J. Press is a men’s clothier in the United States. Founded in 1902 in New Haven, Connecticut, by Jacobi Press, the company now operates stores in three additional locations: New York, New York, Washington, D.C., and Cambridge, Massachusetts. J. Press formerly had branches in San Francisco and Princeton, New Jersey. The original New Haven location remains the company’s largest store. In 1974, the Press family sold the rights to license J. Press for the Japanese market, making it the first American brand to to be licensed in Japan. [1] Today, J. Press is a privately held subsidiary of the Japanese apparel company Onward Kashiyama.
Since its founding, J. Press’s clothing has remained much the same. For example, the company produces the vast majority of its off-the-rack jackets in the traditional “three-button sack” style rarely found today in America, and for the most part, only produces plain-front trousers, for which the company suggests a traditional 1 3/4″ cuff. Fabrics are generally subdued, except for traditionally bright-colored items such as casual trousers and sweaters. Its neckties bear traditional repp stripe, foulard, and paisley motifs. They also carry scarves and ties featuring motifs and colors for Ivy League schools, including Yale‘s Skull and Bones Society. J. Press dress overcoats are of lambswool, cashmere, or camel hair, or of herringbone tweed with a velvet collar in the Chesterfield style. In 2000, J. Press expanded its sales to the World Wide Web, through which it offers most of its line, as of 2007.
J. Press often is said to carry on a traditional Ivy League style of men’s clothing. Little-known outside of New England and the East Coast, J. Press caters most to an old-fashioned “preppy” subculture that eschews popular culture trends. The company makes an effort not to outsource the production of its clothing to developing countries or to use unnatural materials in its line. In May of 2007, J. Press opened a new flagship store at 380 Madison Avenue in New York City.[2]
