Company History

The company is established in Pennsylvania as the Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company by John Barbey and a group of investors.

The company is renamed Vanity Fair Silk Mills, Inc. when it expands into silk lingerie.

The company drops the word “silk” in its name due to an embargo on the material during World War II.

Vanity Fair Mills goes public, trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company enters the denim category with the acquisition of the H.D. Lee Company (now the Lee® brand) and renames itself VF Corporation.

VF Acquires Blue Bell, which includes Wrangler® and JanSport® brands - doubling its size and creating the world’s largest publicly traded apparel company.

VF moves its corporate headquarters from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania to Greensboro, North Carolina.

Eastpak® – founded 1952, joined VF 2000.

VF Acquires The North Face® and Vans® - its two largest today - laying the foundation for the company’s portfolio of activity-based lifestyle brands.

The North Face® – founded 1964, joined VF 2000.

Vans® – founded 1966, joined VF 2004.

Napapijri® – founded 1987, joined VF 2004.

Kipling® – founded 1987, joined VF 2004.

VF divests its namesake brand, Vanity Fair, when it sells its intimate apparel business.

VF acquires the Timberland® and Smartwool® brands, doubling the size of its global footwear business.

Timberland® – founded 1952, joined VF 2011.

Smartwool® – founded 1994, joined VF 2011.

VF acquires the Altra® and icebreaker® brands.

Altra® – founded 2009, joined VF 2018.

icebreaker® – founded 1995, joined VF 2018.

VF completes the spinoff of its jeans business, including the Wrangler®, Lee® and Rock & Republic® brands, into an independent, publicly traded company, Kontoor® Brands, Inc. VF establishes a shared global headquarters in Denver, Colorado for VF Corporate and five of its brands (The North Face®, Altra®, icebreaker®, Smartwool® and JanSport®).