Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers was founded in New York in 1818 by Henry Sands Brooks. The business began as H. & D.H. Brooks & Co., selling clothing in Lower Manhattan before later generations of the family gave it the name it retains. Its development helped establish ready-made clothing as a practical alternative to visiting a tailor for every garment.

The button-down collar shirt became one of its defining contributions to men’s dress. Alongside natural-shouldered tailoring and striped ties, it formed part of a wardrobe that moved between business life and the university campus. Brooks Brothers became closely associated with Ivy League style, helping turn regional American habits into an internationally recognized way of dressing.

Its history also includes attempts to reconsider those classics. The Black Fleece collection, designed by Thom Browne, introduced a more experimental interpretation of the brand’s tailoring vocabulary in 2007. Such projects demonstrated how familiar shirts and suits could support different ideas about proportion and formality.

Authentic Brands Group and SPARC Group completed their acquisition of Brooks Brothers in 2020. Michael Bastian became creative director later that year, overseeing the collections. The brand’s continuing appeal rests on its role as both a source of everyday wardrobe pieces and a record of how American men have dressed for work, leisure, and public life.