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Brooks Brothers, now located at One Liberty Plaza, has been a downtown institution since 1818
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The repp tie. The button-down collar. The Shetland sweater. The polo coat.
It's difficult to imagine more enduring and ubiquitous wardrobe components than these, the classic elements of a Wall Streeter's daily "uniform" or more casual weekend mufti. They are staples that, whether in the closets of patrician or populist shoppers, are today inextricably woven into the vernacular of haberdashery…all due to the pioneering and artful merchandising of the venerable clothing emporium, Brooks Brothers.
Founded in 1818 by Henry Sands Brooks, the original establishment stood at the corner of Catherine and Cherry Streets (South Street Seaport area). In 1850 when Brooks' four sons were running the business, they altered the name to reflect their involvement. Addresses changed, too, to suit the sprawling and peripatetic Manhattan population -- a staggering 630,000 populace was reported in the 1850s.
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| Brooks Brothers began downtown in 1818 |
As commerce moved "uptown," so did Brooks, relocating in 1857 to the corner of Grand and Broadway. According to company history, this shop was considered the grandest establishment of its type at that time, lit by chandeliers and gas fixtures crafted by Tiffany. As the "uptown" business thrived, the original location was closed in 1874 and yet another store, farther "uptown" at Broadway and Bond Street, was opened.
When Brooks' last surviving son died ten years later, the company moved again with yet another leap north, this time to Broadway and 22nd Street, near the fashionable "Ladies' Mile." Brooks Brothers would not return to its downtown roots again until 1932, when it established itself at One Wall Street, opposite Trinity Church. After World War II, a new store was erected at 67 Liberty Street.
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| Brooks Brothers today occupies 16,000 square feet at One Liberty Plaza |
In 1976, Brooks Brothers finally settled in its present downtown home, at One Liberty Plaza, where it occupies 16,000 square feet on two levels. A mere stone's throw from the World Trade Center, the downtown shop was devastated during the attacks of 9/11. With its glass façade blown out and layers of debris clouding the entire building, the once clubby environment became home to a club of a decidedly different sort, a center for rescue and recovery operations.
During the year that the downtown store was closed, its three-dozen employees remained on payroll and many were relocated to other stores. When the store reopened, some chose to return to this shop, the one that they viewed as their home.
Their loyalty to the downtown store should come as no surprise. In fact, the dedication of Brooks Brothers' employees is legendary: A salesman named Frederick Webb, who retired in 1928, ministered to five generations of Morgans, starting with J. P. Mr. Webb remained on the Brooks payroll for a staggering 65 years.
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| Brooks Brothers was one of the first to prepare ready-to-wear suits |
Amazingly, Brooks' generous wooden panels and fixtures remained more or less in tact, despite the surrounding devastation, and with a Herculean cleaning effort, the store was able to reopen exactly one year to the day after the attacks. Without self-congratulatory fanfare, the shuttered doors were simply opened. Hundreds of loyal customers returned, slowly and steadily. Many murmured thanks and sent grateful emails to the management, sharing what it meant to them personally to see the store open again, or recounting landmark shopping experiences at the store:
"In the summer of 1979 my first office job was a temp at Merrill Lynch when I was 15. I took my first paycheck to the Citibank branch in the WorldTradeCenter, and went into the branch of Brooks Brothers and bought blue button-down oxford shirts with the proceeds."
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| Early advertisement from the 1930s when Brooks Brothers was located at One Wall Street |
And so it is that the famous button-down shirt crops up again. Reliable company history has it that the shirt was created just over one hundred years ago, an innovation of John Brooks, Henry's grandson. While watching a polo match in England, Brooks noted how the players secured their collars against the breeze by pinning them down. Eureka! A style was born. Other earlier landmark Brooks Brothers' creations or "inventions" include the seersucker frock coat (1830); the first (more or less) ready-to-wear suit, fabricated for eager, would-be California gold-miners pressing to head west without waiting for custom-made garments to be sewn (1845), and the silk foulard tie (1890).
Then along came the famous Brooks' "sack" suit, called the Number One and popularly regarded by historians as the first genuinely American suit. A single-breasted and -vented suit, it was made to comfortably fit all body types with Brooks' signature sloped shoulder and soft, natural lines (1895).
From there, the list just goes on an on. Among other innovations were the Shetland sweater (1904), the polo coat (1910), the repp tie and Indian madras fabric (1920), and the two-button suit worn by Kennedy at his inauguration (1961).
Just as Kennedy was a customer, so too, were other legendary statesmen, powerbrokers, celebrities, and dandies. In its 181 years, the store has dressed generations of the sartorially resplendent:
- According to Brooks Brothers' official history, "At his second inauguration, President Abraham Lincoln wears a magnificent coat specially crafted for him by Brooks Brothers. Hand stitched into the coat's lining is an intricate design featuring an eagle and the inscription, 'One Country, One Destiny.' Sadly, it was also this coat Lincolnwas wearing when he was assassinated on that fateful evening at Ford's Theater."
- Ulysses S. Grant ordered tailored uniforms for Union officers.
- After his first expedition to the South Pole, Admiral Richard E. Byrd wired Brooks to make his dress uniforms for his public appearances.
- FDR sported a grand cape, made by Brooks for the U. S. Navy.
And one cannot overlook Gary Grant, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Rudolph Valentino, Errol Flynn, Rudy Vallee, and John Barrymore. Today's customers, meanwhile, might range from Paul McCartney to Greg Kinnear, James Gandolfini to Queen Latifah.
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| The company manufactures 30,000 ties a week |
While the company once did all its own manufacturing at the 346 Madison Avenue flagship store, today the only manufacturing that is done locally is in Long Island City, where the company produces a stunning 30,000 ties a week.
The last of the Brooks family to lead the company was Winthrop Holly Brooks, who was at the helm from 1935 to 1946. After that Brooks Brothers was sold to Julius Garfinckel and Company, and the store was directed by John C. Wood, who, legend has it, made "Brooks even Brooksier." Currently, the company has 170 stores in the U.S. and 70 abroad; it is owned by Retail Brand Alliance, Inc. and headed by Claudio Del Vecchio, who remains committed to Brooks' credo:
"To make and deal only in merchandise of the best quality, to sell it at a fair profit only, and to deal only with people who seek and are capable of appreciating such merchandise."
Brooks Brothers, One Liberty Plaza, (212) 267-2400, www.brooksbrothers.com
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