VF Corporation

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For other uses, see VF (disambiguation) and Vanity Fair (disambiguation).

VF Corporation
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Footnotes / references
[2]

VF Corporation (formerly Vanity Fair Mills until 1969) is an American global

Denver, Colorado.[3] The company's 11 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]

History

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

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

Bulwark Apparel brand.[6]

In the early

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.

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]

Spinoff

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 became 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.

Kontoor Brands Inc. became a separate company with the stock symbol KTB in May 2019. Kontoor includes

Wrangler, Rock & Republic and VF Outlets. The company had 17,000 employees.[28]

Brands

Date of acquisition or merger in parentheses.

Divested brands

VF Outlet, Inc.

Vanity Fair Outlet,
Michigan City, Indiana

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.

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 offered everyday apparel including brand name

swimwear. The company as of June 2015 operated 79 stores in 31 states nationwide.[37] As of 2025, the http://vfoutlet.com/ website redirects to the Kontoor Brands' Wrangler website with some of the former locations now operating under the Lee and Wrangler brands. The website as of 2025[38] no longer lists any VF Outlets. It appears that the outlets closed during the pandemic[39]
and only reopened briefly at the end of 2020 to liquidate their inventory.

In October 2013, VF Outlet launched their e-commerce store.[40]

The VF Outlet business moved to Kontoor Brands Inc, established as a separate company in May 2019.[28]

Ethical sourcing

In 2025, VF Corporation signed a brand letter of intent calling on the Australian wool industry to end the practice of mulesing.[41]

References

  1. ^ 2021 Proxy Statement
  2. ^ "VF Corporation FY 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". US Securities and Exchange Commission. May 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "VF on the Forbes Global 2000 List". Forbes. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  4. ^ "VF Corp (VFC) Company Profile". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 26, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  5. ^ Tabuchi, Hiroko (September 2, 2015). "Backpack Makers Rethink a Student Staple". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Company History".
  7. ^ a b "Time and Time Again: The Women, the Union and the Vanity Factory". 1996.
  8. ^ "VF Corp. Changes Its Underware The $5.5-billion-a-year maker of jeans and lingerie is sewing together its operations with an array of packaged software. - December 7, 1998". archive.fortune.com.
  9. ^ a b "VF Completes Eastpak Acquisition." just-style. 2000 May 31.
  10. ^ a b VF Services, Inc. 2004 June 15. "Acquires Kipling Brand; Lifestyle Brand of Bags and Accessories Offers Excellent Potential for Growth."
  11. ^ "VF Corp. Has The Midas Touch". Forbes. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  12. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  13. ^ "Eric Wiseman, Chairman, President, CEO, VF". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  14. ^ "VF Completes Acquisition of Mo Industries, Owner of Splendid and Ella Moss Contemporary Sportswear Brands". March 12, 2009.
  15. ISSN 0099-9660
    . Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  16. ^ "VF Completes Acquisition of The Timberland Company". VF Corporation.
  17. ^ "Imagewear CBP Contract". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  18. ^ "Imagewear TSA uniform contract". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  19. ^ "Executive Leadership Team".
  20. ^ VF Corporation. 2020 November 9. "VF Corporation Announces Definitive Agreement To Acquire Iconic, Global Streetwear Leader Supreme®." VF Corp.
  21. ^ "VF to Buy Supreme for $2.1 Billion to Boost Apparel Brands". Bloomberg.com. November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  22. ^ "VF Corporation Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Sell the Occupational Portion of Its Work Segment" (Press release). VF Corporation. April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  23. ^ "VF Corporation Completes the Sale of the Occupational Portion of Its Work Segment" (Press release). VF Corporation. June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Exclusive: Travis Campbell acquires Eagle Creek". outsidebusinessjournal.com. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  25. ^ "Vans sneakers maker VF taps Logitech's Bracken Darrell as CEO". June 20, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  26. ^ "EssilorLuxottica to Acquire Supreme® from VF Corporation". VF Corporation. July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  27. ^ "VF Corporation, parent company of outdoor brands The North Face, Smartwool, will relocate headquarters, 800 workers to Denver". August 13, 2018.
  28. ^ a b Craver, Richard (May 25, 2019). "Kontoor begins independent life with focus on jeans innovation, attracting new customers". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  29. ^ "VF Corp buys Dickies for $820 million".
  30. ^ VF Corporation. 2018 June 1. "VF Corporation Completes Acquisition of Altra®." VF Corp.
  31. ^ "Horace Small". www.vfimagewear.com. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  32. ^ "VF Imagewear Relaunches Horace Small Brand of Law Enforcement Apparel". September 16, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  33. ^ "About VF Outlet". VFOutlet.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  34. ^ "Reading Officially 'Outlet Capital Of The World'". September 1, 1991. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  35. ^ "Store Listings & Center Map". VFOutletCenter.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  36. ^ Rader, Tom (December 24, 2020). "VF Outlet in Berks closes its doors". Allentown, PA: WFMZ-TV. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  37. ^ "VF Outlet Store Locator". Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  38. ^ https://www.kontoorbrands.com/brands
  39. ^ https://fashionunited.com/news/retail/vf-corp-closes-all-stores-in-north-america/2020031632631
  40. ^ "VF Outlet - Discount Clothing for Women, Men, Kids & Baby". Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  41. ^ "Brand Letter of Intent". FOUR PAWS International - Animal Welfare Organisation. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
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