Phillips-Van Heusen

(PVH)

   This company was started in 1881 by Moses and Endel Phillips, selling handmade men's shirts to coal miners from their pushcart in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. After advertising their shirts in New York's Saturday Evening Post, business boomed. In 1919, their son Seymour partnered with Dutchman John Manning Van Heusen to open a clothing outlet and called themselves the Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation. In 1919, John Van Heusen patented his process of weaving fabric on a curve which was the basis for his self-folding collar, an immediate hit. In 1922, Van Heusen created the "Collarite Shirt," the first collar-attached shirt.

   By 1974, the company was awarded the Royal Warrant as Shirt-makers to Queen Elizabeth II and, in 1991, was the number-one dress shirt brand in the world. PVH continued to expand throughout the years by acquiring businesses including Bass (1982), Izod (1995), and Calvin Klein (2002). In 2006, PVH agreed to provide Warnaco with worldwide rights for Calvin Klein Jeans to produce CK Calvin Klein Bridge sportswear and accessories in Europe and Calvin Klein Jeans and accessories in Europe and Asia. PVH's Dress Shirt Group maintains dress shirt licenses for the brand names Geoffrey Beene, DKNY, Kenneth Cole, Arrow, Michael Kors, BCBG Max Azaria, BCBG Attitude, Sean John, Chaps, and Donald J. Trump Signature. The PVH range includes apparel and accessories, jeans, underwear, fragrances, eyewear, men's tailored clothing, ties, footwear, swim-wear, jewelry, watches, leather goods, coats, handbags, home furnishings, and men's knit and woven sport shirts, sweaters, bottoms, swimwear, boxers, and underwear. As of 2006, the company operates 700 retail stores under the names Geoffrey Beene outlet, Calvin Klein outlet, Bass Factory outlet, and Van Heusen outlet stores.