The story
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. 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. Mark Hoplamazian, chairman and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, former president of the Nike brand, Trevor A. Edwards, and president and chief executive officer of The Hershey Company, Kirk Tanner, serve on the board of directors for VF Corporation.
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 was renamed Vanity Fair Mills, eventually going public in 1951.
In 1969 the H.D. Lee Company (Lee) was acquired by Vanity Fair Mills as it became VF Corporation. By 1982 VF posted profits of $15.5 million on sales of $184 million. 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 became one of the two largest jeans makers in the world, taking 25% of the market.
In 1998 VF moved its headquarters from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, to Greensboro, North Carolina, to be closer to more of its operations. Also in the 1990s, VF would acquire the Bulwark Apparel brand.
In the early 2000s VF's acquisitions included The North Face and Eastpak in 2000; and Kipling, 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. 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.
Eric C. Wiseman became president, CEO, and chairman in 2008, the same year that VF would acquire Mo Industries Holdings, parent company of sportswear brands Splendid and Ella Moss.
In 2011 VF Corporation announced its intention to purchase Timberland for $2.2 billion, a deal that closed in September that year. On December 21, 2012, VF Imagewear was awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to provide uniforms and insignia for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. In February 2013, Imagewear was awarded a $50 million contract to manufacture uniforms for Transportation Security Administration officers.
Effective January 1, 2017, Steve Rendle became CEO and President. In 2017, VF acquired Williamson-Dickie brands, including Dickies, Workrite, Kodiak, Terra, and Walls. The next year, VF would acquire Icebreaker, complementing its Smartwool brand, as both feature merino wool in its clothing and accessories. In 2020, VF acquired streetwear brand Supreme for US$2.1 billion.
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In 2021, VF announced a definitive agreement to sell a portion of its occupational work segment to a subsidiary of Redwood Capital Investments, LLC. On June 28, the sale was finalized, and the 11 divested brands became part of a new standalone company, Workwear Outfitters.
In September 2021, it was announced that the former president of emerging brands of VF Corporation, Travis Campbell, would acquire the Eagle Creek brand. In June 2023, former Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell became CEO.
In July 2024, VF announced the sale of the streetwear brand Supreme to EssilorLuxottica for US$1.5 billion. On September 15, 2025, VF agreed to sell the Dickies brand to Bluestar Alliance for US$600 million. The deal closed on November 12, 2025.
Spinoff
In August 2018, it was announced that VF would split 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. All brands which until 2018 had maintained separate divisional headquarters (e.g., Jansport) were consolidated into VF's new Denver headquarters.
Kontoor Brands Inc. became a separate company with the stock symbol KTB in May 2019. Kontoor includes Lee, Wrangler, Rock & Republic and VF Outlets. That company had 17,000 employees.
From Wikipedia’s article on VF Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8