Thom Browne (born September 27, 1965) is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashio ...

. He is the founder and head of design for Thom Browne, a luxury fashion brand based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Browne debuted his womenswear collection in 2014.

Early life and education

Thom Browne was born in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania ...

on September 27, 1965. He graduated from

William Allen High School William Allen High School is one of two large, urban public high schools of the Allentown School District in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The school provides public education for grades 9 through 12. William Allen High School is located at 106 North ...

in Allentown and attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

, where he was a member of the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

team and graduated with a degree in economics.

Career

Barack Obama second swearing in ceremony 2013-01-21

Following an attempt at an acting career in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, Browne moved to

in 1997, where he began working as a salesman at

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, ...

Club Monaco Club Monaco is a Canadian-founded low-end luxury casual clothing retailer owned by Regent, L.P. With more than 140 locations worldwide, the retailer has locations in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, South Korea, China, the U ...

, then a

Polo Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. The company is headquartered in New York City, producing products ranging from the mid-range to the luxur ...

brand, later selected him to lead its creative development team, where he worked with American fashion designer

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his c ...

. Browne led Club Monaco's design department for several years before launching the Thom Browne label.

Collaborations

In September 2006,

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...

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. 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." 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 The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to th ...

. In 2008, Browne teamed up with the Italian sportswear company and down apparel specialist

Moncler Moncler S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion house specialized in ready-to-wear outerwear headquartered in Milan, Italy. Since its start as a down jacket boutique, Moncler has expanded to design vests, raincoats, windbreakers, knitwear, leather ...

to design their men's top line ''Moncler Gamme Bleu'', which launched in January 2009. The line was shown at

Milan Fashion Week Milan Fashion Week ( it, Settimana della moda) is a clothing trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy. The autumn/winter event is held in February/March of each year, and the spring/summer event is held in September/October of each year. It ...

. In September 2020, Browne made a scarf 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. 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.

Sale

In August 2018,

Zegna Zegna () is an Italian luxury fashion house. It was founded in 1910 by Ermenegildo Zegna in Trivero, Biella of the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. As of 2021, the Group is a public company. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Hist ...

purchased 85% 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.. Browne continues to hold the remaining 15% ownership stake in the brand and has continued as its

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...

. Rodrigo Bazan remains the company's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

Awards and honors

*'' GQ'' Designer of the Year, 2008 * Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, 2012 * CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award, 2006, 2013, and 2016

Personal life

Browne lives with Andrew Bolton, who is curator at the Costume Institute of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in Manhattan. His older brother,

Pat Browne Patrick M. Browne (born December 8, 1963) is an American accountant, lawyer, and politician. A Republican, he served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1995–2005) and Pennsylvania Senate (2005–2022). On January 12, 20 ...

, is a former member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealt ...

and Governor-elect

Josh Shapiro Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the governor-elect of Pennsylvania. Raised in Montgomery ...

's nominee for Secretary of Revenue.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Thom 1965 births Living people American fashion designers American LGBT sportspeople Artists from Allentown, Pennsylvania Clothing brands of the United States Gay sportsmen High fashion brands LGBT fashion designers LGBT people from Pennsylvania LGBT swimmers Menswear designers Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters alumni Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's swimmers William Allen High School alumni