Brooks Brothers: Brand that survived world wars lost battle against pandemic
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From the food we eat to the cars we drive, everything evolves with time. And those who can't manage the pace of it, either become dated or dead
Can one imagine that meetings over Zoom could kill an iconic clothing brand?
Brooks Brothers has filed bankruptcy as its suits are not getting sold. No one is wearing pin-striped suits as work from home becomes a new normal these days.
T-shirts and sweat pants have become the new workwear.
A brand that overcame world wars couldn't survive work from home.
From the food we eat to the cars we drive, everything evolves with time. And those who can't manage the pace of it, either become dated or dead.
And Brooks Brothers is the latest example of this phenomenon.
In the second decade of the 21st Century, Brooks Brothers' business centered around pin-striped suits and custom shirts. Only a handful of people wear these outfits in today's times.
And even fewer people go to the office these days.
Back in the times, Brooks Brothers were the unofficial dress code of the Wall Street bankers. However, they relaxed the strict dress code, and employees were then encouraged to dress comfortably to work.
People started wearing semi-formals or casuals at work, but Brooks Brothers did not give up on its trademark suits.
The pandemic made things worse as people started working from home,
In June, the company warned of laying off 700 workers and on July 8, it filed for bankruptcy.
The brand that was started in 1818 and survived two world wars and the Great Recession has collapsed.
Brooks Brothers invented the button-down polo shirt, dressed 40 US presidents and members of the British royal family.
The iconic clothing brand may have lost the battle to change and the pandemic.
It is n the process of shuttering 20 per cent of its stores in the US and joining the club of J. Crew, Neiman Marcus and J.C Penney.