verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message original penguin type subsidiary industry apparel founded 1955 headquarters new york ny revenue 50 million usd 2007 parent perry ellis international website originalpenguin.com los angeles penguin store facade original penguin also known simply as penguin is an american clothing line . with roots in the 1950s and 60s the brand specializes in clothing footwear and eyewear . it is sold in north america south america and europe . image models included brad pitt jake gyllenhaal and adam brody as well as the members of interpol vampire weekend arctic monkeys and all american rejects frontman tyson ritter . 1 contents 1 history 2 product lines 2.1 original label 2.2 black label 3 sponsorship 4 notable wearers 5 external links 6 sources history edit the brand was introduced in 1955 by munsingwear a minneapolis based underwear and military garment manufacturer when it launched the original penguin golf shirt in the united states . munsingwear was for many years famous for its union suits an undergarment consisting of an undershirt and underdrawers combined in a single garment . the company was also said to be the originator of the classic golf shirt . 2 in 1954 the munsingwear salesman covering the northeast coast brought a fluffy stuffed penguin to a meeting in minneapolis where a logo for a new idea in golf shirts to go up against lacoste s popular shirts was the subject at hand . at the meeting was len birnbaum art director at munsingwear s chicago based ad agency powell schoenbrod and hall . munsingwear made t shirts and underwear but their weaving machines also produced the same kind of material that lacoste used for their golf shirt a big seller at 7.50 each in the 1950s . the munsingwear golf shirt added an under arm action gusset and moved the pocket to the right breast to avoid any interference with the swing . after the meeting artist birnbaum returned to chicago and within 24 hours had sent sketches of a proposed logo to the munsingwear executives . the new logo was adopted the shirt hit the market at 5.00 and was successful . it was worn by bob hope and bing crosby for publicity but the real advertising featured golfers arnold palmer dow finsterwald and jack burke jr. about three years later munsingwear introduced a second line of shirts for bowlers and birnbaum came up with a bowling penguin . the shirt was similar to the golf shirt but incorporated a revised gusset and bowling themed logo . with that success they tried to convince munsingwear to make a tennis shirt but the concept was nixed because they didn t want to start a holy war with lacoste according to birnbaum . he did submit a design with a little penguin hitting a tennis ball but it was never used . 3 also worn by the likes of richard nixon and frank sinatra this golf shirt became a symbol in suburban leisure until well into the 1980s . 1 in 1996 the brand was bought by perry ellis international and a new sportswear collection was released in spring 2003 . original penguin is sold in upscale and mid priced department stores such as barneys new york neiman marcus saks fifth avenue macy s nordstrom urban outfitters and david jones and in regional boutiques country clubs and specialty stores . the company also established several standalone boutiques across the nation which carry clothing by c & c and levi s jeans as well as original penguin apparel . locations include the northpark center in dallas texas bryant park in new york city fashion island in newport beach california rush street in chicago illinois the galleria houston in houston texas lincoln road in miami beach florida dadeland mall in miami and lenox mall in atlanta georgia . product lines edit women s penguin shirts original penguin has two central lines original label edit original label consists of clothing and apparel for men women and children . it also sells beachwear footwear timepieces sunglasses bags neckwear wallets card holders and belts . black label edit original penguin s black label also known as original penguin golf is a men s line that is sold at higher price points than original label and is more golf inspired in design . original penguin produced a denim collection beginning april 2005 but as of 2008 original penguin has stopped the production of denim collections and instead sells levi denim within its stores . sponsorship edit before being bought by perry ellis original penguin was known for its sponsorship of several top golf players of the 1960s and 1970s . today original penguin continues with its golf heritage and currently sponsors top 400 player aaron baddeley . notable wearers edit ces dmitry khusidman and ross sikarev are known wearers of the original penguin brand . the brand gained popularity dubious discuss as it was featured on numerous episodes of the former fox show the o.c. . actor adam brody who played seth cohen frequently wore penguin clothing . it has also been featured on popular shows such as my boys royal pains arrested development heroes gossip girl everybody hates chris reba how i met your mother dirty sexy money entourage skins and the office . tyson ritter of the all american rejects was the face of the 2009 autumn ad campaign . external links edit original penguin official site original penguin european site perry ellis official site sources edit a b why do brad pitt and jake gyllenhaal go for the original penguin . philippine star . 5 august 2009 . retrieved 10 march 2014 . munsingwear an inventory of its records len birnbaum in an email to his daughter holly birnbaum june 28 2005 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title original penguin & oldid 724115113 categories clothing companies of the united statesperry ellis international brandsclothing brands of the united statesshoe brandshidden categories articles needing additional references from july 2008all articles needing additional referencesall accuracy disputesarticles with disputed statements from october 2013 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 italiano edit links this page was last modified on 7 june 2016 at 06 47 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered 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