State & Liberty Clothing
| Industry | Men's Apparel, e-Commerce, Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Lee Moffie, Steven Fisher |
| Headquarters | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Website | stateandliberty.com |
State and Liberty Clothing (also known as State & Liberty or S&L) is a US-based apparel e-commerce business focusing on menswear crafted from athletic-fit performance fabrics. The enterprise manages more than 30 retail locations across the United States, along with one store in Canada. Their hallmark product, the athletic-fit dress shirt, is constructed using their proprietary Pro Performance Fabric—a blend consisting of 92% polyester and 8% Spandex—which offers lightweight comfort, moisture management, and substantial stretch.[1]
History
Established in 2015 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, State & Liberty was created by University of Michigan alumni Steven Fisher and Lee Moffie, who currently serve as co-CEOs. The pair met during their time at the university through the senior honor society Order of Angell. They chose the company's name to pay tribute to a notable intersection in Ann Arbor, reflecting their connection to the city.[2]
Before launching the brand, Moffie competed professionally in ice hockey with teams such as the Denver Cutthroats and South Carolina Stingrays, following his four-year varsity career (2009–13) with the Michigan Wolverines under coach Red Berenson.[3][4][5] Fisher’s expertise is rooted in business data analytics and systems complexity; he led a data analytics project for the Detroit Tigers and has consulted on various initiatives for startups and established companies.[4]
The concept behind State & Liberty emerged from Moffie and Fisher’s observation that men with athletic physiques often find standard off-the-rack dress shirts ill-fitting and unprofessional in appearance.[6] Drawing inspiration from brands like Lululemon and the athleisure movement—which emphasize fabrics beyond traditional cotton—the founders experimented extensively with fabric blends and shirt cuts on professional hockey players to accommodate their distinctive ‘V-shaped’ builds.[7][8] Ultimately, they finalized their design around an athletic-fit dress shirt crafted from their specially developed Athletic Performance Fabric (APF).[9]
Products
State and Liberty began as a small enterprise entirely funded by its founders. Their product offerings feature dress shirts designed with athletic cuts, incorporating moisture-wicking technology and wrinkle-resistant fabrics. In October 2016, the brand established a collaboration with the Professional Hockey Players' Association.
The year 2017 saw the launch of several new items, including a polo shirt, a long-sleeve variant of the polo, and an overcoat. During the latter part of 2017, State and Liberty operated two temporary retail stores: one located on Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts, and another situated in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Philanthropy
State & Liberty contributes to Autism Speaks through a partnership endorsed by James van Riemsdyk, the NHL left winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs, by allocating a portion of sales to the organization. In mid-2016, the company introduced "The Morgan" shirt to support the Jordan Morgan Foundation. Later that year, they released ‘The Matzka’ dress shirt to honor Scott Matzka while raising funds for ALS research.
References
- ↑ Athletic-Fit Dress Shirts stateandliberty.com
- ↑ "State and Liberty: Performance dress shirts built by Michigan alums Lee Moffie and Mac Bennett". mihockeynow.com. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ "Lee Moffie hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lee Moffie & Steven Fisher, Co-Owners, Liberty & State Clothing Co". www.engin.umich.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ "Former U-M hockey player starts dress shirt business". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ "Finally, State & Liberty Offers a Shirt Cut Specifically for Athletes". The Manual. 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ Kennedy, Ryan. "University of Michigan alums start menswear line | The Hockey News". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ "Former U-M hockey player launches clothing company as fall line debuts at Shinola". MLive.com. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ↑ "Former U-M hockey player selling dress shirts to Tigers". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2017-05-20.