Wrangler

Company Profile

Wrangler today is Kontoor Brands' lead name, sold in more than 70 countries across its western, work and everyday ranges - the 13MWZ Cowboy Cut still at the center, flanked by lines such as Riggs Workwear and 20X - through wrangler.com, brand stores and retailers. Its Greensboro parent also owns Lee and, since 2025, Helly Hansen. The shop box on this page covers Wrangler jeans and shirts, which both marketplaces carry; the brand's dated record is on the timeline page, its European telling and its Hero comfort line on their own pages, all linked below.

Wrangler, originator of the Cowboy Cut jean, the Wrangler brand has symbolized the heart of Western heritage for 60 years in the telling this directory first recorded. For today's men, women and kids, Wrangler Western jeans, shirts and accessories embody everything they love about the rugged Western lifestyle. The line as it stands now runs wider than the rodeo original: alongside the Western range sit work lines such as Riggs Workwear, the 20X competition range, and mass-market staples like Rustler, all sold through the brand's own site, its stores and retailers worldwide.

The companion pages matter to this profile: view the Wrangler History Timeline for the dated record from 1897 forward, learn about Wrangler Hero for the comfort line, and learn about Wrangler Europe for the brand's European telling - four pages, four angles on one brand, cross-linked in the chips below as well.

A Short History Note

The bones of the story: C.C. Hudson's Hudson Overall Company, founded in Greensboro in 1904 and renamed Blue Bell in 1919, acquired the Wrangler name with the Casey Jones company in 1943, hired rodeo tailor Rodeo Ben - Bernard Lichtenstein - to design jeans for cowboys, and launched the style in 1947 as the 11MWZ, renamed 13MWZ in 1952. Blue Bell merged into VF Corporation in 1986 - in the directory-era wording, Wrangler was part of VF, the multi-billion dollar apparel powerhouse - and in May 2019 VF spun its jeans business off: Wrangler was spun off from VF to Kontoor Brands in 2019, where it sits beside Lee (and, since 2025, Helly Hansen) under Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE: KTB), still headquartered in downtown Greensboro a short walk from Elm Street, where the brand got its start. The full dated record is on the timeline page; this page carries the shop box because Wrangler jeans and shirts are carried on both marketplaces.

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