Brooks Brothers Celebrates 125th Anniversary of the Button-Down Collar Shirt

It may be considered the quintessential dress shirt today, but the button-down collar shirt actually traces its history to the sport of polo.

As the story goes, in 1896, John Brooks, grandson of Brooks Brothers founder Henry S. Brooks, attended a polo match in England and saw that the players pinned down their collars to prevent flapping during play. A lightbulb went off in his head and he brought the idea back to the U.S. where his family’s haberdashery created its own version, the Original Polo Button-Down collar shirt, in 1900.

And now, Brooks Brothers is celebrating that milestone with a special 125th anniversary campaign and a variety of activations throughout the year.

The campaign features nine prominent individuals: actress and activist Selma Blair; comedian Hasan Minhaj; entrepreneur and advocate Antwan Tolliver; author of “The Official Preppy Handbook” and journalist Lisa Birnbach; New York City Ballet principal dancer Chun Wai Chan; “Humans of New York” creator Brandon Stanton; WNBA player and union president Nneka Ogwumike; competitive pipe surfer Balaram Stack, and activist and nonprofit leader Alan van Capelle.

Stas Komarovski shot portraits of each person in black-and-white wearing the shirt, and the cast also gave exclusive video interviews, sharing personal anecdotes of how the Brooks Brothers button-down collar has influenced fashion and played a role in defining their own style.

“I believe in the power of a button-down shirt,” Blair said. “It’s classic school style, what so much American film was created on. Style is a set piece to me. It creates the lifestyle we want.”

“I love American history and American heritage, and that’s Brooks Brothers,” Birnbach said. “Until the button-down collar was invented by Brooks Brothers, collars would flap in athletes’ faces when they were playing polo. That’s the original idea of sportswear. Brooks Brothers has defined classic American sportswear.”

Ken Ohashi, chief executive officer of Brooks Brothers, which was founded in 1818, said his motto for the business is “always about going back to go forward,” and his goal is to keep the company relevant today while also celebrating its history.

“We want to remind the consumer we were the originator of the button-down shirt,” he said. “Celebrating the button-down collar shirt is not just a celebration of a garment, but a celebration of the enduring spirit of American style. This shirt has been a constant in our heritage and is symbolic of our commitment to delivering exceptional quality, innovation and tailoring for every generation.”

Although much of the company’s efforts of late have been focused on expanding its sportswear business, Ohashi said, “the cornerstone of the business is still built around shirts and suiting.” Although sportswear has grown the most — and the quickest — in recent years, Ohashi believes that the marketing campaign for the button-down will help “all the businesses rise at the same time.”

Before Brooks Brothers developed the button-down, collars were sized and stiff and had to be stitched onto the body of the shirt. The first iterations of the shirt were in white, but by the 1920s, thanks to the influence of the Duke of Windsor, they also became popular in pastel shades.

While the cast is photographed in the original white version, Ohashi said Brooks Brothers today offers button-downs in a variety of solids and patterns in fabrics ranging from cotton oxford to performance stretch. “White and blue still represent the majority of our shirt sales,” he said. They’re available in a wide of sizes as well as in made-to-measure. “If you want a button-down shirt, we have one for everyone,” he said.

Over the years, the shirt has been worn by everyone from U.S. presidents to style setters such as Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Audrey Hepburn. The shirt has even been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art.

Michael Bastian, creative director of Brooks Brothers, noted: “The button-down collar shirt is such a fundamental element of menswear that it’s hard to imagine a time that it didn’t exist. But like many things in our life that we take for granted, someone had to invent it, and in this case it was Brooks Brothers. The collar’s original ‘function’ (keeping your collar from flapping into your face while playing polo) is no longer the point and what we’re left with is the perfect collar with that elegant signature roll and real substance, especially when it’s made up in oxford cloth.”

Bastian said the shirt “also single-handedly inspired Brooks Brothers’ entire women’s department in the 1940s when it was noticed that women made up a big portion of its fan base. Of the many things invented by Brooks Brothers, none deserve icon status more than this. It’s crazy the difference two little buttons make.”

The campaign will debut on Wednesday.