Ironclad

Josh Guillory is a man of few words. Actions? Absolutely. One look at his masterful spiral stairwells, classic driveway gates, or sinewy, modern art-inspired floor lamps proves that. But the veteran iron craftsman’s dialogue is often choice and contemplative these days.

Unless he gets going about virgin wool or raw, organic denim.

“Wool is pretty much a magic fiber, man,” Guillory says. “Being from Louisiana I didn’t think about wool much growing up, but it’s incredible. It clams up in the cold and breathes more when its warm, so it really reacts to the weather.”

Walking out of his office and into a showroom increasingly overtaken by boots, jackets and jeans instead of iron railings and ornamental metal finishes, the creative is musing about the new 100% virgin wool shirt he designed from scratch with creative cohort Duncan Aubrey.

From the lamb’s “first haircut,” soft virgin wool will be a staple material for the new USA- and Japan-made clothing line Guillory and his wife, Erin, have launched from their workshop in downtown Lake Charles.

With 2024 the year the longtime welder goes fully beyond the anvil as a creative, the pair behind popular men’s boutique Iron Shop Provisions has named its original Louisiana-inspired clothing label A New Medium.

“Josh has always had his own style, so he’s wanted to create his own line for a while now,” says Erin, who manages sales and business operations. Josh calls her “the mom of the shop keeping us in line.” “Of course, the margins are better on your own clothing, but A New Medium is our baby, and there’s a real pride factor there. I think in every piece that shows.”

Whether it’s their dark, robust denim jacket or a colorful soft-knit beanie, the Guillory’s premium clothing aims for longevity.

At 16, Guillory assumed he would weld forever. He fell hard for the craft and launched Custom Iron By Josh in 2005, after Rita had ravaged Acadiana and rebuilding and renovating were essential.

His metal shop has welded for hundreds of homes and several public civic projects, though at 44, the entrepreneur employs a small team of welders and installers now for doing the very literal heavy lifting on his iron designs — “Assembly line style,” Guillory says.

For six years, the Guillorys have operated Iron Shop Provisions in Lake Charles, and now they have expanded into the Warehouse District of New Orleans, too.

Offering classic-minded, American-made menswear brands, carefully curated and tested by Guillory, the shop’s online sales have boomed since the pandemic. But the team remains as small and custom as A New Medium’s pieces. To this day, Erin shoots their social media photos, and Josh serves as the signature model.

“I take the photos and he poses, because he’s got the angles down,” Erin says. “It’s like everything with the shop, we decided to just go for it and figure it out as we go.”

But owning two very different businesses doesn’t sustain success without its challenges.

“You have to be an artist, a people-person and very business-minded,” Guillory says. “And you have to have a good eye and weld good. It’s hard to be everything! Maybe that’s why we don’t have a lot of competition.”

While Guillory is focused on the future of A New Medium and expressing his deep desire for quality threads through Iron Shop Provisions, his legacy in welding strikes him most when relaxing on the water with his family.

Looking out at the sprawling Lakefront Promenade at the heart of Lake Charles, and across the facades of the surrounding waterfront homes he has fortified with gates and fences, fixtures and staircases, the impact Guillory has had in nearly two decades of ironwork in the city is not lost on the creative Louisiana native.

“Anytime I’m on the boat and looking out at these houses, I can tell my kids I did that, and it’s a beautiful scene,” Guillory says. “It’s been cool, and it’s fulfilling to know that these things are long-lasting, and for a lifetime. I love that about what we’ve done.”

Q&A

When you’re not working, what do you love to do? I play tennis when I’m feeling up for it, and we get out on the water as much as we can. We love the Saints, so we watch football. We try to eat downtown mostly, and stay close, and support the locals that are near our shop. There’s Thai Lake Charles, which is amazing. 1910 is a good wine bar on Ryan Street. And Mazen’s has been around forever. We love their Mediterranean food.

If you could outfit one well-known person or celebrity in your clothes, who would it be and why? Ideally, I’d like the clothing line to remain small batch, and to be able to serve our customer base with great pieces. But seeing one of these items on anyone we don’t know would be a super cool experience.

What is something that welding and clothing design have in common? It’s different textures and design, but both are providing something useful for someone. Both take a creative eye, for sure. I appreciate the satisfaction of someone absolutely loving the custom gate I’ve made them or a customer purchasing something that’s their new favorite piece to wear.

At a Glance

Ages Josh, 44;
Erin, 31

Hometown Lake Charles, Louisiana

Online Customironbyjosh.com, ironshopprovisions.com,
@customironbyjosh and @ironshopprovisions on Instagram