Official Rochester Tailored Clothing (formerly Hickey Freeman) Thread

[Epaulet]

Hello everyone!

I'm thrilled to formally introduce Rochester Tailored Clothing! We are their designated dealer on Styleforum, and I'm available to answer any questions that you have about their product or process.

We'll use this thread to announce new offerings, show off client makeups, and interact with the community.

There's a ton to talk about and a lot of pics to post, so let me quickly summarize RTC to get you acquainted with them:

1. Rochester Tailored Clothing is headquartered in Rochester, New York, at the historic Hickey Freeman factory. Established in 1899, it's the oldest tailoring house in the United States.

2. "Hickey Freeman" is a separate intellectual property held by Authentic Brand Group. As of this year, garments bearing the name Hickey Freeman will be made in Mexico.

3. So it's a bit confusing, but the heart and soul of the Hickey Freeman label (the craftspeople, the facility, the machines, the legacy) is now in the hands of RTC. They own the legacy means of production, but they no longer own the name. Their quality-to-price ratio is unmatched in North America, and they still offer the classic Hickey construction.. including full canvas.

4. We (Epaulet) have been producing custom suits, sportcoats, trousers, and casual jackets with them since the Winter of 2020. That was a rocky time to start a new partnership, but we've delivered over 1000 custom pieces since then, and the quality has been absolutely stellar!

5. We offer our own in-house shapes and designs, but we also have access to legacy patterns from both Hickey Freeman and Southwick (Brooks Brothers). Not all of them, but most of them. So if you own an American-made garment from those three labels, chances are we can make another one in the same specs. And even if we cannot...

6. Significant made-to-measure options are available. We're not as flexible as a bespoke house, but we're not priced like one either. RTC is an excellent value to begin with, and I go the extra mile to constantly offer interesting off-price promotions.

We organize our custom clothing by categories on our website. Here are main links below for our RTC offerings. Our website has a great chat function and all messages go directly to me. It's easy to quickly send pics and links through there, so feel free to ask me questions on epauletbrand.com at any time.

Custom RTC Suits, Sportcoats, and Trousers

Custom RTC Overcoats

Custom RTC Chore Coats, Teba Hunting Jackets, and Field Jackets

 

[dougc33]

View attachment 1978003

Hello everyone!

I'm thrilled to formally introduce Rochester Tailored Clothing! We are their designated dealer on Styleforum, and I'm available to answer any questions that you have about their product or process.

We'll use this thread to announce new offerings, show off client makeups, and interact with the community.

There's a ton to talk about and a lot of pics to post, so let me quickly summarize RTC to get you acquainted with them:

1. Rochester Tailored Clothing is headquartered in Rochester, New York, at the historic Hickey Freeman factory. Established in 1899, it's the oldest tailoring house in the United States.

2. "Hickey Freeman" is a separate intellectual property held by Authentic Brand Group. As of this year, garments bearing the name Hickey Freeman will be made in Mexico.

3. So it's a bit confusing, but the heart and soul of the Hickey Freeman label (the craftspeople, the facility, the machines, the legacy) is now in the hands of RTC. They own the legacy means of production, but they no longer own the name. Their quality-to-price ratio is unmatched in North America, and they still offer the classic Hickey construction.. including full canvas.

4. We (Epaulet) have been producing custom suits, sportcoats, trousers, and casual jackets with them since the Winter of 2020. That was a rocky time to start a new partnership, but we've delivered over 1000 custom pieces since then, and the quality has been absolutely stellar!

5. We offer our own in-house shapes and designs, but we also have access to legacy patterns from both Hickey Freeman and Southwick (Brooks Brothers). Not all of them, but most of them. So if you own an American-made garment from those three labels, chances are we can make another one in the same specs. And even if we cannot...

6. Significant made-to-measure options are available. We're not as flexible as a bespoke house, but we're not priced like one either. RTC is an excellent value to begin with, and I go the extra mile to constantly offer interesting off-price promotions.

We organize our custom clothing by categories on our website. Here are main links below for our RTC offerings. Our website has a great chat function and all messages go directly to me. It's easy to quickly send pics and links through there, so feel free to ask me questions on epauletbrand.com at any time.

Custom RTC Suits, Sportcoats, and Trousers

Custom RTC Overcoats

Custom RTC Chore Coats, Teba Hunting Jackets, and Field Jackets

Wow - welcome to the Forum!

