Bob Kidder believes in American manufacturing. So much so that when it came time to put his money where his mouth is, he actually bought a shirt factory—the famed former Alden Street Shelburne Shirt factory to be exact. Although the 200 year-old mill has been caught in the crossfire of multiple custody battles, it has remained in continuous operation for the last 75 years. Kidder, no stranger to menswear with stints at high-end brands like Hart Schaffner Marx, bought it in 2009 when its future was anything but certain...
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George Vlagos is meticulously running the pads of his fingers over tanned hides in cherry, black, tan, and navy. Eyes closed, arms outstretched, the buttery soft surface is music to his hands. It's Chromexcel®, or CXL as it’s written in the five story Horween® building. A combination tanned leather that undergoes 89 separate processes stretching over a month, the formula has been around for over a century and arguably produces some of the world’s best leather today. Vlagos takes the navy.
Some fifteen years ago, in a Chicago cobbler shop, a pubescent George Vlagos sat under the skilled hands of his father during Christmas, spring, and summer breaks. It was an attempt to show his son that working with your hands was difficult. Vlagos’s father, a Greek immigrant, wished an education for his son. It backfired...
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