Born in Toronto to parents newly arrived from Italy, Luigi Cocomile has been recognized as the man who transformed men’s fashion in Canada.

Opening his first retail store in 1960 under an anglicized version of his name, LOU MYLES, Myles; signature style of a very fitted suit with square rope shoulders immediately acquired a huge following. He was the first retailer to offer a made-to-measure suit in a retail store.

In order to get the precise garment he wanted, Myles opened his own manufacturing facility in 1969, making his suits available to other retailers, as well. Instantly, his garments found a market in the United States, making him one of the first manufacturers to export to the U. S. Suddenly, a Canadian garment was a fashion item!

Because of the distinctive and flattering silhouette of the LOU MYLES suit, customers from the world over sought it out.  Myles’ clientele included luminaries from the field of entertainment: Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Tony Curtis; -- sports: Muhammad Ali (and just about every subsequent heavyweight, light-heavyweight, and middleweight champ), Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, the LA Lakers, the LA Dodgers, and the entire Stanley Cup-winning Toronto Maple Leafs team of 1967 – business: Lee Iacocca, the McCain Brothers – politics:  Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and President George H. W. Bush (for whom MYLES designed a blazer lined with the American flag).

In 1978, a LOU MYLES suit was on the cover of GQ Magazine, making MYLES the first Canadian fashion designer to be featured on the cover of an American publication. Two years later, he was the first men’s wear designer to be invited to join the (New York) Designers’ Collective.  In 1987, he was the first Canadian men’s wear designer to be invited to join the Custom Tailors and Designers Association of America, the oldest trade association in the United States. 

It has been written that reading the list of LOU MYLES’ clientele is reading the list of major figures of popular culture of the latter half of the twentieth century.