J.Hilburn and other national men's wear businesses are catering to more discerning, value-conscious customers.

COURTESY OF J. HILBURN

When major financial institutions told employees to return to the office full time after working at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, men in droves started to order more clothes. While standard issue shoes and suits were on the rise, Simon Kneen, brand president at J.Hilburn, said men were, and still are, ripe for an upgrade.

Return-to-office mandates changed the purchasing behavior of professionals with the rise of stylist-led shopping for men. J.Hilburn, a which operates as an Internet-first brand of customized luxury men’s apparel has had more than 100,000 clients across U.S. and logged $28 million in funding raised from Battery Ventures and Bridgescale.

“They’re everyday professionals who simply don’t have the time to shop the traditional way,” said Kneen about J.Hilburn customers. Instead, stylists manage fit, fabrics and wardrobe planning, effectively outsourcing the entire process for busy professionals. “The consumer can work with somebody who understands his personal needs,” Kneen said.

The company has 19 active competitors such as Indochino for tailored suits and the Tom James Company for the direct sales custom brand. Peter Manning, offers quality clothes with the proper fit, and Nicholas Joseph, high end suits made by designers fabric-trained in Biella, Italy.

“I started my business 20 years ago,” Nicholas Hansen, CEO of Nicholas Joseph said. “I was working for Deloitte as a consultant and needed to buy a custom shirt because I had long arms. They said, ‘You can send swatches of styles and send it in and we’ll have it made. Customers were providing the measurements. If they were wrong, everything was wrong.”

Everything worked out. The company makes bespoke suits and custom wedding tuxedos, which can be ordered at its Chicago showroom. Access to mills include those used by Ermengildo Zegna, and Loro Piana. Consumers get expertly fitted, then their product is ready after a few adjustments are made. “We have four designers working full time,” Hansen said. “The tailors are trained in Chicago.”

The company’s Bespoke No.10 Hero garment so-named because Hansen was in his 10th year of business when it launched, requires 55 bench hours to create – all in Chicago – including pattern drafting from scratch, cloth making and cutting, jacket and pant construction and multiple fittings to ensure the best drape and mobility on the client.

Billy Reid two years ago acquired the Knot Standard’s direct-to-consumer business, including taking over the Knot Standard’s eight brick and mortar stores, making Billy Reid’s collection available at 20 locations, said Jeff Zens, CEO of the CFDA award-winning Billy Reid brand.

The Knot Standard will make available its AI powered made-to-measure software. The combined business, operating under the Billy Reid name, is expected to do $45 million this year. The Knot Standard’s software business has become a separate company, with revenue on tap of $7 million in 2026.

“Our business model is to offer custom as a category offering to our ready-to-wear clients in all of our shops, incorporating the clients’ design inputs and perfect measurements,” said Zens. “We leverage a third-party fit algorithm to ensure a perfect fit. Customers can work with a stylist to design their garment using a wide range of fabrics sourced from the best mills in the world.”

With the last year, the market has been tough, Zens said, adding that customers have become more discerning and are looking for markdowns/promos/sales. “We didn’t think we’d have to be promotional to drive price/value and selling,” he said. “Do you not play the promo game in the interest of the long game or play the game to compete with the market.”

J. Hilburn doesn’t think of itself as a custom business, but rather, a custom made men’s wear business.“We’re really competing with the broader market," Kneen said. "We’re all over the U.S. We have a stylist that can reach you.”

“What drew me to J.Hilburn was the strength of its stylist network, a focused design direction and a belief that made-to-measure is the natural evolution of how men will choose to dress,” said Roger Lee CEO of TAL Apparel Group, and an investor in J.Hilburn.

“The lines between casual and tailoring and formal clothing have blurred,” said Kneen. "I’m definitely seeing the rise of the business casual approach,” Kneen said, adding that several other things are happening in the men’s wear industry. The popularity of the shirt jacket, is one. Men are becoming more adventurous with color, and Hilburn’s clients are experimenting with knit wear.

Men are interested in color from the waist up. “They love color in their sportcoats, jackets and shirts,” Kneen said. “Guys are liking to express themselves with color. We work with some of the best Italian mills in the world and can do some things in really tasteful colorways.”

Hilburn’s clients are wearing custom made knits that look like shirts and feel like sweaters, Kneen said. “Being custom, we can make a product that performs like a sweater. We also make custom T-shirts, which are the ultimate extravagance. They’re beautifully made in gorgeous double cotton,” said Kneen.

“One of the biggest trends would have to be a return to real tailoring with custom fitted garments and clothing made to last (more sustainable and anti-fast fashion), as well as the fact that custom and bespoke reflect the wearer’s personality and the first impression he wants to give to the world,” said Hansen of Nicholas Joseph.

“In menswear, blue and gray are staples, however, we’re seeing some success in some more visually distinctive colors and patterns,” Zens said. “Billy has always done well with interesting shadow plaids and artistic/graphic patterns, especially in shirting, as well as pops of seasonal color in our ready-to-wear staples. In our custom tailoring, we’re seeing a bit more color as well, greens, dark reds, browns, as well as more textured fabrics and blends.”

Kneen said working at J.Hilburn has been an education. “I’m lucky to work with some of the best mills,” Kneen said, adding that men should discover the confidence-boosting experience of custom clothing. "I go to Milan several times a year. I don’t feel like I’ve ever worked a day in my life.