- [Narrator] If there was one outfit
that defined men's style
in the 20th century,
it would be the suit and tie.
And if there was one outfitter
who helped pioneer that look,
it would be Brooks Brothers.
But, workplace fashion has changed a lot
since the suit's heyday
and analysts say Brooks
Brothers wasn't able
to keep up with modern men
who often wanted styles
that were cheaper and more functional.
The tipping point came when
the suit maker was forced
to shut her stores during
ongoing coronavirus lockdowns.
And in July, it filed for bankruptcy.
- Brooks Brothers is filing
for bankruptcy protection.
- [Reporter] It's planning to close
about 50 of its 200 stores.
- And that is the sort
of decline in the suit.
People are not wearing pinstripes
to work in the same way.
- [Narrator] Here's how the retailer went
from the top of men's wear
to filing for bankruptcy.
The Brooks Brothers brand identity
is built around its American roots.
- Brooks Brothers is the
oldest American clothier.
They along the way have had
a really outsized impact
on American men's fashion in
particular, kind of defining
what men's style is in America
and also having a lot of
different cultural touch points.
- [Narrator] That impact started in 1818
when Henry Sands Brooks opened
a men's clothing store in New York City.
He enlisted the help of his sons
and the store was renamed Brooks Brothers.
The retailer built its high
class reputation early.
Abraham Lincoln wore a
Brooks Brothers overcoat,
seen here during his second inauguration
and the company claims to have dressed
40 out of 45 presidents.
Heading into the 20th century,
the company had a
pioneering moment in 1896
when it introduced the
button down collared shirt
which would become a staple
of professional work attire.
- Brooks Brothers did a really good job
of basically being an innovator
and creating styles that were something
that men were gonna wanna wear
and put into their wardrobe
and especially put into their
wardrobe day in, day out.
- [Narrator] By the middle
of the 20th century,
the suit became standard uniform
for working professionals.
From Madison Avenue ad executives
to middle-America salesmen.
As it grew, the retailer
opened U.S. factories
and began selling clothes
to both men and women.
- The big look for Brooks was
this kind of natural shoulder.
It was a very easy wearing suit.
Our touchstone when we
talk about this period
is always the man in
the gray flannel suit,
what you would see in that movie of a man
on the train commuting into work
and everyone's wearing a
dark gray or dark blue suit
and they really helped kind of hammer home
that that was how men should be dressing
and what men should be wearing.
- [Narrator] One of the retailers designs,
the non-iron shirt, was a massive success,
but showed signs men's fashion
was becoming more utilitarian.
The business began to shift in 1988
when the company was sold
to British retailer Marks and Spencer.
- Marks and Spencer try some things out.
They try to update the stores.
They try to update the
shopping experience.
They start to change up
where things are produced.
At this point, Brooks' customer base
is pretty set in stone.
They know what the brand offers.
They rely on the brand for certain items
and they are, for lack of better term,
a risk averse consumer.
But, the 1980s are a time where fashion
is changing significantly for men.
For the Brooks Brothers guy,
that was a hard thing to stomach.
- [Narrator] Throughout the
90s, the retailers struggled
as trends towards casual dressing emerged
that even reached the top
of the corporate world.
And in 2001, the company was sold again
to another foreign owner.
This time to Italian
businessman, Claudio Del Vecchio.
- He has big plans and a lot
of analysts and a lot of people
that watch the clothing
space have faith in it.
And they think that maybe
he can turn it around.
He hires the American men's
wear designer, Tom Brown,
to start Brooks Brothers Black Fleece
which is this higher end more niche line.
He also hires Zac Posen
who's an American women's wear designer
to become the head of design
for Brooks Brothers' women's side.
- [Zac] What's amazing
about Brooks brothers
is that I don't think there's
anywhere else in the market
where you can find such high
quality make and fabrication.
- But, all the while Brooks Brothers
is having difficulty
adapting and adjusting
and getting a new consumer
in through the door.
- [Narrator] With the
rise of Silicon Valley,
men's fashion was skewing more casual
as tech CEOs ditch the suit and tie
for vests, hoodies, and flannels.
From 2016 to 2018, the market
for suits was shrinking
while other apparel categories
like sportswear were growing.
- So, what we see is this
real push toward casualization
and toward not necessarily simplicity,
but toward functionality a little bit more
and away from the suit
and toward maybe the simple plaid shirt
that's a little bit more affordable.
And so, they lose this real
interest from customers
and they really lose a place in the market
of being where men go
to for their clothing.
- [Narrator] In 2019,
Brooks Brothers captured
less than 1% of sales for menswear
behind sportswear brands
like Nike, Under Armor, and Adidas.
In 2019, with about $1 billion in revenue
and 244 stores in the U.S.,
the retailer began to look for a buyer,
but coronavirus lockdowns
in 2020 forced the retailer
to permanently close around 51 stores.
And the shift to working from
home temporarily dried up
the demand for professional attire.
- Guys are just at the point where
they just wanna be comfortable
and when you're working from home,
you have the ability to do that.
We hear all the time now
that men have their
quote unquote Zoom shirt
that they will put on
just before they got on
the video call and then
take off right after
and just be sitting in a T at their desk.
- [Narrator] Brooks
Brothers shifted production
at its factories towards mass making
and sought government funding
through the CARES act.
But, on July 8th, 2020,
the company filed for bankruptcy.
In August, a venture backed
by apparel licensing firm,
Authentic Brands, and mall
owners, Simon Property Group,
agreed to buy Brooks
Brothers for $325 million,
potentially putting the company back
under American ownership
for the first time
in over 30 years.
- I have heard from a lot of people
that if they focus on quality,
they might make it through.
That means that their clothes
are gonna be way more
expensive than they have been.
And yes, that will appease
a certain customer,
but that customer base willing
to pay that is much smaller.
- [Narrator] It remains to
be seen how large the demand
for suits will be after coronavirus
and whether a new owner can
help Brooks Brothers win back
its core customers or adapt
to a more casual workplace.
