- [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.