Hickey Freeman

For a tailored American suit with real construction credentials, Hickey Freeman is widely regarded as a strong buy, especially on sale. The brand made its name on a commitment to high-quality clothing dating back to 1908, and its suits are valued for solid construction and good fabric. As a statement of quality-per-dollar, the mainline range is where the value lives.

Hickey Freeman has a long reputation for quality tailoring, rooted in its 1908 decision to manufacture only high-quality clothing at a time when ready-to-wear suits rarely carried real hand-craftsmanship. That heritage is the brand's calling card. As always with tailored clothing, fit and the specific cloth matter as much as the label, so try before you commit where you can.

It is the single most important thing to know before buying. Hickey Freeman's mainline garments built the brand's reputation, but pieces produced for outlet and discount channels are generally not made to the same standard. To get what the name promises, stick with mainline suits rather than assuming every Hickey Freeman label is identical.

Both are American tailoring institutions, and the brands are linked in buyers' minds for good reason. Hickey Freeman is celebrated for high-quality ready-to-wear suiting, while Oxxford is generally positioned as the more intensively hand-tailored, premium option. Choose Hickey Freeman for excellent classic American suiting at a more attainable level; reach for Oxxford when you want the top tier of hand-work.

The answer changed recently. The brand operated its historic factory in Rochester, New York, from 1908 until 2023, but on May 18, 2023 it was announced that manufacturing of Hickey Freeman branded suits would move to Mexico, with design and production contracted to Peerless Clothing. The Rochester factory itself was sold and continues making clothing under a different name.

The company was founded in Rochester, New York, in 1899. Jeremiah G. Hickey and his friend Jacob L. Freeman, together with colleagues Thomas Mahon and George A. Brayer, formed Hickey, Freeman & Mahon Co.; because Hickey put in the most capital and Mahon none, the name became the Hickey-Freeman Co. in 1900. That partnership is the root of the brand.

Ownership of the brand name currently sits with Authentic Brands Group, which acquired it as part of the HMX holding company in 2012. The story is layered, because in 2023 ownership of the brand name and the historic Rochester factory diverged, with production moving to Mexican facilities. The Authentic Brands name is the one behind today's Hickey Freeman suits.

The Temple was Hickey Freeman's landmark factory. By 1912 the company had built a larger, more modern facility on N. Clinton Ave. on Rochester's northern edge, known as The Temple, chosen to keep its skilled workers close. It grew so much through the 1920s that the building had to be expanded twice to house over 1,700 employees, a sign of the brand's rise.

Its reputation traces to a deliberate choice. After a 1908 merger, vice-president Emmett Baum drove Hickey Freeman's decision that year to manufacture only high-quality clothing, at a time when ready-to-wear suits were seldom made with hand-craftsmanship of any quality. Recognizing that quality mattered set the brand apart and shaped its identity for more than a century.

If you like Hickey Freeman's classic American tailoring, several names sit in the same world. Oxxford Clothes, Brooks Brothers, J. Press, and Paul Stuart all draw on similar traditional menswear sensibilities. Comparing them comes down to how much hand-work, and which house style, you are after.