Their dad was known as the King of the Bowling Shirt, but as kids in 1950s Kansas City, Mo., Barbara Nast Saletan and Patty Nast Canton didn't feel like royalty. "We were embarrassed," says Saletan, 56. "It wasn't, in our world, cool." It is now. Since the sisters relaunched their father's 1946 brand in 2000, Nat Nast is back—and on the backs of celebs like James Gandolfini and Larry David, who did a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode about a Nast shirt. "Business is skyrocketing," says Canton, 53, a former interior designer who talked Saletan, then working at Calvin Klein, into partnering with her. (Both are married with children and live near their South Norwalk, Conn., headquarters.)
Nat Nast's sportswear line can now be found in 900 stores, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. Canton and Saletan know their father would have been proud. Says Saletan: "From the day we opened our doors, he's been right with us."
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