Thom Browne (born September 27, 1965) is an American fashion designer. He is the founder and head of design for Thom Browne, a luxury fashion brand based in New York City. Browne debuted his womenswear collection in 2014.[1][2]
In 2023, Browne became the chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America,[3] succeeding Tom Ford.[4]
Thom Browne was born into an Irish-Italian family[5] in Allentown, Pennsylvania on September 27, 1965.[6] He went to Catholic school until the seventh grade and served as an altar boy.[7] Subsequently, he graduated from William Allen High School in Allentown and attended the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of the track and field team and graduated with a degree in economics.
In an attempt at an acting career, Browne lived in Los Angeles from 1992 to 1998.[9] Born as Tom, he added the “H” because his name was taken by someone else in the Screen Actors Guild.[10] He also worked as a production assistant and script reader on films.[11][12]
Browne started making custom suits after befriending Johnson Hartig, who went on to found the brand Libertine.[13] He moved to New York City in 1997, where he began working as a salesman at Armani's wholesale showroom.[14] Club Monaco, then a Polo Ralph Lauren brand, later selected him to lead its creative development team, where he worked with American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Browne led Club Monaco's design department for several years before launching the Thom Browne label.
Browne started his eponymous business with made-to-measure suits in 2001,[15] with its first shop in New York's West Village.[16]
Thom Browne's breakthrough is considered to be his reimagining of the suit, shrinking the proportions and cutting the fit closer to the body, encapsulated by his signature grey suit.[17] His preferred fabric is Super 120’s wool twill in “medium gray.”[18] Every Thom Browne piece includes a red-white-and-blue striped grosgrain ribbon.[19]
Between 2001 and 2015, Browne produced his suits and runway looks with Rocco Ciccarelli.[20][21] He introduced a limited ready-to-wear collection in 2003. In 2005, the brand held its first menswear runway show in New York City.[22][23]
The brand's first external investor, Japan’s Stripe International, gave the company the capital it needed to recover from the 2007–2008 financial crisis, before selling its stake on to private equity group Sandbridge Capital in 2016.[24]
Since 2010, Thom Browne has primarily shown his men’s collections in Paris.[25] The brand launched its women’s wear line in 2011; by 2021, it comprised nearly half the company’s revenue.[26]
In August 2018, Zegna purchased 85 percent of the brand for $500 million, which was seen as a bid by the century-old Italian company to court a younger demographic and reach new markets;[27][28] two years later, it increased its share to 90 percent.[29] Browne continues to hold the remaining ownership stake in the brand and has continued as its chief creative officer.[28] Rodrigo Bazan remains the company's chief executive officer.[28]
In 2023, Thom Browne debuted its first couture collection[30] at Paris Fashion Week.[31]
Browne has produced four films that accompanied his collections, including the spring 2007 short “The Septemberists” (in collaboration with Anthony Goicolea); a 10-minute black-and-white film starring skier Lindsey Vonn for his fall 2021 women’s collection; and the 29-minute “Looking Forward to Tomorrow” depicting the loneliness of marathon training for his spring 2022 men’s collection.[32]
In a move designed to appeal to younger customers, Thom Browne launched a men’s capsule collection for fall 2012 called Thom Grey that was offered at a lower price than his signature line.[33] Thom Grey was a one-year-only project and was subsequently discontinued.[34]
Thom Browne launched its first eyewear collection with Dita Eyewear in 2011.[35] The brand brought its sunglasses business in-house in 2022.[36]
Also since 2011, the brand has been designing swimwear.[37]
The brand's childrenswear range was launched in 2021.[38] The childrenswear line was initially also licensed, but the company internalized that division, too.[39]
In September 2006, Brooks Brothers announced its partnership with Browne as part of a guest designer program to create and distribute a 50-piece men's and women's high-end collection, Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers.[1] Claudio Del Vecchio, chairman and chief executive officer of Brooks Brothers, said "Thom Browne's brilliant eye... his ability to foreshadow the market and offer a special look will bring a new dimension to Brooks Brothers."[40]
The line appeared exclusively in 30 Brooks Brothers stores worldwide beginning in September 2007. In July 2008, Thom Browne and Brooks Brothers announced they would continue their partnership in the Black Fleece collection for another three years. Brooks Brothers opened a standalone Black Fleece store located in New York City's West Village.[41]
In 2008, Browne teamed up with the Italian sportswear company and down apparel specialist Moncler to design their men's top line Moncler Gamme Bleu, which launched in January 2009.[1][42] The line was shown at Milan Fashion Week.
In September 2020, Browne made a scarf[43] as part of Joe Biden's "Believe in Better" fashion collection, which included collaborations from 18 other fashion designers around the country as part of the Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.[44] His scarf, along with the rest of the collection, was made in unionized factories and is available for purchase; all purchase proceeds were donated to Biden's presidential campaign.
Thom Browne has dressed teams including the Cleveland Cavaliers and FC Barcelona.[45] In 2018, LeBron James led the entire Cleveland Cavaliers team during the NBA playoffs in coordinated gray Thom Browne suits.[46]
Thom Browne long used a three-bar design on its clothing, only changing it to the four-stripe design after Adidas objected in 2007.[49] Adidas sued Thom Browne's brand in 2021, claiming Thom Browne's four-bar and "Grosgrain" stripe patterns on its shoes and high-end activewear violated its three-stripe trademark rights.[50] A jury determined in 2023 that the Thom Browne designs were not likely to cause customer confusion with Adidas' products and did not violate the company's trademark rights.[51]
Browne lives with partner Andrew Bolton,[52] who is curator at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.[53] His older brother, Pat Browne, is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate and Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
In 2021, Browne and Bolton purchased and renovated a 7,000-square-foot, 15-room Sutton Place mansion formerly owned by the philanthropist Drue Heinz.[54][55]
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