Fashion Definitions — fashion history, brands and industry terms from Apparel Search
VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) is an American apparel corporation headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company is described as the world's largest apparel company and a leader in jeanswear, intimate apparel, daypacks and workwear.
The company was established first as Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania in October of 1899 by John Barbey and a group of investors. The company was started with only $11,000 and a 320 square foot factory that was leased for $60/month. It was incorporated in Pennsylvania on December 4 of that same year.
In 1912, H.D. Lee Mercantile Company (now Lee Jeans) opens their first apparel plant in Kansas City, Kansas, in order to meet a high demand for work clothing.
Brittania
Chic
Gitano
Maverick
H.I.S.
Old Axe
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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vf_corporation 3/21/06 - some links modified by Apparel Search.
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VF Corporation began as the Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania in October 1899, founded by John Barbey and a group of investors with only $11,000 and a 320 square foot factory leased for $60 a month; it was incorporated in Pennsylvania on December 4 of that year. By 1912 the H.D. Lee Mercantile Company — now Lee Jeans — had opened its first apparel plant in Kansas City, Kansas, to meet high demand for work clothing, an early sign of the workwear and jeanswear categories that would define the group. The headquarters are now in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange as VFC. The distance between the starting point and the present description — the world's largest apparel company — is the whole story of the definition: growth came by accumulating brands category by category rather than by building one label.
The brand list is organised the way the company is organised. Jeanswear holds Wrangler, Lee Jeans, Riders, Rustler and a long tail of denim labels including Brittania, Chic, Gitano, 20X, Maverick, H.I.S., Old Axe and Earl Jean. Global Intimates holds Vanity Fair, Vassarette, Bestform, Lily of France and Curvation, among others. Imagewear — work clothing sold to businesses — holds Red Kap, Bulwark, Horace Small and Lee Sport, plus licensed sports ranges. Outdoor holds The North Face, JanSport, Eastpak, Napapijri, Kipling, Vans and Reef, and sportswear holds Nautica and John Varvatos. Read together, the four groups cover jeans, underwear, uniforms and outdoor clothing: the basic, repeat-purchase categories of the apparel market, each represented by several brands at once rather than a single flagship.
VF is described as a leader in jeanswear, intimate apparel, daypacks and workwear, and jeanswear is listed first among its brands for a reason. Wrangler and Lee are two of the historic American jeans names, and the surrounding labels — Riders, Rustler, Chic, Gitano — fill price points and channels below and beside them. That is a different model from Levi Strauss & Co., defined on its own page as a single-brand denim company organised by geography. VF organises by category and owns many brands within each; Levi's organises one brand across three regional divisions. The two definitions, read together, show the two basic structures of the American jeans business at the time: the multi-brand portfolio corporation and the single-brand specialist.
The company was established as the Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania in October 1899 by John Barbey and a group of investors, starting with $11,000 and a 320 square foot factory leased for $60 a month.
VF's jeanswear brands include Wrangler, Lee Jeans, Riders, Rustler, Brittania, Chic, Gitano, 20X, Maverick, H.I.S., Old Axe and Earl Jean.
VF's outdoor brands include The North Face, JanSport, Eastpak, Napapijri, Kipling, Vans and Reef, alongside sportswear brands Nautica and John Varvatos.