New York City – In one of the toughest retail economies in recent memory, J. McLaughlin continues to open new locations and increase its market share. Yes indeed, these two Irish boys from Queens have their fingers on the pulse of prep with a twist of panache.

A design team meeting.

The brothers Jay and Kevin McLaughlin opened their first store 32 years ago on Third Avenue and 74th Street, bank rolled by revenue generated by Jay's profits buying, gutting and renovating brownstones in the now toney neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. Kevin, although attending the NYC Graduate School of Business along with Jay, decided the corporate world of finance was not for him and after working for a traditional men's clothier in New York was convinced that his sense of style and fresh approach to fashion could translate into retail success.

Kevin explained the genesis of their first store, which was originally called Sea Island Clothiers, "We always liked clothing, both of us, and we were always into a certain level of style. Where that came from I am not sure, but I would give my mom a fair amount of credit for it." After switching his part-time retail position to an Upper East Side clothier, Kevin saw instantly that the area was ripe for retail, "I realized what a fertile territory the Upper East Side was at the time and went to Jay, who had managed to put together a couple of dollars doing these brownstone renovations, and said let's do a store up here."

J. McLaughlin mens plaid shirt. (Apparel-J.McLaughlin.com)

Jay noted, "We have always been creative in the way we do things. We have always had the ability to make things happen that don't seem feasible. We opened the store on a very limited budget, but made it look like it was a big budget." Kevin added, "We built it ourselves more or less, managed to find the right location and the timing was extraordinary. It was just when the whole "Annie Hall" thing was happening, we just hit it. We were busy the first day we opened and never looked back."

The brothers did not immediately jump into manufacturing, nor did either have a background or training in design, "We bought from other suppliers initially," Kevin admitted. "There is little that comes from the head of Zeus; we had a nice taste level, a sense of quality and a sense of timing. It is instinctual, it is not learned in anyway and the truth be told we did not at the time qualify as designers." Jay stated, "The point is we are quick learners and we moved forward quickly to learn basically through hard knocks. It was all about trial and error."

The McLaughlin's had the eye to put the right jacket with the right slacks with the right scarf and blouse and in doing so created a style that was distinctly their own. "The one thing that J. McLaughlin did, which was very important and I give Kevin credit for this, was from day one we have never sold anything in the store that did not have the J. McLaughlin label in it. Even from the very beginning when we used other manufacturers, we always made them change the label and put our label on the products. Fact or fiction, we made our line proprietary."

J. McLaughlin sleeveless silk dress.

The manufacturing did indeed come and there are prints and styles that are now ironically J. McLaughlin. According to design director Kevin, "It is all about tradition with a twist. It's the Hamptons with a sense of humor, New Canaan with nerve and Palm Beach with passion. The J. McLaughlin look is stylish but not stuffy, polished but not pretentious."

With manufacturing facilities in China and at the company headquarters in Brooklyn, J. McLaughlin has the ability to control costs and weather economic swings. The brothers take great pride in their approach as Jay explained to me as we watched Kevin conduct a design meeting at the Greenpoint facility, "J. McLaughlin is a completely vertical operation. From a concept to an idea to a finished product, it is actually executed here. There are many steps to the process." Kevin added, "The idea may start with a fabric sample or a picture in a magazine. Then it evolves into a paper pattern, then the fabrics are either made or chosen, then it goes through a multi-stage manufacturing process. All supported by marketing and merchandising plans."

The J. McLaughlin production floor in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

While Kevin is the design force at the company, Jay is responsible for merchandising, operations and new store construction. Jay gave me a tour of the facility from the pattern design department, to the production department, to the marketing department to the merchandising and inventory control department to the website design department to the window display department. Their manufacturing facility in China silkscreens their designs by hand and has the ability to screen up to 40 different colors into the J. McLaughlin signature prints. Kevin explained, "All our printing, except our base cotton printing, is done by hand. What has given us a competitive edge and kept us going in this difficult environment is that we have tried to do things that are labor intensive and preclude our competition from doing it. As the world seems to spend more time on mass, we spend more time on craft." Jay noted regarding the complex beauty and quality of their fabric designs, "It is not unusual for our customers to actually frame a scarf and hang it on the wall as a piece of art."

Southampton J. McLaughlin Men's Store manager Norman Polonofsky.

Joined at the top by Steven Siegler who came to the company as President and CEO in 1998, the brothers give Siegler much credit for the continued growth of J. McLaughlin. The clothier actually saw double digit growth in 2009 and will be adding at least three new stores to their present 40 locations. With a passion for classical design and historical architecture, the company partners with Doug Larson of Larson and Paul Architects to design distinctive Main Street storefronts in communities up and down the East Coast from Massachusetts to Florida and as far west as Illinois. On the East End, J. McLaughlin stores can be found in both Southampton on Jobs Lane and in Bridgehampton on Montauk Highway. Their flagship store is located at 1311 Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

Another innovative concept that has become an integral part of the company is their Store Without Walls division that debuted in 2008. From shows to fundraising events to private home parties, traveling boutiques provide customers outside of their store locations to experience the J. McLaughlin line and style. Of course, the virtual marketplace is another aspect of the J. McLaughlin marketing plan with the redesign and launch of JMcLaughlin.com in 2009. Siegler noted the importance of their Internet presence, "We have expanded our website and email list substantially and added much more product to it. It is important that our customer that shops at the J. McLaughlin store in Martha's Vineyard over the summer knows she can go home to San Francisco and still purchase our products."

Kevin McLaughlin discussing the design process of the signature J. McLaughlin blouse held by his brother Jay.

With many companies outsourcing their production, J. McLaughlin should be given credit for still manufacturing a percentage of their product line in the United States at their Greenpoint, Brooklyn headquarters. Poster boys for the great American entrepreneurial spirit, the McLaughlin brothers through hard work, hands-on determination, fundamental respect for their employees and an organic understanding of classic American taste and style have created a line for men and women that is at once timeless and traditional, yet innovative and highly distinctive. It is a classic American look with a twist that is pure J. McLaughlin.