Has working from home made the traditional men's suit obsolete?

The bankruptcy of Brooks Brothers is seen as another sign of the turmoil sweeping the retail industry as it wrestles with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo composite: Instagram/@brooksbrothers

Lincoln wore a black one when he was killed. JFK favoured the No. 2. From Grant to Hoover, FDR to Obama and Trump, 41 American presidents and generations of Ivy Leaguers, Wall Streeters and Hollywood stars have turned to the same place for a suit: Brooks Brothers.

Now a confluence of powerful forces, from shifting fashion to financial wheeling-dealing to, at last, the coronavirus-has driven America’s most storied haberdasher over the brink.