What is a Heritage Brand?

If you’re into raiding your dad’s closet or a neighborhood yard sale in search of vintage looks and apparel, you might just be a fan of Heritage clothing. American Heritage brands are legacy companies that have stood the test of time, are rooted in our past, and allow us to connect with the American spirit.
In fact, Heritage brands tell the American story as much as any other product that’s been designed, innovated, and redesigned with the changing times, down through the generations. From the panning streams of California and the fertile hunting grounds of Pennsylvania to the harsh forests of Minnesota and later the first and second World Wars, brands like Levis®, Woolrich® and Red Wings Shoes® have clothed America’s perseverance over adversity.

Levis®
Levi Strauss settled in San Francisco in 1853 eager to expand his brother’s dry good store that had been successful in New York. A Bavaria immigrant in a city of immigrants and feverish Gold Rush prospectors, Strauss built his product offerings around the needs of the hard-working people drawn to the harsh and beautiful region. Chief among those needs were clothes tough enough to withstand the rigors of the American west coast in the 19th century. Strauss enlisted Jacob W. Davis, a Nevada-based tailor, to the task in 1871. Their resulting waist overalls used sturdy denim fabric joined and reinforced with copper rivets and were patented in 1873.
Since that time, Levis® blue jeans have clothed American ranch hands, rebels, rock stars, outlaws, and heartthrobs. Mostly associated with independence and freedom, denim was even banned in high schools amidst the conservative dogma of the 1950’s. In the ‘60’s Levis® integrated their factories and pre-shrunk their denim. In the 1970’s they got skinny. And in 1980 and ’84 they clothed American Olympians.
Within those still-present copper rivets, the arching, gold back-pocket stitching, and those beautiful twin red horses lies the strength and history of America.

Woolrich®
Originally crafted in 1830 in the hills of central Pennsylvania, John Rich’s small-batch woolen fabrics, socks, and blankets laid the foundation for an American love affair. Along hunting and trapping routes and in lumber yards, farms, and country homesteads, the iconic Woolrich® Buffalo Check grew in popularity for its warmth and comfort. Both sides of the American Civil War donned Woolrich® to keep morale high and soldiers shielded from the elements. Indeed, when Admiral Byrd outfitted his Antarctic Service Expedition in 1939, he insisted that his men wear Woolrich®
Today you’re likely to find that same Buffalo Check pattern is a favorite of adventure seekers and the preferred dress of outdoor industry and stylish street casual.

Red Wing Shoes®
In 1905 a Minnesota shoe merchant named Charles Beckham recognized the need for a tough yet comfortable boot able to withstand the specific occupational demands of loggers, miners, farmers, and oil field workers of the American Midwest. Red Wings Shoes® soon became a symbol of American determination and fortitude and when war broke out in Europe, Red Wings were the primary footwear commissioned for American soldiers who fought and died there. When fighting returned to that continent twenty years later, so did those hard working and beloved boots. In the 1960's, Norman Rockwell, who had captured and reflected the American story for decades, memorialized Red Wings’ contribution to that narrative, coining the slogan “…For People Who Work.”
Today, the craftsmanship and style inherent in every boot by Red Wings Shoes® and Red Wing Heritage is sought after around the world from Japan to The Netherlands to right here in the good ‘ole U.S. of A.
What are your favorite traditional, Heritage brands?
Cliff Carey
founder, American Reserve Clothing Co. Inc.
“May your story be well-clothed and written in vibrant ink on smudged and dogeared pages.”