Formerly | Vanity Fair Mills |
---|---|
Company type | Public |
Industry | |
Founded | October 1899 (as Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company) in Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Founder | John Barbey |
Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Key people | Bracken Darrell (CEO) |
Products | Footwear & apparel |
Revenue | US$10.45 billion (2024) [1] |
US$−34 million (2024) [1] | |
US$−969 million (2024) [1] | |
Total assets | US$11.61 billion (2024) [1] |
Total equity | US$1.658 billion (2024) [1] |
Owner | Barbey family trusts (16.58%) [2] |
Number of employees | 30,000 (2024) [1] |
Subsidiaries | Altra Running Dickies Eastpak JanSport Icebreaker Kipling Napapijri The North Face SmartWool Supreme (pending sale) Timberland Vans |
Website | vfc |
VF Corporation (formerly Vanity Fair Mills until 1969) is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 by John Barbey and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. [3] The company's 13 brands are organized into three categories: Outdoor, Active and Work. [4] In 2015, the company controlled 55% of the U.S. backpack market with the JanSport, Eastpak, Timberland, and The North Face brands. [5]
In October 1899, John Barbey and a group of investors established the company as Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company (or simply The Reading Glove) in Reading, Pennsylvania. [6] [7] Incorporated on December 4 later that year, they began with $11,000 in a 320-square-foot (30 m2) factory that was leased for $60/month.[ citation needed ]
Expanding into silk lingerie in 1913, The Reading Glove was renamed Schuylkill Silk Manufacturing, branding its lingerie line as Vanity Fair. Soon thereafter, the company name changed in turn to Vanity Fair Mills, eventually going public in 1951. [6]
In 1969, the H.D. Lee Company (now Lee) was acquired, accompanied by Vanity Fair Mills changing to VF Corporation. By 1982 VF posted profits of $15.5 million on sales of $184 million. [7] Acquiring Blue Bell Inc. for US$762 million in 1986, VF added Wrangler, JanSport, Rustler, Jantzen, and Red Kap to its portfolio, effectively doubling its size and making it the largest publicly-held clothing company. VF would also become one of the two largest jeans makers in the world, making up 25% of the market. [6]
In 1998, VF moved its headquarters from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, to Greensboro, North Carolina, to be closer to more of its operations. [8] Also in the 1990s, VF would acquire the Bulwark Apparel brand. [6]
In the early 2000s, VF's acquisitions included The North Face and Eastpak in 2000; [9] and Kipling, [10] Napapijri, and Vans in 2004. The company sold its 'Vanity Fair Intimates' lingerie business to Fruit of the Loom for US$350 million in cash on January 23, 2007. [11] Later that month, VF acquired Eagle Creek. Also in 2007, VF acquired Majestic Athletic on February 28, followed by a $885-million purchase of 7 for all Mankind and Lucy Activewear on July 26. [12]
Eric C. Wiseman became president, CEO, and chairman in 2008, [13] the same year that VF would acquire Mo Industries Holdings, parent company of sportswear brands Splendid and Ella Moss. [14]
In 2011, VF Corporation announced its intention to purchase Timberland for $2.2 billion, [15] a deal that would close in September that year. [16] On 21 December 2012, VF Imagewear was awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to provide uniforms and insignia for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. [17] In February 2013, Imagewear was awarded a $50 million contract to manufacture uniforms for Transportation Security Administration officers. [18]
Effective January 1, 2017 Steve Rendle took over CEO and President responsibilities. [19] In 2017, VF acquired Williamson-Dickie’s brands, including Dickies, Workrite, Kodiak, Terra, and Walls. [6] The next year, VF would acquire Icebreaker, complementing its Smartwool brand, as both feature merino wool in its clothing and accessories. [6] In 2020, VF acquired streetwear brand Supreme for US$2.1 billion. [20] [21]
In 2021, VF announced a definitive agreement to sell a portion of its Occupational Work segment to a subsidiary of Redwood Capital Investments, LLC. [22] On June 28, 2021, the sale was finalized, and the 11 divested brands became part of a new standalone company, Workwear Outfitters. [23]
In September 2021, it was announced that the former president of emerging brands of VF Corporation, Travis Campbell, would acquire the Eagle Creek brand. [24]
In June 2023, former Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell became CEO. [25]
In July 2024, VF announced the sale of the streetwear brand Supreme to EssilorLuxottica for US$1.5 billion. [26]
In August 2018, it was announced that VF would be splitting into two separate companies. The jeans and outlet stores would be spun off as Kontoor Brands. VF kept the sports apparel and footwear businesses, and moved its corporate headquarters (and around 800 employees) to Denver, Colorado. An 11-story office building at 1551 Wewatta Street near Denver Union Station would become VF's new corporate headquarters. [27] All brands which until 2018 had maintained separate divisional headquarters (e.g., Jansport) were also consolidated into VF's new Denver headquarters at that point.
Kontoor Brands Inc. became a separate company with the stock symbol KTB in May 2019. Kontoor includes Lee, Wrangler, Rock & Republic and VF Outlets. The company had 17,000 employees. [28]
Date of acquisition or merger in parentheses.
