Brooks Brothers

Today

Currently co-owned by the apparel licensing company Authentic Brands Group (a holding company that buys distressed clothing brand’s IP) and the apparel operating company SPARC (also owns Forever 21, Lucky Brand, Eddie Bauer, Aeropostale, and Nautica).

SPARC itself is co-owned by a mix of corporate entities, including ABG, mall owner Simon Property Group, private equity firm Brookfield, and the controversial, online-only Chinese fast-fashion company Shein.

The current product line and pricing is similar to J. Crew.

How It Started

Brooks Brothers was founded in Manhattan in 1818, focused on producing high-quality clothing for discerning clientele, sold at a fair price.

The company pioneered ready-to-wear menswear in 1849, introduced the first button-down collar to the US in 1896, and was also responsible for introducing the sack suit, argyle, madras, seersucker, and the first successful non-iron shirt.

Brooks Brothers dressed the American elite: Presidents, business leaders, and wealthy preppies. By the mid-1900s, it was one of the most prestigious menswear brands, with customers including JFK and Clark Gable.

The company’s decline began when the family exited. Winthrop H. Brooks, great-grandson of the founder, would be the last Brooks family shareholder. He sold his 62% stake for $3M to the department store operator Julius Garfinckel & Co. in 1946, leaving the board the same year.

Ownership changed hands in 1980 and again in 1986, before the British clothier Marks & Spencer paid $750M for it in 1988, a price widely considered overinflated. M&S sold it at a loss to Italian investors in 2001, who spent two decades trying to restore its heritage before filing for bankruptcy in 2020, at which point Authentic Brands stepped in.

With each ownership change, the product quality has diluted, to the point that the company who made Abraham Lincoln’s overcoat the night he was shot is now owned by fast fashion.

Product Structure

Brooks Brothers’ original product was simple: high-quality clothing for discerning clientele.

With the introduction of ready-to-wear menswear in 1849, the company played a key role in shifting menswear from bespoke to mass distribution, while maintaining near-comparable quality.

However, as the fashion industry evolved and ownership shifted, Brooks Brothers drifted towards lower-quality manufacturing and the launch of many “growth verticals” outside their core expertise and heritage.

Ironically, had the company stayed true to its heritage, it would be a much more differentiated offering in the market today.

Governance & Financial Structure

Brooks Brothers is a good example of what happens to many family businesses when their owners exit, and the company passes to conglomerates that have little connection to the product or the people making it.

Each successive owner has seen the company primarily as a spreadsheet input, not as an input into the quality of human life.

Looking Forward

Its original exclusivity aside, the product quality of pre-sale Brooks Brothers shows what clothing might look like in a nourished world: valuable for its function, not its label, and made to last decades, not social media cycles.