Jeffrey Banks is back.
The acclaimed American designer is returning to his menswear roots with a collection of polo shirts and underwear that will launch for spring 2026.
The Jeffrey Banks collection, which was developed in collaboration with Sutton & Shaw, a design house founded by Banks, Aalya Dhawan and Atul Dhawan, will make its debut at New York’s Best Menswear Show at the Park Central Hotel later this month, followed by Charlotte’s Best Menswear Show at the DoubleTree South Park in early February.
The initial launch will include polos in Supima cotton and performance jerseys with SPF 50 protection knit directly into the garment so it does not wash out. They are designed to be biodegradable by using yarns that will break down at the end of life and are moisture-wicking.
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There are also polos with a tailored collar and placket, which will be trademarked “Blazer Shirt,” so they can be worn on the golf course or pickleball court as well as under a sport coat for dinner.
Patterns on the shirts include paisleys, herringbones, windowpanes, glen plaids, pin dots and tattersalls.
The underwear offering will include boxer briefs in similar patterns along with crewneck and V-neck Ts in French terry and Supima pique.
“For almost three years now, I have been working to create menswear that is relevant to today’s consumer while also being responsible to the planet,” said Banks. “The world does not need another clothing line if the end result is more landfill. These clothes must offer versatility, great style, and real function.”
The collection is being targeted to men ages 20 to 80 and positioned for department and independent men’s specialty store distribution with retail price points ranging from $35 to $95.
“This is just the beginning,” Banks added. “We will soon be expanding into trousers, shorts, outerwear and sweaters.”
Banks started his career as an intern at Ralph Lauren and launched his own brand of tailored clothing, dress furnishings and sportswear, Jeffrey Banks Signature Men’s Wear Collection, in 1977, the same year he won his first Coty award for Outstanding Fur Design with Alixandre Furs. Five years later, he won the Menswear Designer of the Year honors at the Coty Awards. That collection continued until the early 2000s.
Over the course of his career, Banks also has served as design director of Merona Sport, introducing new colors and fabrics that helped sales skyrocket. He has also been creative design director of several of Bloomingdale’s men’s private labels including East Island and Metropolitan View and was a design consultant for Haggar Clothing Co.
In recent years, Banks has worked with Johnnie Walker Scotch to design an apparel collection, K9Wear, a pet fashion company, to design dog clothing, and has also created apparel and home products for HSN. He’s a published author, penning three biographies, books on tartan and preppy, as well as his own memoir, “Storyteller: Tales From a Fashion Insider,” which came out last year.
Sutton & Shaw was created to provide a platform for both established and emerging designers. Atul Dhawan was previously chief executive officer of Goldaldas Images, working with PVH on brands such as Calvin Klein, and then working with other companies including Nautica, Gap and Perry Ellis sourcing some 7 million underwear packs annually to the U.S.
Aalya Dhawan is global chief of marketing, communications and branding for Women in AI, a nonprofit think tank working toward gender-inclusive AI.
Asked why he wanted to get back into the fashion fray at this point in his life, the 70-year-old Banks said: “The only reason was to do something different. I have a lot of friends who have bought my product over the years and they asked me for something with a great look and contemporary styling. Nobody needs another garment, so I wanted to make sure every element, from the fiber to the packaging, was biodegradable. I didn’t feel any pressure to do it, that’s why it took three years.”
