Haggar

For everyday dress and business-casual wear, Haggar is one of the safest value picks in American menswear. The brand was named the No. 1 selling dress-pant brand in the U.S. by The NPD Group in 2019, which tells you how reliably it serves the mainstream office wardrobe. If you want dependable, easy-care slacks rather than a designer statement, they are an easy yes.

Haggar built its name on practical, everyday menswear rather than luxury construction, and its long history in slacks is the reassurance. By the end of the 1940s Haggar was the largest producer and marketer of slacks in the world, and it has kept iterating on the category for decades. Treat them as dependable workhorses for the office and you will rarely be disappointed.

Wrinkle resistance is core to Haggar's whole story. In 1954 Mickey Mantle signed on to promote what were marketed as the first wrinkle-free pants, sold as wash 'n' wear slacks, and Haggar kept refining the idea, releasing 100% cotton wrinkle-free pants in 1992. Low-maintenance, no-fuss trousers are exactly what the brand has chased for generations.

Haggar competes in the same accessible, business-casual lane as other American slacks brands, and the appeal is heritage plus easy care. It was the first menswear brand to advertise on national television, back in the 1950s during the Today Show, which helped make its slacks a household default. Choose Haggar when you want a proven mainstream option rather than something fashion-forward.

Not quite, and it is a fun bit of brand lore. Since the 1940s Haggar has claimed to have coined the word slacks, tied to use during leisurely slack time, but the word is recorded as far back as 1824, originally for military clothing. Haggar may have helped popularise the term in the United States, but it did not invent it.

Haggar was founded by Joseph Marion Haggar, Sr. (1892 to 1987), an immigrant from Jezzine, Lebanon, who moved to Dallas in 1921. He established his own company in 1926 in a one-room office with four employees and two sewing machines. The brand is still Dallas, Texas-based today, sold across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Haggar was acquired by Randa Accessories on May 31, 2019. By that year the company had 1,400 employees worldwide, including 400 in Dallas, and was named the No. 1 selling dress-pant brand in the U.S. So the family-founded label now sits inside a larger accessories and apparel group.

It is one of Haggar's proudest credentials. Haggar has supplied the Pro Football Hall of Fame's iconic gold induction jacket since 1978, with each one made to the inductee's exact measurements. The brand also makes induction jackets for the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.

Yes, famously. In August 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered six pairs of Haggar slacks over the phone from Joe Haggar, Jr., after receiving a pair as a gift. The recorded call, in which he requested very specific fit adjustments, has become a well-known piece of Haggar history.

Pants are the heart of the brand, but the range has broadened over the years. In the 1970s Haggar added sports coats and vests and pioneered separates, letting customers buy jackets and pants independently. A women's line of apparel was introduced in 1984, and the brand's labels have since included Kenneth Cole men's apparel.

Because Haggar is a broadly stocked mainstream brand carried at major retailers, you will find current styles in stock year-round, so there is no need to rush. Watching for end-of-season clearance on classic colours like navy, charcoal and khaki is the simplest way to build out a versatile rotation at the best value.