verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message wrangler type clothing denim and workwear industry clothing founded 1904 ; 112 years ago 1904 as hudson overall company headquarters greensboro north carolina u.s. area served worldwide products jeans shirts shorts eye glasses website wrangler.com wrangler is an american manufacturer of jeans and other clothing items particularly workwear . the brand is owned by the vf corporation who also own lee jansport and the north face among others . its headquarters is in downtown greensboro north carolina in the united states with production plants in a variety of locations throughout the world . contents 1 history 2 media advertising 3 timeline 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit wrangler jeans were first made by blue bell who acquired the brand when they took over casey jones in the mid 1940s . blue bell employed bernard lichtenstein rodeo ben a polish tailor from d who worked closely with cowboys to help design jeans suitable for rodeo use . this was the origin of wrangler jeans . the 13mwz style introduced in 1947 as lot number 11mwz is still available worldwide . in addition to this wrangler has since introduced several other lines that are more designated towards a specific group or demographic . some examples of this are 20x riggs and aura . wrangler exports its goods to many countries with europe and australia being some of its main export markets . wrangler has acquired iconic status worldwide and particularly in us uk and australia . 1 wrangler also has a line of music accessories targeted toward country music fans . media advertising edit wrangler also has a series of football television commercials with brett favre playing a game of touch football in the mud . 2 timeline edit dale earnhardt in his wrangler jeans racing suit at 1985 pocono 1897 twenty year old c.c. hudson leaves spring hill farm in williamson county tennessee and makes his way to north carolina seeking his fortune in the emerging textile industry . he finds work in a factory making overalls where he earns 25 cents a day sewing on buttons . 1904 ; hudson s workplace closes . he and a few others buy several of the sewing machines lease space above a downtown grocery store and incorporate as the hudson overall company . 1919 the business builds its first factory on the corner of south elm street and changes its name to blue bell overall company . legend has it that a group of railroad workers who bought overalls at the hudson store gave c.c. hudson a bell and after spending time in the factory the bell like everything else became covered in blue denim dust hence blue bell . 1936 blue bell launches super big ben overalls made out of 100 % sanforized fabric that reduces shrinkage after washing to less than 1 % . this sets a new standard for the industry . 1943 blue bell acquires the casey jones work clothes company and the rights to a rarely used casey jones brand name wrangler . 1946 blue bell starts to develop a jeans line for cowboys hiring famous tailor rodeo ben . blue bell workers take part in a contest to give the jeans a brand name . the winning name is wrangler synonymous with the name for a working cowboy . 1947 after designing and testing 13 pairs of prototype jeans blue bell introduces the wrangler 11mwz to american consumers . the wrangler jeans featured several innovations aimed particularly at cowboys felled outseams and inseams rear pockets positioned for comfort in the saddle no scratch rivet pocket reinforcement a zipper fly and use of a strong tack in the crotch instead of a metal rivet . a promotional campaign is launched featuring 11mwz test riders and rodeo legends freckles brown bill linderman and jim shoulders . 1952 lot number 11mwz is renamed 13mwz to conform to the 13 oz . per yard denim weight being used to manufacture the style . 1962 blue bell opens a factory in belgium and the wrangler brand name enjoys a successful launch in europe . 1973 wrangler jeans become an icon of youth culture synonymous with teenagers the world over . 1974 the pro rodeo cowboys association of america prca officially endorses wrangler jeans . 1983 wrangler sponsor european football champions nottingham forest f.c. 1986 blue bell merges with the vf corporation of pennsylvania preparing the ground for the global success of the wrangler brand . 1996 one of every five pairs of jeans sold in america is a wrangler . 1997 the 50th anniversary of the 13mwz . a special collectors edition of the 13mwz is created to celebrate this event . 2000 whatever you ride television ad campaign is launched focusing on core brand values . 2001 wrangler commences making its jeans in mexico . 2002 there s a bit of the west in all of us tv and print ad campaign is launched staying true to wrangler s unique heritage while shifting it to a modern european setting . 2004 a new wrangler european print campaign is launched wanted representing a powerful modern expression of wrangler s roots . wrangler also celebrates 100 years of manufacturing quality denim by producing blue bell by wrangler a limited edition collection that reproduces the first wrangler jeans right down to the last detail and is only available at selected premium stores . wrangler also reworks the mainstream collection producing new fits using icons inspired by the very first jeans designed by rodeo ben . the wrangler brand is now recognized in 22 european countries . 2005 wrangler s last u.s. sewing plant is closed . 2011 wrangler conducts consumer design competition to find the next thing in jeans . 3 the winner song anh nguyen of greensboro nc had her design produced by wrangler and made available for sale . 4 see also edit wrangler for non trademark meanings of the word references edit australian catch of the day brand synopsis . brett favre wrangler s commercial . youtube . 18 september 2008 . wrangler next blue design competition . dexigner . song anh s wrangler next blue jeans debut fashion show . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wrangler jeans & oldid 744218684 categories clothing brands of the united statescompanies based in greensboro north carolina1970s fashion1980s fashion1990s fashion2000s fashion2010s fashionjeanshidden categories articles needing additional references from february 2008all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch fran aisitaliano polskirom n suomisvenska edit links this page was last modified on 13 october 2016 at 21 13 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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