![]() Jockey International Inc. in 2015 | |
Company type | Private company |
---|---|
Industry | Textile |
Predecessor | S.T. Cooper & Sons |
Founded | 1876 St. Joseph, Michigan, U.S. | (as Coopers Inc.)
Founder | Samuel T. Cooper |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Underwear and related products for men, women, boys, and girls |
Production output | Central America, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, and the United States |
Website | www |
Jockey International, Inc. is an American manufacturer and retailer of underwear, sleepwear, and sportswear for men, women, and children. The company is based in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Jockey invented the first men's Y-Front brief in 1934 and it is a recognized trademark in 120 countries. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The acceptance of Jockey's briefs showed the ultimate rejection of all the dress restrictions imposed on men during the Victorian era of repression. [8]
Jockey was originally named Coopers, Inc., and was founded by Samuel T. Cooper in St. Joseph, Michigan in 1876 as a hosiery business. [9] [10] [11] Cooper began the business after hearing that lumberjacks suffered from poorly constructed wool socks. In 1900, Cooper began making undergarments. By 1902 the business was expanding. However, by 1934 Coopers Inc. was nearly bankrupt due to the Great Depression. [12] The company recruited Harry H. Wolf Sr., to restructure the company.
On January 19, 1935, during a blizzard, Coopers, Inc. sold the world's first briefs at the Marshall Field's State Street store in downtown Chicago. Designed by so-called 'apparel engineer' Arthur Kneibler, briefs dispensed with leg sections and had a Y-shaped overlapping fly. [13] The company dubbed it the Jockey, claiming it offered support like a jockstrap. Over 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. Coopers used a Mascul-liner plane to deliver masculine support briefs to retailers across the US. When they were introduced to the UK in 1938, they sold 3,000 a week. [13]
In 1958, the company introduced the first mass-sale men's bikini brief, known as 'Skants'. The low-cut nylon and elastic brief, inspired by women's bikinis, had no front fly and was unlined apart from a small support panel at the lower front. [14] Skants sold well in the 1960's and into the 1970's especially in the US and the UK. Initially manufactured in white, blue, and black, Skants were eventually produced in a wider variety of colors. They were popular with gay men at a time in which homosexuality was widely illegal. Skants were modified in the early 1970's to reduce the slightly raised join in the elastic on the hips (the new design was called 'Skants St Tropez'), but this brief was never popular because it lacked the support of the earlier design, and eventually succumbed to competition. Jockey still produces Skants, mostly cotton, for sale in several countries including South Africa and New Zealand.
Coopers renamed itself Jockey Menswear, Inc. in 1971, [15] and Jockey International, Inc. the following year. [16] In 1997 Jockey acquired the seamless panties division of Formfit-Rogers, and sold them under the name Form-Fit (this branding was later discontinued). [17] In 1982, Jockey introduced the Jockey For Her line of intimate apparel and underwear. [18] In 2011, Jockey launched a line of underwear using Outlast Technologies, which was originally developed to help NASA astronauts stay comfortable in changing temperatures and reduce sweating. [19] [20] [21]
In August 2020, country singer Luke Bryan became a paid corporate spokesperson for the Jockey brand. [22] In October 2020, Jockey International's India and its affiliate Page Industries were investigated by the US-based Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) over allegations of human rights violations in one of its factories. [23] In December of the same year, Page Industries Ltd., the licensee of Jockey International in India, was recertified by Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) and found to be socially compliant. WRAP said human rights violations allegations were not substantiated by the findings of the audit. [24] [25]
Jockey sponsors the Jockey Being Family Foundation, a charity focused on supporting families after they have adopted a child. Jockey claims that the foundation increases awareness of and accessibility to post-adoption services in the United States for adoptive families. The foundation distributes Jockey-branded backpacks and tote bags to a number of adopted children and adoptive parents. Jockey does not disclose how much funding it gives to the foundation. [26]
A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering the intergluteal cleft and some or all of the buttocks. The size of the top and bottom can vary, from bikinis that offer full coverage of the breasts, pelvis, and buttocks, to more revealing designs with a thong or G-string bottom that covers only the mons pubis, but exposes the buttocks, and a top that covers only the areolae. Bikini bottoms covering about half the buttocks may be described as "Brazilian-cut".
Pantyhose, sometimes also called sheer tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advertisement of new design panties as a convenient alternative to stockings and/or control panties which, in turn, replaced girdles.
Underpants are underwear worn on the lower body generally extending no higher than the navel. In British English they are often called simply pants. If a given pair of underpants has a wider waistband, it might bear the brand name of the manufacturer on it.
