Colegiul National “Unirea”Brasov

Elev: Profesor:
Clasa:
2019
Table of Contents

1) Argument.......................................................................................3
2) Introduction...................................................................................4
3) Top 10 Great American Brands over Time................................5
a) Ralph Lauren............................................................................5
b) Tommy Hilfiger.......................................................................6
c) Calvin Klein.............................................................................7
d) Levi Strauss & Co....................................................................8
e) The North Face.........................................................................9
f) American Eagle Outfitters.......................................................10
g) Abercrombie & Fitch................................................................11
h) Hollister.....................................................................................12
i) Guess.........................................................................................13
j) Gap............................................................................................14

4) Conclusion.......................................................................................15
5) Summary...........................................................................................16
6) Bibliography.....................................................................................17
 1.Argument:
I chose to write about brands because of course I love shopping! I am extremely selective
about brands so I chose to talk about American Clothing Brands. I watch fashion shows, read
magazines, news and all that stuff to be up to date. From my point of view being well dressed
as a teenager means to have quality clothes, in fashion and with very good taste. At the same
time the USA owns the world’s famous companies in various fields such as: clothes,
computer science, food, cosmetics, cars or jewerly. American brands are the best!
In my research I focused on high end clothing brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph
Lauren and Calvin Klein as well as clothes for the middle class as Gap, The North Face or
American Eagle Outfitters.
The majority of teenagers nowadays are looking to be trendy and this comes with a cost both
in terms of financial efforts and social integration. Students’ are greatly influenced by movie
stars, singers and athletes and they act as role models both in terms of how they act and in
terms of how they look and dress.
Designer clothes have a higher degree of quality in terms of materials and handiwork. Big
clothing companies buy expensive and reliable textiles because their goal is not just to make
money but establish a name for themselves so that the customers will keep on coming back.
https://www.google.com/search?q=clothing+companies+logos&client=firefox-b-
d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZgIbR_f7gAhXC-
ioKHfvMDPwQ_AUIDigB&biw=1366&bih=654#imgrc=jWd7Ni4qc_iqgM:

2.Introduction
The United States is one of the leading countries in the fashion design industry, along
with France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. Apart from professional
business attire, American fashion is eclectic and predominantly informal. While Americans'
diverse cultural roots are reflected in their clothing, particularly those of recent
immigrants, cowboy hats, boots and leather motorcycle jackets are emblematic of specifically
American styles.

New York City and Los Angeles are the centers of America's fashion industry. They are
considered leading fashion capitals. New York City is generally considered to be one of the
"big four" global fashion capitals, along with Paris, Milan and London.

Fashion norms have changed greatly between decades. The United States of America has
generally followed, and in some cases led, trends in the history of Western fashion. It has
some unique regional clothing styles, such as western wear.
According to Wikipedia, blue jeans were popularized as work clothes in the 1850s by Levi
Strauss, an American merchant of German origin in San Francisco, and were adopted by
many American teenagers a century later. They are now widely worn on every continent by
people of all ages and social classes. Along with mass-marketed informal wear in general,
blue jeans are perhaps American culture's primary contribution to global fashion 1. Other
fashion trends started in the US include sports wear as fashion along with athletic shoe wear
like Converse or Nike. Athleisure was also popularized in the US around 2012, and as of 2017
the trend has all but dominated the US market. Athleisure has dominated the US market

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_in_the_United_States
because of its ability to fill a gap in the market, as clothing wasn't usually both comfortable,
stylish, and functional. 

Ralph Lauren

This is a multi-million dollar corporation which was founded by an American fashion

designer in 1968 with a menswear line of clothes entitled Polo and diversified his business
along the way.

Nowadays, the brand deals with clothes, fragrances and media. According to fashion
journalists the marketing genius is that his brand conjures romantic, nostalgic visions of prairie
women and rugged wranglers, and clean, Ivy League privilege. In an interview given to Michael
Gross, the fashion designer talks about how he likes to sell dreams not just fabric and he wants to
inspire people to believe in themselves2.

Throughout his career he and his clothing company have tailored to several movie stars and important
people like Robert Redford and Diane Keaton.

2
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/oct/02/its-not-about-fabric-its-about-dreams-how-ralph-lauren-
created-an-empire
Tommy Hilfiger

It is a corporation which deals with clothes, footwear, accessories, fragrances and home
furnishings. It was established in 1985 and nowadays it was acquired by Apax Partners for
1.6 billion dollars3.

Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market in the 1990s, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked
during its runways shows.

In order to keep up with the times, the brand has developed a smart line of clothing entitled Tommy
Jeans Xplore which includes T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, is embedded with a smart chip 4.

3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Hilfiger_(company)
4
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44965150
Calvin Klein

He was born in New York in a Hungarian Jewish family. His company doesn’t just deal with
clothes but also with jewellery, accessories, watches and perfumes.

In 1980 he came up with a pair of tight jeans and he marketed them in a controversial manner
by giving it a sexual tone. In one ad Brooke Shields appears wearing his tight jeans and
saying the there is nothing between her and the pair of trousers. This raise the feminist
movement’s attention and Klein ended up apologizing for the commercial campaign5.

5
https://www.vogue.it/en/news/vogue-arts/2017/11/07/interview-calvin-klein-vogue-italia-november-2017/?
refresh_ce=
Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss was a German-American businessman who started his clothing company in 1847
in San Francisco. Strauss opened his wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry
goods from his brothers in New York, including clothing, bedding, combs, purses, and handkerchiefs.
He made tents and later jeans while he lived in America. He died in 1902 and the company was
left to his four nephews6.

The North Face, American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Guess and
Gap

The North Face

According to Wikipedia7 The North Face, Inc. is an American outdoor product company
specializing in outerwear, fleece, coats, shirts, footwear, and equipment such as backpacks,
tents, and sleeping bags.

Its clothing and equipment lines are catered towards outdoor enthusiasts, climbers,
mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, hikers, and endurance athletes.

The company sponsors professional athletes from the worlds of running, climbing, skiing and
snowboarding.

6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Strauss
7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_North_Face
American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., now known as simply American Eagle, is an American
lifestyle clothing and accessories retailer, headquartered in the Southside Works
Neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania8.

The brand targets male and female university students, although older adults and teenagers
wear the brand.

Abercrombie & Fitch

According to Wikipedia Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that
focuses on upscale casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio.

The company was founded in 1892 in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York,
by David T. Abercrombie as an outfitter for the elite outdoorsman. Ezra Fitch a wealthy
lawyer, and real estate developer, and devoted customer of the Abercrombie Company bought
a significant interest in the business in 1900. In 1904, it was incorporated and renamed
"Abercrombie & Fitch Co." Fitch eventually bought Abercrombie's share of the business
becoming the sole owner from 1907 to 1928.9

Once known for its sexualised ad campaigns, the company has toned down its imagery and no
longer displays nearly nude models in their advertisements.

The company operates two other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids and Hollister Co.

Guess

Guess (styled as GUESS or Guess?) is an American clothing brand and retailer. In addition
to clothing for both men and women, Guess markets other fashion accessories such as
watches, jewelry, perfumes, and shoes.

During the 1980s, Guess was one of the most popular brands of denim jeans. The company
was one of the first companies to create designer jeans. While the first jeans were for women,
a men's line debuted in 1983.10

Gap

It was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San
Francisco, California. Gap Inc. is the largest specialty retailer in the United States, and is 3rd
in total international locations, behind Inditex Group and H&M.

The Gap originally targeted the younger generation when it opened, with its name referring to
the generation gap of the time. It originally sold everything that Levi Strauss & Co made in
every style, size, and color, and organized the stock by size. The Gap was the first of many
8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Eagle_Outfitters
9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abercrombie_%26_Fitch
10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guess_(clothing)
shops that carried only Levi's. In 1973, Gap started making their own jeans as a way to
differentiate themselves from department stores.11

Conclusions

In my research paper I have presented a short history and characteristics of some of America’s
well known clothing brands. Half of them have been established after the 1980’s which
coincides with America’s desire to spend more money on goods and services. These brands
tend to have offshoot brands which target those who don’t have the money to buy the
premium name or do not fit the targeted social category as in the case of Hollister Co.

Today’s world revolves on how people see one another in terms of social and economic status
and clothing brands manage to be extremely successful because clothes are the first thing that
draws attention when meeting and relating to people.

Clothes as well as technology and cars are today’s main interests when it comes to teenagers
and thus they spend a lot of time, money and energy in keeping up with the trends.

11
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_Inc.