Lee (jeans)
Lee is a brand of jeans that in 1889 in Salina ( Kansas was founded). The current owner is Kontoor Brands , which holds the trademark rights in Germany.
history
Henry David Lee founded the HD Lee mercantile Company in Kansas in 1889. Because of the poor quality of imported fabrics, he used cotton from the USA. In 1911, the first were Lee - overalls made from denim, be based on their design still work overalls. In 1921 the Lee brand developed one of their iconic works, the “Loco Jacket” denim jacket, which was specially produced for workers in the railway industry. According to Lee, it was the first clothing manufacturer to use zippers in the textile industry for workwear in 1926. The noise made by the zippers gave it the nickname “Whizit Bib”. In 1937, the HD Lee Company was the largest manufacturer of workwear in the United States. In 1949 the additional sale of jeans especially for women began, until then only workwear and jeans for men were offered. The image of jeans in the USA changed in the 1950s as a result of numerous movies. Jeans changed their image of utility and work equipment and increasingly became part of pop culture, pioneered by James Dean and Marlon Brando .
collection
The Lee label mainly sells jeans, but also other pants, tops and accessories. The collections differ according to continents: while in Europe, Asia and Australia the focus is more on a young audience and flagship stores have also been established, in North and Central America the focus is more on a conservative group of buyers, with the products sometimes only being marketed through department store chains . Only a few models are offered globally.
Well-known models
A very popular model in the 1960s was the Lee Rider 101-Z , a slightly narrower cut jeans. On the basis of these pants, jeans are repeatedly put on that have the number sequence 101 in their name and are usually elaborately worked. Meanwhile, however , 101 only stands for jeans made of high-quality cotton fabrics, colored seams or extended features and no longer for the cut.