As the first major snowstorm of his administration approached New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani needed to coordinate a citywide agency response.
He also wanted to find a new coat — one that was unassuming and modest, but still able to distinguish him while he addressed New Yorkers during the storm.
As married men dressing for important occasions often do, Mr. Mamdani sought the help of his wife, and of her staff. They chose the coat — a jet-black quilted “Full Swing Caldwell” jacket from the American workwear brand Carhartt — and tapped a local embroiderer to personalize it with a throwback city logo, said Noah Neary, a senior adviser to the first lady, Rama Duwaji.
“The mayor is hoping to chart a new course,” Mr. Neary, 36, said in an interview. “I think he felt that it also made sense to speak a visual language that felt slightly new.”
Ms. Duwaji, an artist whose own clothing choices have drawn attention as her husband’s profile has risen, weighed in on the overall look and feel of the coat, according to Mr. Neary. She expressed a desire that it not be too flashy.
“The first lady is his No. 1 trusted adviser for creative input,” he said, adding that Ms. Duwaji was “pleased with the design.”
Mr. Mamdani and Ms. Duwaji both declined through representatives to comment for this article. In the aftermath of the storm, more than a dozen people have died outside in New York.
When Mr. Mamdani wore the coat at a news conference at the start of the storm, men’s style publications like GQ and Complex were quick to notice it. Mr. Neary said he did not know if the mayor had worn the jacket since.
The request to find him a coat came in with too little time for Mr. Neary to connect with the typical vendors that the mayor’s office uses for embroidery or official garments. “I realized I might need to contact someone else for a quick turnaround,” he said.
He got the coat at Dave’s New York, a store in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan that specializes in hard-wearing attire like canvas and military-style jackets — or “clothes for war,” said Bob Levy, whose father opened the store in 1963.
Mr. Levy’s son Adam Levy runs it now. “We have the union guys, the electricians, the plumbers, the people who do demo and reno and things like that,” the younger Mr. Levy said of the typical customers at Dave’s. “We also have people who work in service and maintenance and building management.”
Jacket in hand, Mr. Neary reached out to Rocco Arena of Arena Embroidery in Brooklyn, who has been working on custom embroidery projects for more than 14 years. He got his start working for Nike in Los Angeles and has embroidered clothes for star athletes like Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson.
Mr. Arena, 38, quickly got to work stitching Ms. Duwaji’s approved designs, which included a phrase on the inside of the coat’s collar: “No problem too big. No task too small,” a quote from the speech Mr. Mamdani gave after winning the Democratic mayoral primary last June.
The embroidery also included the word “mayor” stitched on the coat’s left sleeve, near the shoulder, and a municipal logo on its front right lapel. The logo, “The City of New York” written in a loose serif font, has appeared on municipal stationery and dates to the 1970s, according to the New York City Department of Records and Information Services.
The same logo is also featured on hats, sweatshirts and other merchandise at Only NY, a local skate and streetwear brand that licenses municipal insignia. “It is funny how many people have blown up our phones thinking that we did it,” Micah Belamarich, the founder of Only NY, said in an interview. “I definitely credit ourselves a bit for popularizing it.”
With his winter coat, Mr. Mamdani follows a tradition of elected officials embracing swag that burnishes their offices and images.
Former Presidents John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and George Bush all wore Air Force One windbreakers. President Trump has the red cap (and now many others). Former Mayor Eric Adams, who was also a police officer, favored a navy jacket with his name embroidered on the breast and the word police written across it.
As he has dealt with the storm, Mr. Mamdani has also worn outerwear from the New York City Department of Sanitation. The mayor sought another coat, Mr. Neary said, in part because he wanted attire that bore little resemblance to styles worn by his predecessor, Mr. Adams.
Mr. Arena, the embroiderer, said that he was approached with a distinct vision for personalizing Mr. Mamdani’s jacket. “They were looking for a special, new type of fit for the mayor,” he said.
Sandra E. Garcia is a Times reporter covering style and culture.
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