In 1970, it was the suggestion of M.O. Lee, then President of VF Corporation, that established the VF Outlet business. Surplus products from VF sources including Berkshire International and Vanity Fair were sold to the public from a 5,000 square foot factory store, with only a drop cloth separating it from the company's manufacturing facility. [33] In doing so, VF Corporation created a brand-new retail industry, the outlet mall. The first VF Outlet factory store opened in Reading, Pennsylvania. The outlet mall, located in Vanity Fair's old manufacturing mills, was dubbed the official "Outlet Capital of the World." [34] The corporate name was changed from VF Outlet Village to VF Outlet Center in 2008. Today, the VF Outlet Center is owned and operated by VF Outlet, Inc. with over 1,000,000 square feet of retail space and more than 20 stores. [35] The VF Outlet location in Reading, Pennsylvania, closed on December 24, 2020. [36]
VF Outlet stores offer everyday apparel including brand name jeans, intimate apparel, activewear, swimwear, and more for women, men and children. The company currently operates 79 stores in 31 states nationwide. [37]
In October 2013, VF Outlet launched their e-commerce store. [38]
The VF Outlet business moved to Kontoor Brands Inc, established as a separate company in May 2019. [28]
JanSport is an American brand of backpacks and collegiate apparel, now owned by VF Corporation, one of the world's largest apparel companies. JanSport is the world's largest backpack maker, and together, JanSport and The North Face, also owned by VF Corporation, sell nearly half of all small backpacks sold in the United States.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc., a company that also owned and operated Silverman's Menswear. The Silvermans sold their ownership interests in 1991 to Jacob Price of Knoxville, Tennessee. American Eagle Outfitters is the parent company of Aerie, Unsubscribed and Todd Snyder.
Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
Roots Corporation is a publicly held Canadian brand that sells apparel, leather bags, small leather goods, footwear, athletic wear, and home furnishings. The company was founded in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario, by Michael Budman and Don Green. In 2015, Roots was sold to Searchlight Capital Partners LP, an American investment firm.
Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. is an apparel manufacturing company primarily known for its largest brand, Dickies. Williamson-Dickie Europe, originally called Clares, was founded in 1900 in Wells, in Somerset, to provide the agricultural industry with hardware and work clothing. The US company was founded in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1922 by C. N. Williamson and E. E. "Colonel" Dickie, who began a denim bib overall company selling workwear to farm and ranch hands around the Southwest. Today, Dickies is a global brand found in more than 100 countries designing, manufacturing and selling workwear to the automotive, hospitality, construction and medical industries.
Wrangler is an American manufacturer of jeans and other clothing items, particularly workwear. The brand is owned by Kontoor Brands Inc., which also owns Lee. Its headquarters is in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, in the United States, with production plants located throughout the world.
Timberland LLC is an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoor footwear and apparel owned by VF Corporation. The company also sells accessories including watches, eyewear, and leather goods. Timberland's corporate headquarters are located in Stratham, New Hampshire.
Lee is an American brand of denim jeans, first produced in 1889 in Salina, Kansas. The company is owned by Kontoor Brands, a spin-off of VF Corporation's Jeanswear Division. Since 2019 its headquarters has been in Greensboro, North Carolina, relocated from Merriam, Kansas. The company states that it is an international retailer and manufacturer of casual wear and work wear and that it has more than 400 employees in the United States. In Australasia, the brand has been owned by Pacific Brands since 2007, after it was acquired from Yakka.
PVH Corp., formerly known as the Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, is an American clothing company which owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Warner's, Olga and True & Co. The company also licenses brands such as Kenneth Cole New York and Michael Kors. PVH is partly named after Dutch immigrant John Manning van Heusen, who in 1910 invented a new process that fused cloth on a curve.
Rock & Republic was an American jeans brand founded by Michael Ball in 2002. Ball is a cyclist who gained design experience by creating his cycling team's uniforms. Rock & Republic's line of jeans and casual wear "VB Rocks" was designed by singer Victoria Beckham until 2008.
Perry Ellis is an American designer fashion clothing brand owned by Perry Ellis International founded by eponymous American designer Perry Ellis.
Red Kap is an American company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee that manufactures and distributes work-related clothing and outerwear.
Bulwark Protection is an American company that manufactures and distributes flame-resistant protective apparel to the North American industrial market, primarily serving the electric, utility and petrochemical segments. The company is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee and currently owned by Workwear Outfitters. It was previously owned by VF Corporation, the world's largest apparel company, until 2021. It was ranked among the top industrial protective clothing industry players in 2017.
True Religion Brand Jeans is an American clothing company established in 2002 by Jeff Lubell and Kym Gold and is based in Vernon, California.
Ralph Lauren Corporation, the legal name of the Ralph Lauren brand, is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Headquartered in New York City, the company produces products luxury segments. Ralph Lauren is known for marketing and distributing products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances. Known mostly for its flagship brand Polo Ralph Lauren, the company's brands include mid-range, sub-premium, and premium labels up to its highest priced luxury Ralph Lauren Purple Label apparel.
Altra Running, commonly known as Altra, is an American manufacturing company engaged in the design, development, marketing, and sales of athletic shoes for road running, trail running, and general footwear. Since 2018 Altra is owned by VF Corporation, an American global apparel and footwear company with other brands like Icebreaker, The North Face, Vans, JanSport, Eastpak and Timberland.
Arvind Limited is an Indian textile manufacturer and the flagship company of the Lalbhai Group. Its headquarters are in Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, and it has units at Santej. The company manufactures cotton shirting, denim, knits and bottomweight (khaki) fabrics. It had also recently ventured into technical textiles with its Advanced Materials Division in 2011. The company is India's largest denim manufacturer.
Exquisite Form is an American clothing brand for women's intimates, particularly bras and shapewear for full-figured women. The brand is owned by Vanity Fair Brands, a division of Fruit of the Loom.
Kontoor Brands is an American clothing company. It was a spin off from the VF Corporation in May 2019, and markets denim clothing under the Lee, Wrangler and Rock & Republic brand names. Kontoor Brands also operates the VF Outlet chain of factory outlet stores. Its head office is in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Accent Group Limited is an Australian and New Zealand footwear and clothing retail, wholesaling and distribution company. It has more than 800 retail stores, along with 19 brands, and more than 20 online platforms.