Taylor Stitch is an American menswear brand founded in 2008 by Michael Maher, Barrett Purdum, and Mike Armenta — three college friends from the North East who moved to San Francisco and discovered they couldn’t find well-fitting shirts. Starting from a simple mission (“to make quality, small-batch button-downs for men”) and early production in the San Francisco garment district, Taylor Stitch has grown into one of the most respected direct-to-consumer menswear brands in America, balancing quality materials, durable construction, sustainable practices, and fair pricing through a crowdfunded pre-order model that reduces waste by making only what customers have already committed to buying.
Key Facts
- Founded: 2008
- Founders: Michael Maher, Barrett Purdum, and Mike Armenta
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA
- Stores: San Francisco (Valencia Street, Chestnut Street), Seattle (Capitol Hill)
- Industry: American Menswear, Direct-to-Consumer
History
Maher, Purdum, and Armenta founded Taylor Stitch in 2008 after graduating from college, frustrated by the gap between expensive bespoke tailoring and poor-fitting mass-market shirts. Early production was in San Francisco itself; the brand opened its first retail location on Valencia Street in 2011 with the help of a $50,000 loan from Working Solutions CDFI. The three founders also opened The Common, a concept space on Valencia Street combining menswear retail, coffee, live music, workshops, and art — a physical expression of the “well made” community they were building around the brand.
Taylor Stitch’s most distinctive business innovation is its pre-order “Workshop” model: each season, new designs are offered for crowdfunded pre-order at a 20% discount before production begins. This dramatically reduces overproduction waste, funds production with customer deposits, and lets the brand gauge demand before committing to manufacturing. The model has become part of Taylor Stitch’s brand identity as much as any garment. Maher has said: “We’re the opposite of fast fashion. We take a really iterative approach.” Jake Gyllenhaal was an early customer at the Valencia Street shop.
Products and Philosophy
Taylor Stitch produces shirts, trousers, denim, outerwear, knitwear, and accessories using organic cotton, hemp, recycled fibres, and other sustainable materials. The brand works with factories in the US, Mexico, Great Britain, and other countries vetted against five pillars of responsibility covering materials, people, facilities, supply chain, and environmental impact. The aesthetic is classic American casual — inspired by workwear, military clothing, and the Californian outdoors — designed to last and improve with wear.
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