Hamilton Shirts

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Hamilton Shirts

Type	Company
Founded	Houston, Texas, 1883
Headquarters	5700 Richmond Ave., Houston, Texas
Industry	Clothier
Products	Bespoke/Custom Made Shirts, Ready Made Shirts
Website	http://www.Hamiltonshirts.com

Established in 1883, Hamilton Shirts is a custom dress shirt maker and Houston’s oldest family owned business. Its storefront is located on Richmond Avenue in Houston, Texas, however, Hamilton Shirts can be ordered at luxury retailers across the United States such as Barneys New York.

Hamilton Shirts produces custom made and ready made shirts, and is in the luxury goods market. They have been called “one of the most exacting shirtmakers in the world.” ^[1]

1 History
2 Exclusive Retailers
3 Philanthropy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Two brothers, Edward J. and J. Brooke Hamilton, prospective sheep raisers, were traveling by train out west from Virginia when they met John Mason who was also traveling west in order to open a men’s furnishing store. In 1883 the three decided to become partners and opened the original store in Houston, Texas. The store which the three founded was located on the site of the present Rice Hotel not far from its present location. ^[2]

A few years later, Mason sold his interest to a captain of the Houston Light Guards who in turn sold to Williams E. Hamilton, Jr. which resulted in the renaming of the store to Hamilton Bros. Soon afterwards, a shirtmaking factory was added after Edward J. Hamilton learned the trade in St. Louis. Bernard J. Hamilton, who joined in 1891, was made a partner in 1906, and took charge of the factory. In order to properly finish the shirts it seemed necessary to open a laundry. So, the partners established the first steam laundry of Houston, known as Troy Laundry.

The Hamiltons split up the business in 1950 with Joseph Hamilton, son of Bernard, taking over the shirt business. In the 1960’s, Joseph sent his son Jim to New York City to learn how to make shirt patterns. Soon thereafter, Joseph died and Jim took over. In 1976 he moved the business from Main Street downtown to its current location on Richmond Ave. In the 1980s he established a stock shirt company called Lucerne. This shirt was sold to some of the best men’s specialty stores in America including Barneys New York. He later sold Lucerne to Robert Talbott which is how they entered the shirt business. Barneys contacted Jim Hamilton and asked him to take over their made-to-measure shirt program later on.

Also in 1976, Sam Danna, a factory foreman and Stephanie Cowden, head seamstress and pattern maker, joined the business. They both still work at the company and Sam Danna is godfather to Jim’s son, David. Kelly Hamilton, David’s sister joined the business in 2001 while her brother David joined in 2003. Kelly and David are the fourth generation of Hamiltons to run the business.

[edit] Exclusive Retailers

Though Hamilton Shirts is located in Houston, Texas, their bespoke shirts can be ordered online and through certain exclusive mens retailers across the country.