Canadian women`s apparel maker Peter J. Nygård brings his

MARCH 2009
Canadian women’s apparel maker Peter J. Nygård
brings his influence to bear on charitable causes
annual Run for the Cure. NYGÅRD International donates $2 million every year to the cause.
Today, Nygård spends most of his time operating from his chairman’s office at Nygård Cay, the Mayan-themed resort home he
designed on Lyford Cay, in the Bahamas. ShowBoats International caught up with Nygård at a volleyball benefit at Nygård Cay
sponsored by PlayerXT and NYGÅRD International last September.
Peter Nygård’s rags-to-riches success story began in December
1967, when the Finnish immigrants’ son gathered his life savings and
borrowed $8,000 to purchase 20 percent of a Canadian women’s
garment manufacturer with $800,000 in annual sales. He owned
the company outright within a few years, renamed it NYGÅRD
International and turned it around from near bankruptcy into the
billion-dollar empire it is today.
Nygård is also a yachtsman with several international awards to
his credit. He was a member of the 1976 Canadian Olympic Yachting Team and, that same year, won the North American Yachting
Championship. In August, he will sponsor the Bahamas’ annual Cat
Island Regatta for the second time.
More than a decade ago, Nygård got involved with breast cancer awareness and research, opening two state-of-the-art Breast
Cancer Research Units in the Manitoba Breast Cancer Research Center in 2004 and sponsoring the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s
Hometown: Born in Helsinki, Finland; grew up in Deloraine and Winnipeg, Canada; lives in the Bahamas
Profession: Clothing designer and entrepreneur
First boat: 51-foot sailing ketch, I Am Viking
Current yachts: 82-foot Mangusta, Yves Lauren; 47-foot Cabo
sportfisher, Lady Hilkka
Most memorable boating moment: On my first yacht, cruising the
Out Islands and the Grenadines
If you had another pass at a career, what would it be: Movie production. I’d be a director.
Closest boating buddy: A guy named Dennis Connor…I used to be
his sparring partner preparing for the 1976 Olympics. We were on the
water hours and hours together, sailing side by side. Dennis really got
me to be an Olympic-caliber athlete in sailing.
Weekday wake-up time: 7 a.m.
Hobbies: Architecture
Last book read: I watch The History Channel and National Geographic
Favorite dance music: Latest hits—hip-hop
Proudest moment: There are many—to name a few: meeting President George Bush Sr. when he visited my home in the Bahamas;
having dinner with Mikhail Gorbachev in the Kremlin.
First job: Collecting Coke bottles from ditches when I was about
eight years old and selling them for 2 cents a piece so we could buy
water, which was 25 cents, and survive another day
Favorite movie: Movies that are biographical/history based, for
example, “Alexander the Great” and “Julius Caesar”
Preferred wheels: Hummer 1
Preferred wings: Super 727—the love of my life! It’s not just a 727; it’s
a 727 with a special hot engine.
Do you ever take the controls? No, because it’s so time-consuming.
I just want to get on the airplane and enjoy it.
Favorite clothing designer: Hugo Boss, but I mainly make my own
clothing—leather jackets, jeans.
Favorite cruising grounds: Bahamas
Favorite sport: I played and excelled in every sport—basketball, badminton, track and field, decathlons. I think the sports ability in me
actually trained my business ability—the competitiveness, practice
and hard work.
Favorite port: Nygård Cay
Latest impulse purchase: My airplane. I don’t go around spending
money like that. I had been looking for the ultimate way to travel for
a long time.
Ideal day: To have designed something—that is when I am most
happy.