Freemans Sporting Club to Be Relaunched for Fall

Back in the day, Freemans Sporting Club was the ultimate in cool with its restaurant, barbershop and men’s store tucked into an alley on New York’s Lower East Side.

Taavo Somer and William Tigertt founded the business in 2005 and helped revolutionize menswear with their distinct take on traditional American craftsmanship blended with contemporary style that soon became a favorite of hipsters far and wide.

Eventually, the founders exited the business, selling it to Yagi Tsusho, a Japanese company that had initially licensed the brand for expansion into Asia. Although Tsusho had high hopes for expanding the brand globally, even opening a flagship in Rockefeller Center in 2021, it decided to shutter the brand during the pandemic.

But now it’s back.

Tsusho has licensed Michael Burns of the M5 showroom to relaunch the brand for fall. He and his team will design, produce and distribute the collection globally, except for Asia.

In a letter to buyers this week, Burns wrote: “I used to buy the brand years ago, loved the whole concept. The original New York DNA and purpose is the starting point: Americana style with a lean toward incredible fabrics. Garments with style [that] feel great on.”

Burns said the 2026 version of Freemans Sporting Club is geared to a slightly older customer, and prices are higher than the original collection. The new line is made in the U.S. from Japanese fabrics. The target is 30- to 60-year-olds, not the 25-year-old cool, downtown guy of the past, he said.

“I really wanted American sportswear that can sit next to some of the best Italian luxury brands and next to some of the best Japanese designed brands,” Burns wrote. “We have a great brand story, cool vibe — but not too cool — that can grow. The goal is to keep the distribution tight to former Freemans customers and key specialty stores.”

Burns said the collection will be shown first in New York during market week later this month, followed by the Chicago Collective in early February. It will also be brought to Paris and will make its debut in Japan on Feb. 6.

The first collection will consist of 27 styles, each of which will be offered in three to four colorways. Key pieces will include coach’s jackets, American officers trenchcoats, 100 percent cotton shirts in a variety of fabrics, and sweatshirts.

“Freemans Sporting Club was born in the hustle of New York City — downtown amongst the narrow, gritty streets of the Lower East Side,” Burns wrote. “The clash of high and low culture, along with its tough and honest creativity, defines the neighborhood and is the root of the brand’s ethos and energy. It’s this source of inspiration that makes even the most classic of FSC collection garments feel distinguished.”

But Burns doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into that description. “Freemans was born on the Lower East Side, but we want to reach guys in TriBeCa and Connecticut too,”  he said.