Have you noticed J.Crew’s ineffably cool evolution of late? Chris Black, founder of consultancy Done to Death Projects, is, in part, to thank. Black is an ideas man. “All I’ve ever been able to offer in my career is a point of view,” he says. “I don’t have a lot of hard skills.” As well as J.Crew, he’s worked with brands from Thom Browne to New Balance to Balenciaga behind the scenes to reach ever-ambivalent customers.
Now, he’s parsing his creative intuition to his own clothing brand, Hanover. It’s an all-American look, specializing in jeans, graphic tees, polos and crewneck sweaters. It’s all American made using cotton by manufacturers in Los Angeles. For now, it’s sold exclusively online, and most importantly it’s all $300 or less.
“As a consumer and as a person who works as a consultant with a lot of brands, the things that hit the sweet spot for me are few and far between — and part of it is due to price,” Black says.
After getting his start managing and touring with a band, Black moved into the media sphere, and now works at its nexus. He consults with brands under Done to Death, hosts a podcast by and for “bi-coastal elites” with dj-turned-podcaster Jason Stewart, and has contributed to publications from GQ to New York Magazine. Having worked on the backend for so long, Black has the business savvy to back up his creative instincts, and believes that this is what attracted his business partners, Vinod Kasturi and Paul Shaked of holding company Meissonier Group.
“I care about the bottom line. I care about domestic production. I care about margins, and I know that that stuff is important,” Black says. “My job in the past has been helping true creative minds bring it back down to earth and remind them that we’ve got to make money or we can’t all do this anymore.”
Knowing that starting — and running — a brand is expensive, especially to launch with a full collection (versus just a couple of products, as some brands begin with), Black had to raise money to make development, production and marketing possible. With the help of Kasturi and Shaked, Hanover raised what Black calls a “tight round” from “strategic people” in the founders’ network. The team declined to share numbers, but say they’re focused on building a profitable business over the long term.
The Hanover look is classic American, informed by the way Black — and many of his peers — dress. It’s preppy, Black says, informed by his upbringing in the south, where his mom dressed him in top siders and polo shirts. It’s a specific look, but it’s one Black is confident has legs. “This whole Dior thing bodes very well,” he says, referencing Jonathan Anderson’s preppy embrace for his debut menswear collection. And it’s not just Anderson — luxury brands are leaning deeper into American sportswear in a bid to capture consumers that just want good clothes.
Black is working with a similar goal, to provide everyday clothes for everyday dressing — an ambition the founder feels many brands have strayed too far from. “That’s what clothes are to me,” he says — jeans, tees, easy to throw on. Black isn’t convinced that the majority of people are all that interested in exploring the far-fetched and fleeting trends that dominate our social feeds, be it out-there runway looks or influencer-curated style cues. “We’ve gotten so far from [everyday wear] and really pushed into these zones [dictated by] this overall trend pressure that we feel from living every day on our phones.”
There’s one stark difference in Black’s approach from luxury’s: he wants people to be able to afford the clothes. Here’s how he’s making that possible.
Made affordable, made in America
Black’s first priority was affordability. After establishing the ideal price point, the Hanover team sought to establish whether ‘Made in America’ was possible in that range. Black was keen to produce locally, but also knew it was less likely to sway customers than price. “I was around for the first generation of #menswear, when made in the USA was really a big thing.” Today, Black isn’t convinced that this tag would sway someone to make a purchase.
But when Black got into the weeds of production, it became something he wanted to make work — and quickly realized he could, while keeping prices down. That Hanover is a relatively small operation is what makes it work; though wages are higher, producing locally means no shipping (or tariff) costs to navigate. The team can also feed back directly to their production partners, without an ocean in between. Plus, the fact it’s all in LA is a help, because the production teams can drive down the block to pick up and drop off samples and materials, Black says.
This will likely need to shift as Hanover expands into new materials and products like cashmere and Harrington jackets, but Black will endeavor to keep production Stateside. Inevitably, prices will rise with these developments, but the founder says the core range will remain the same. “Once you start introducing the higher end fabrics and trying to do sort of more substantial pieces, the price goes up a little. But the core of the business will always be really approachable affordability.”
Getting the word out
For Hanover, New York and LA’s menswear circles — the GQ readers, the How Long Gone listeners — could act as a built-in fanbase. The trick will be getting the word out beyond these relatively insular groups, to a wider audience who won’t care that Black’s creative sphere friends are in the campaigns and collaborating on the clothes.
“Obviously, I want my peers. I think that’s what everybody wants, from an ego perspective,” Black says. “But I care a little more about the guy in Chicago or the guy in Oklahoma City or the guy in Orange County or Atlanta or whatever.” These are the places where Black believes he can really sell — and where brands are missing out on by not going deeper. “The world is a very big place now, and a lot of people have access to things. A lot of guys are interested in clothes,” he says. “I want men, I want women — I’m really happy to go into those places that maybe don’t get the attention.”
The near-term strategy will be to show up IRL. Hanover is opening a pop-up at Tiwa Select gallery in Downtown Manhattan on December 6, with a launch party the night before. “I could do that in Nashville, I could do that in Atlanta, I could do that in Austin,” he says. Black acknowledges the necessity of Instagram, direct email, traditional advertising, but knows this alone won’t cut it. As many brands are cottoning back on to, Black sees value in physical gatherings. “If you don’t have stores yet, I think the next best thing to do is basically go have a fucking party. Do something fun that people want to be at.” Get consumers in with bands and booze, and Black is confident he can get them to come back for the clothes.
Beyond direct-to-consumer (DTC) and parties, Black wants Hanover to branch out into wholesale and physical retail. Wholesale is another way to reach potential consumers — in the US and internationally. And bricks-and-mortar is the only way to fully control the experience. Looking further ahead, he’s keen on Hanover collaborations, too — first on shoes.
The end goal is to take the brand global (a favorite store he’s eyeing for future wholesale is Stockholm’s Nitty Gritty). But for now, Black is zeroed in on the US, New York included. And the target consumer runs the gamut. “A guy that works at JP Morgan, I want him buying these jeans as much as I want the guy that works at the record store,” Black says. “I think that good stuff should translate in a very clear way across all different sects of people.” I tell him the finance bros will probably buy more pairs, too. Black grins. “You said it, not me.”
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