KK & Jay Supply Co
Shirttail garters and suspenders, handmade in Brooklyn by a Bronx company
🇺🇸 Made in USA
Our assessment
Company details
Where KK & Jay Supply Co products are made
“Handmade with pride and fair labor by great people in Brooklyn, New York – USA” — on the grosgrain suspenders and on the shirt stays alike.
“Manufactured in Brooklyn and headquartered in the Bronx, we rely on this ability to closely oversee all aspects of our operation to ensure you receive the best quality products and services at all times.”
The grosgrain suspenders are 1-3/8 inch premium nylon grosgrain, Y-back elastic with a leather joiner, button-on ends and stainless hardware, in a standard 48 inch and big-and-tall 54 and 60 inch. The garters use “comfortable cotton blended elastic” in over thirty colours and patterns.
What this emblem covers. The suspenders and shirttail garters each state that they are handmade in Brooklyn, New York, and the company states that it manufactures in Brooklyn and is headquartered in the Bronx. The hardware and notions in the Accessories collection carry no origin statement and are not covered by this emblem.
The story
Mohamed KK and Jason Devereaux met working in men’s retail, where they spent a good part of every day retucking their own shirts. Then they came across the military shirt stay — a strap running from shirttail to sock that soldiers have used for a century to keep a uniform crisp — and realised it had never been redesigned for anyone who was not in uniform.
Their version added one part: “The full grain leather ‘Stay Tucked Stabilizer’ was the innovation that started it all. Never before seen on shirt stays, this hallmark of KK & Jay Shirttail Garters prevents twisting and turning.” The construction is Y-shaped, which the company says “provides equally distributed tension for 360° of tucking perfection.”
Everything is made in Brooklyn, in a workshop the company credits with “nearly a century of experience” — a note about the shop’s lineage rather than the company’s own age, and worth keeping straight.
Why they matter
What makes this a Buy American story rather than a menswear one is the second half of that origin sentence. Most brands stop at the country. KK & Jay writes “Handmade with pride and fair labor by great people in Brooklyn, New York – USA,” which names a borough and a labour standard in the same breath, on the product page, where a customer will read it.
The company is explicit about why it stays local: keeping manufacture in Brooklyn and the office in the Bronx is what lets it “closely oversee all aspects of our operation.” That is the argument for domestic manufacturing at its least sentimental — proximity as a quality-control tool.
The positioning matches. “We are dedicated to the working man and woman. These people are not only our customers, they are our life blood, they are us!” The range has since widened from garters into suspenders, sleeve garters and sock garters, all in the same materials and all out of the same shop.
Shop KK & Jay Supply Co products
KK & Jay shirttail garters, suspenders, sleeve garters and sock garters.
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KK & Jay Supply Co questions
Where are KK & Jay products made?
In Brooklyn, New York. Both the suspenders and the shirttail garters state “Handmade with pride and fair labor by great people in Brooklyn, New York – USA.”
Is the company based in Brooklyn too?
No — the workshop is in Brooklyn and the company is headquartered in the Bronx. “Manufactured in Brooklyn and headquartered in the Bronx.”
What is a shirttail garter?
A modernised version of the classic military shirt stay, redesigned for everyday wear. KK & Jay’s adds a full-grain leather “Stay Tucked Stabilizer” that prevents the strap twisting, in a Y-shaped layout for even tension.
Who founded it?
Mohamed KK and Jason Devereaux, who met working in men’s retail and were, in their own words, tired of constantly retucking.