Fashion & Beauty

Menswear retailer Danny Zarem dead at 86

Danny Zarem, the legendary men’s fashion retailer photographed by Andy Warhol, died Thursday in his Midtown apartment after suffering complications from a gall-bladder-related illness. He was 86.

Zarem, who ran the popular New York clothing store Bonwit Teller, revolutionized style in the 1960s by creating a men’s fashion department.

He went on to launch a line of suede coats, offering Big Apple business honchos and Wall Street executives a casual alternative to formal business wear.

“He was extremely bright and extremely creative. He was gentle, sweet and kind — and very opinionated,” said his brother Bobby Zarem, 77.

Always impeccably dressed, Danny Zarem was a fixture at the Upper East Side’s famed celeb haunt, Elaine’s restaurant, where he hobnobbed with artists and celebrities.

He eventually befriended Warhol, and the pop artist photographed a bow-tied Zarem embracing French designer Pierre Cardin.

Friends called Zarem funny and charismatic.

“We’d sit next to each other at Christmas parties . . . We’d talk about memories from the old days. He was amusing, just very charming,” said Post columnist Cindy Adams.

Zarem also co-created “Le Sweater,” a cable-knit, baby-wool men’s garment worn by such luminaries as Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

In 1978, he earned a coveted spot on Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed Men’s List.

Later in life, he rubbed elbows with celebrities including Shakira, Sylvester Stallone, and his best friend, Michael Caine.

The Georgia native attended Yale, ran menswear shop Andre Oliver and designed actor Steve McQueen’s wardrobe in the 1968 film “The Thomas Crown Affair.”