 

[philosophe]

So glad to hear that the many skilled artisans in Rochester have a future.

 

[gimpwiz]

I was gutted to hear how the holding company was eff-ing the employees, literally stealing from benefits accounts. I hope this is now all resolved, or on the path to being so, and am stoked that production can continue properly. Of course, that means that 'current' (or as of shortly in the future) HF is dead to me, as far as purchases and/or recommendations go. I assume RTC tailoring will show up at retailers soon.

 

[Epaulet]

Wow - welcome to the Forum!

Thank you! Just to be clear... I'm a retailer long-running affiliate vendor here. We offer custom tailoring through RTC, and we are the designated partner for Styleforum.

So glad to hear that the many skilled artisans in Rochester have a future.

I was gutted to hear how the holding company was eff-ing the employees, literally stealing from benefits accounts. I hope this is now all resolved, or on the path to being so, and am stoked that production can continue properly. Of course, that means that 'current' (or as of shortly in the future) HF is dead to me, as far as purchases and/or recommendations go. I assume RTC tailoring will show up at retailers soon.

The ownership transition should be complete in the next few weeks. Pretty much the entire production staff was retained, and we've been receiving fresh product consistently (although definitely a bit slower than usual).

Taking a comprehensive fabric inventory has been a big part of this. Our current offerings for fabric are mostly speciality and promotional stuff, but we'll be rolling out more standards and four season wools in the next month. I'll post up new offerings as they go online. The next release will be a huge spectrum of 3-ply frescos from Hardy Minnis!

Oh, and given the size of the factory, you probably won't see much in the way of stock garments. The majority of their production will likely be custom MTO/MTM. Outside of the sizable contract work that they do for the military and the USPS.

 

[mlstein]

I live in Rochester and mourn the passing of the name and (I assume) the factory store. I wish you all the best! Is the storefront on Broad and Union in Rochester going to be anything other than the Memorial Day one-off?

 

[Epaulet]

I live in Rochester and mourn the passing of the name and (I assume) the factory store. I wish you all the best! Is the storefront on Broad and Union in Rochester going to be anything other than the Memorial Day one-off?

Hmmm good question, honestly I'm not sure. I'll ask the next time I'm on a call with them.

 

[mlstein]

Hmmm good question, honestly I'm not sure. I'll ask the next time I'm on a call with them.

Thanks!

 

[philosophe]

I grew up in Rochester and remember the business.

 

[Epaulet]

I grew up in Rochester and remember the business.

Lots of history there for sure! I was able to find some early pics and it's amazing to be in a space with so many memories...

Early 1900s....

Some changes now, but lots of original details still in place

And here's the two guys who made our Epaulet & RTC product a reality

First up... Jeffery Diduch, SVP Design (and longstanding Styleforum luminary)

Next: John Martynec, Executive VP Manufacturing & Operations.
John was formerly the director of Southwick in Massachusetts. I've been working with him for the better part of 12 years.

And here I am... Eva Kuhle, owner & designer of Epaulet...
(Fresh off a redeye flight from California)

 

[Epaulet]

Okay let's show some recent makeups. First off... sportcoats. Our signature shape is the "Nuovo," which is a soft shouldered, half canvas Neopolitan single breasted...

Aged Silver Silk-Linen Herringbone

Loro Piana Dark Raisin Check Boucle

Barbera Smokey Blue S130s Blue Flannel Check

 

[clee1982]

Probably not going to be very hard, but can you guys eventually show all the available patterns?

 

[Epaulet]

Probably not going to be very hard, but can you guys eventually show all the available patterns?

Yup, we have a page online that can use some updates, but here are the shapes that we offer...

Sportcoats
Nuovo (single breasted, 4" lapels)
Dartmouth (single breasted, cropped body, 3.25" lapels)
Doppio (double breasted)

Casual Jackets
Doyle (chore coat)
Field Jacket (four patch pockets)
Teba (Spanish hunting coat)

Trousers
Walt (plain front, standard leg)
Wilhelm (plain front, slightly higher rise, more room in seat and thighs for bigger legs)
Driggs (plain front, lower rise, slim leg)
Taylor (single pleat, high rise, full leg and seat)
Nico (single pleat, high rise, extended button tab, full leg and seat)

 

[clee1982]

Possible to include the old HF and BB stuff as well?

 

[clee1982]

I guess for BB there is
BBBF
Madison
Fitzgerald
Regent
Milano
Cambridge
Own Make

No idea about HF