Panties are women's form-fitting underpants. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genitalia, and a pair of leg openings that, like the waistband, are often made of elastomer. Various materials are used, but are usually chosen to be breathable.
DKNY is a New York City–based American fashion house for men and women, founded in 1984 by Donna Karan. The company specializes in a wide range of fashion products, including clothing, footwear, accessories and fragrances.
A jockstrap, also a jock (male), jill (female), strap, cup, groin guard, pelvic protector (female), supporter, or athletic supporter, is an undergarment for protecting the scrotum and penis or vulva during contact sports or other vigorous physical activity. This article deals chiefly with the genital protective sports gear designed for the male body, colloquially known as a "jock".
Boxer shorts are a type of undergarment typically worn by men. The term has been used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by boxers, for whom unhindered leg movement ("footwork") is very important. Boxers come in a variety of styles and design but are characterized by their loose fit.
Boxer briefs are a hybrid type of men's undergarment which are long in the leg, similar to boxer shorts, but tight-fitting like briefs. They emerged as a style in the 1990s and are commonly worn for sports and as every-day underwear.
Gildan Activewear Inc. (/ˈɡɪldən/) is a Canadian manufacturer of branded clothing, including undecorated blank activewear such as t-shirts, sport shirts and fleeces, which are subsequently decorated by screen printing companies with designs and logos. The company also supplies branded and private label athletic, casual, and dress socks to retail companies in the United States including Gold Toe Brands, PowerSox, SilverToe, Auro, All Pro, and the Gildan brand. The company also manufactures and distributes Under Armour and New Balance brand socks. The company has approximately 44,000 employees worldwide, and owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Rio Nance, Honduras and the Caribbean.
The Formfit Company was a manufacturer of women's "foundation garments", mainly corsets and girdles. Founded in 1917 with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, Formfit later became known for other types of lingerie, particularly bras and briefs.
A slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt. A full slip hangs from the shoulders, usually by means of narrow straps, and extends from the breast to the fashionable skirt length. A half slip hangs from the waist. The word petticoat may also be used for half slips.
Lululemon Athletica inc., commonly known as lululemon, is a Canadian-American multinational premium athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and other yoga wear, and has expanded to also sell athletic wear, lifestyle apparel, accessories, and personal care products. The company has 711 stores and also sells online.
Briefs are a type of short, form-fitting underwear and swimwear, as opposed to styles where material extends down the thighs. Briefs have various different styles, usually with a waistband attached to fabric that runs along the pelvis to the crotch and buttocks, and are worn by both men and women. Swim briefs are a variation used as swimwear.
Calvin Klein Inc. is an American designer fashion retail chain marketing its eponymously branded products worldwide. The company, which became famous for its designer underwear and denim lines in the 1980s, specializes in mass-market ready-to-wear clothing for all genders and age groups as well as leather products, lifestyle accessories and shoes, home furnishings, perfume/cosmetics, eyewear, jewelry and watches in the mid-price segment. Its high-end runway fashion division, which represented the top level of the various Calvin Klein sub-brands, was discontinued in 2019.
Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear, and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal.
A swim brief or racing brief is any briefs-style male swimsuit such as those worn in competitive swimming, diving and water polo. The popularity of the Australian Speedo brand racing brief has led to the use of its name in many countries around the world to refer to any racing brief, regardless of the maker. Occasionally, the speedo genericized trademark is applied to square cut swimsuits, but in general the generic term is used in reference to swimming briefs. Swim briefs are also referred to as competition briefs, swimming trunks, bathers, togs, racer bathers, posing briefs, racing briefs, and colloquially in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom as budgie smugglers.
The thong is a garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions.
Munsingwear was a Minnesota-based underwear company from which Original Penguin developed. The company was established as Northwestern Knitting Company. It also was known as PremiumWear.
Wearing underwear as outerwear is a fashion trend popularized by celebrities, sports and media. It began as a practical and comfortable variation of clothing, such as the T-shirt and the sleeveless shirt, but later evolved into provocative, controversial fashion statements. 21st century versions include the display of thongs and bras in women's clothing, and the display of underpants under low-slung pants in men. Wearing underwear as outerwear has historical antecedents in the display of undergarments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Depend is a Kimberly-Clark brand of absorbent, disposable undergarments for people with urinary or fecal incontinence. It positions its products as an alternative to typical adult diapers. Depend is the dominant brand of disposable incontinence garments in the United States with a 49.4 share of the market.