Most brands wouldn’t dare

How Brooks Brothers Became THE American Brand.

Before there was Ralph Lauren, and before Abercrombie was cool (I miss my pink polo), there was Brooks Brothers.

Founded in 1818, it’s the brand that literally INVENTED American style before we even knew we had one.

They’ve dressed presidents, tycoons, and eventually, everyone who wanted to look like one.

From the fun shirt to the red power tie, Brooks didn’t follow trends.

It created them.

And more than 200 years later, the brand is still standing (albeit after some financial troubles in recent years).

Brooks Brothers is the kind of legacy brand every Marketer dreams of building and within its history are lessons we can all learn from to hone our craft.

So take a seat, unbutton your blazer, and loosen your tie.

THIS… is the story of Brooks Brothers.

The year is 1818, and America is still finding its footing.

James Monroe is President.

The (restored) White House is just one year old.

There’s no mass media, no DTC, no fashion industry, and certainly no such thing as “American style.”

But on the corner of Catherine and Cherry Street in New York City, a 45-year-old man named Henry Sands Brooks opens a small clothing shop named… H. & D.H. Brooks & Co.

(They didn’t have copywriters back then.)

His mission?

“To make and deal only in merchandise of the finest body, to sell it at a fair profit, and to deal with people who seek and appreciate such merchandise”

In other words, Henry was about ✨ quality ✨ without breaking the bank.

He sold crisp linen shirts, durable wool overcoats, and elegant accessories sourced from the best materials he could find.

Henry didn’t just sell clothes.

He sold a STANDARD.

When people bought a suit from Henry, they knew they were getting their money’s worth.

That standard of quality sticks with people and it stuck so well that in 1833, Henry had to enlist the help of his sons in running the business. 

They were now… Brooks Brothers.

(Even though they wouldn’t formally adopt the name for another 20-ish years. Once again, copywriters weren’t really a thing back then.)

Their father would die that same year.

But for the Brooks boys, the real work was just beginning.

Their first goal?

Get their suits into the hands of more people.

In 1849, they pulled off what no other American clothier had: they introduced the country’s first ready-to-wear suit.

At the time, this was unheard of. Men either had their clothes custom-made or settled for ill-fitting, offhand solutions that still required tailoring.

But the Brooks brothers saw the future:

A rising middle class. Urban professionals on the go. Ambitious young men who didn’t have time (or money!) for bespoke.

So they created a system with standardized sizing, consistent silhouettes and tailored aesthetics without the tailored process.

They didn’t just make menswear more efficient.

They made it more ATTAINABLE.

And with that move, they weren’t just selling suits anymore.

They were dressing the American dream.

The suits were a smash HIT.

From young professionals to seasoned statesmen, men across the country started showing up in Brooks Brothers and they caught the eye of one man in particular. 

One of Brooks Brothers’ most loyal customers was a lanky brawler turned self-taught lawyer from Illinois.

(If you couldn’t tell, we’re talking about Honest Abe.)

Abraham Lincoln didn’t just shop at Brooks Brothers.

He trusted them to dress him for history.

For his second inauguration in 1865, Brooks Brothers gifted Lincoln a custom-made overcoat.

On the inside, stitched beneath the collar, was an American eagle and a bold inscription that read…

“One Country, One Destiny.”

Talk about great seeding. Lincoln would wear the coat everywhere (even to Ford’s Theater ☹️) and it marked the beginning of a long tradition: Brooks Brothers became the go-to clothier for presidents.

From Lincoln to FDR.

Eisenhower to JFK.

Clinton to Obama.

If you’ve seen a modern American president in a navy suit, odds are… it’s Brooks.

But that never made Brooks out of touch with the regular man.

In fact, that was always the magic of the brand: it stood for excellence, but NEVER exclusivity.

Whether you were a senator or a salesman, a Harvard grad or a hopeful intern, Brooks Brothers gave you access to the same quiet confidence stitched into every cuff, collar, and crease.

This idea of making fine clothing for everyone endured into the next century.

Take the repp tie, for example. Traditionally worn by British schoolboys and military men, the stripes ran from left to right.

But BB LITERALLY flipped the script.

In 1902, the brand introduced their own version of the repp tie with the direction of the stripes REVERSED.

Now this may seem a small tweak, but it was a HUGE DEAL.

In Britain, the repp tie was more than just fabric. It was a uniform. The direction and color of the stripes signaled your military unit, your elite university, or the aristocratic family you came from.

In short, it was a subtle signal of status.

So when Brooks Brothers flipped the stripes, they weren’t just redesigning a tie.

They were making a statement.

PUT IT IN PRACTICE Flip the script. Look at your highest-performing content from the last 60 days. Now ask: what’s the most EXPECTED part of it…the format, the tone, the CTA? Flip that one element. Keep the value, change the vibe. If it was polished, try raw. If it was long-form, go punchy and visual. That’s exactly what Brooks Brothers did when they flipped the stripes. Same tie, different energy. Because sometimes the boldest branding move isn’t a rebrand. It’s a remix.

This wasn’t about where you came from.

It was about where you were going.

That attitude made Brooks Brothers the go-to apparel for anyone looking to make their own way in the world.

As the years went on, this ethos took on a look of its own in what would become Ivy Style.

Clean lines. Button-down collars. Khakis, loafers, navy blazers.

It was casual (for the time!), but polished.

And at the heart of it all? Brooks Brothers.

Brooks Brothers had cemented themselves in American culture and defined an entire nation’s idea of style.

But now, let’s flash forward to the present.

People are more likely to wear sweatpants to work than a suit (guilty!). 

Formality is out and comfort is king.

And the idea of “dressing for success” looks a lot different in a world of remote work, startup culture, and Zoom calls.

For a brand built on structure, tradition, and tailoring, this was a reckoning.

Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and had to shut down countless stores across the country. 

But here’s the thing about legacy: It doesn’t disappear.

IT EVOLVES.

Since then, Brooks Brothers has been working to find its footing by modernizing its fits, experimenting with casualwear, and reintroducing itself to a generation that grew up in hoodies, not herringbone.

And while they may never dominate the culture like they once did, the brand still carries something most companies can only dream of: meaning.

MARKETING CHEAT SHEET (WHAT TO LEARN FROM THIS STORY):

1️⃣. Make Quality Feel Accessible: Brooks Brothers mastered the art of making prestige feel personal. Their suits weren’t just for elites… They were for anyone chasing excellence. That mindset applies today more than ever. High standards don’t need to come with high barriers. Think about how your product, service, or content FEELS to the outsider. Great brands feel open, not exclusive. You don’t have to lower the bar. Just make more people feel welcome to reach it.

2️⃣. Turn Convenience into Competitive Advantage: In a time when custom tailoring was the norm, Brooks Brothers introduced ready-to-wear suits and changed the game. They recognized the value of speed and ease. That principle still holds: every friction point you remove builds loyalty. Look at your email flow, your checkout, your onboarding… anything with steps. Cut one. Make it smoother. Today’s winners are the ones who save people TIME, not just money.

3️⃣. Flip a Format Brooks Brothers flipped the direction of a tie stripe. And in doing so, flipped the script on tradition. You don’t need a massive rebrand to stand out. Just tweak something people take for granted. Try this: post the same piece of content in a different format this week. Turn a blog into a LinkedIn carousel. Turn a webinar into a meme. Turn a tweet into a cold open. Small flips spark fresh attention.

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