Company Performance Metrics
- Rick Stahl: Chief Executive Officer
We're Proud to Share Our Rich History
In 1897, a young tailor from Brooklyn named Samuel Christenfeld began designing luxury clothing with an English riding flair under the name “Tailoring by Christenfeld,” based in Brooklyn, NY. Nine years later, in 1906, he formed a partnership with Mel Halpern and officially changed the company name to
Halpern and Christenfeld.
After a few years, Christenfeld bought out Halpern, took a controlling interest in the company, and changed the name to H-C for legal purposes. Shortly after, he changed the name again—to HBarC.
After Samuel died in 1939, HBarC focused on the western market and began to grow internationally. Seymour moved to California to open the Los Angeles office and established the Hollywood arm of the brand. As a maker of authentic western wear—and with the rising popularity of western films—HBarC began outfitting major productions. Catering to the Hollywood elite, HBarC provided clothing for stars such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Elvis Presley, and John Travolta, to name just a few.
HBarC recruited Nudie Cohn, the famous Rodeo Tailor, to begin designing shirts for the brand. HBarC even produced some of Nudie’s production lines. Together, they pushed the limits of embroidery and appliqué work, many of which became new standards in Western wear. During this era, Nudie mentored a young man named Manuel Cuevas, who would later become one of the preeminent western menswear designers.
After Bernie’s death in 1982, Seymour carried the brand forward on his own, overseeing garment design and manufacturing until his death in 1996.
By the late 1990s, with NAFTA in place, manufacturing in Los Angeles became increasingly unfeasible for maintaining high quality at competitive prices.
HBarC took a hiatus from production until a new business model could be developed to reposition the brand. During this time, HBarC deadstock and lightly used vintage pieces exploded in popularity on traditional e-commerce platforms like eBay, as well as emerging platforms such as Etsy and Poshmark.
In 2016, recognizing Western style surging back into pop culture for the first time in decades, the company relaunched its own production. Our focus has been to distinguish ourselves as a unique brand catering to those who don’t mind standing out, with creative designs and the highest-quality product in the world of western wear.
We’ve always believed that if you make a quality product, evidenced by the number of our shirts still worn after 80 or 90 years, people will enjoy the comfort and look for generations. Now, as the rest of the industry wakes up to the environmental harm of fast fashion, we’re seeing a shift toward better fabrics and improved production—something we’ve been doing for over a century.
