekinBryant Park later that year.[12]
Shemtov's story garnered press around the world, and he was featured in The New York Times,[3]New York,[7]The Times,[10]Toro,[8]GQ (Japanese edition), and other publications.[12] He also made appearances with his designs on CNN,[12]E!, PBS, and NBC, including a special story on The Today Show.[16] In a few early press interviews, Shemtov shared that he hosts all his business meetings at The Carlyle[2][3] and that he got some of his best business advice from Donald Trump, who told Shemtov, "Sell a lot of ties."[7][17]
In 2005, Shemtov began designing women's T-shirts. He launched a limited edition collection that premiered alongside his neckties at Kaje on Rodeo DriveinLos Angeles.[15] They were later sold at Fivestory on New York's Madison Avenue.[18]
Shemtov was a finalist in Russell Simmons' Race to BE entrepreneurship competition, and opened the New York Stock Exchange with Simmons in November 2008.[19] Shemtov was also featured in an episode of PBS's Biz Kid$ and closed the NASDAQ with the show in April 2009.[20][21]
Today, Shemtov's ties are sold in Japan; at Journal Standard's TRISECT, and online at Zozotown.[1]
After graduating from Harvard College in 2009, Shemtov worked at CNN,[22] and hosted a series of video interviews called "Baruch.tv" on The Huffington Post.[23] Shemtov began working with genConnect (a media website designed to "connect audiences with world-class experts")[24] in December 2011. Shemtov first joined Young Hollywood in 2012. He soon became the official New York correspondent for the network, and worked there through 2015.[25] In 2012 Shemtov also began working at Waywire[26] as well as Extra where he is a special correspondent.[27]
In June 2014, Shemtov began making appearances on WNYW- FOX 5onFriday Night Live,[28] the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.[29] and other segments as a freelance reporter.[30]
^ abcdeMendelsohn, Martha (February 2, 2002). "School Ties". The Jewish Week. New York.
^ abcdefGross, Max (September 19, 2004). "The Remix; Tie Rep". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
^Gelfond, Lauren (February 20, 2004). "School Ties". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-20. He loved spending time in art galleries and antique shops.
^Gelfond, Lauren (February 20, 2004). "School Ties". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-20. By age eight, Shemtov had already started designing his own fashion lines, albeit with magic markers on construction paper.
^Gelfond, Lauren (February 20, 2004). "School Ties". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-20. In junior high he wrote a paper arguing that Ralph Lauren was a driving force in American history.
^ abGelfond, Lauren (February 20, 2004). "School Ties". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-20. By his sophomore year at Manhattan's Jewish high school Ramaz, he'd already taken classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology, attended lectures and workshops at museums and galleries, and interned with hip homeware designer Jonathan Adler.
^ abCollard, James (April 24, 2004). "Young school ties"(PDF). The Times. London, England. ISSN0140-0460. Retrieved 2015-07-08 – via GALE Cengage Learning. And although Shemtov has already taken pre-college courses in fashion merchandising and store planning at New York's prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology, he sounds unlikely to let expanding his business get in the way of a spell at academia.
^Collard, James (April 24, 2004). "Young school ties"(PDF). The Times. London, England. ISSN0140-0460. Retrieved 2015-07-08 – via GALE Cengage Learning. Shemtov was an intern at the interior design company owned by Doonan's boyfriend, Jonathan Adler.
^Gelfond, Lauren (February 20, 2004). "School Ties". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-20. Last year, his men's tie collection included a layered "double tie" in coordinating fabrics, ties made of Asian kimono fabrics, metal mesh ties, and paisley brocades.
^Shemtov, Baruch (Narrator) (1992). Chanukah Play (Videotape). New York: Chabad. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
^ abEzura, Sachi A. (October 27, 2005). "Working the Business Suit". The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 2015-07-09. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
^Gelfond, Lauren (February 20, 2004). "School Ties". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 20, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-20. He was on the Today show because he approached them on the street too.
^Collard, James (April 24, 2004). "Young school ties"(PDF). The Times. London, England. ISSN0140-0460. Retrieved 2016-05-05 – via GALE Cengage Learning. Even Donald Trump, the developer-turned-business-guru and reality TV star, took time to give the budding entrepreneur the sage (if simple) words of advice.
^"Success Highlights"(PDF). New York: Biz Kid$. August 31, 2011. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2015-07-08. Biz Kid$ ringing the NASDAQ closing bell on April 6, 2009.