Brooks Brothers is an American fashion company founded in that is notable for being the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States. He proclaimed that his guiding principle was, "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.
The Golden Fleece symbol was adopted as the company's trademark in A wooly sheep suspended in a ribbon had long been a symbol of British woolen merchants. Dating from the fifteenth century, the image had been the emblem of the Knights of the Golden Fleece , founded by Philip the Good , Duke of Burgundy. In its early history, Brooks Brothers was known for introducing the ready-to-wear suit to American customers.
Hand-stitched into the coat's lining was a design featuring an eagle and the inscription, "One Country, One Destiny". He was wearing the coat and a Brooks Brothers suit when he was assassinated. With a contract from New York State to supply uniforms for the New York Volunteers, Brooks Brothers took shredded and sometimes decaying rags, glued them together and stitched them into uniforms. They would fall apart in the rain and were the subject of ridicule from other regiments.
According to James Murray primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from until his death in Brook Brothers were allegedly responsible for bringing "shoddy" into American usage.
Although Winthrop Brooks remained with the company as a figurehead after the acquisition, John C. Wood became the director of Brooks Brothers. Just prior to that, Wood had been the carrier of the papers for the Dumbarton Oaks Conference. Wood notably stated "They call us conservative, but we think that our styles are simply lacking the bizarre. We deal in what a man should wear, not what some women think he should wear. In the mid s, the company's executives removed the signature Golden Fleece logo from the brand's cotton knit polo shirts, though it was later restored.
