Hart, Schaffner and Marx evolved from the men’s shop Harry and Max Hart opened in 1872, in Chicago, where clothing was desperately needed after the Great Chicago Fire. As the local population’s desperate need for clothing subsided, their quality and their focus improved. In 1879, Marcus Marx bought into the company and in 1887 Joseph Schaffner followed and they became Hart Schaffner and Marx.
Before this time, salespeople sold from large sample trunks and Hart, Schaffner and Marx clothing was the first to be sold through the use of fabric swatches. In 1936 they introduced the first mass-marketed zipper-fly men’s pants. The company produced military uniforms more than once, producing items for the US Army during WWII and designing uniforms for female cadets in the 1970s, through its subsidiary, Fashionaire. In 1983 the company changed its name to HartMarx to reflect its new role as a conglomerate.
Its labels include Hart Schaffner and Marx, Royal Shirt, and Keithmoor and licensed trademarks such as Kenneth Cole, Evan-Picone, Sansabelt, Claiborne Men, Jack Nicklaus, the Wimbledon Collection, Perry Ellis and Andrea Jovine. Hart Schaffner and Marx is still in business today.
See also: Fashionaire
Written by vintagegent.com
from a 1960s blazer
Courtesy of vintagegent.com
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