TOP US APPAREL

BRAND
 Founded: 1994
 Parent Company: The Gap Inc.
 What it sells: Casual clothes
 Stores worldwide: 1,160
 Revenue: $16.6 billion (parent company)
 The maker of jeans, hoodies, hats, tank tops, capris, and other apparel items was named after a
bar in Paris.

OLD NAVY
 Banana Republic
 Founded: 1978
 Parent Company: The Gap Inc.
 What it sells: Casual apparel
 Stores worldwide: 600
 Revenue: $16.6 billion (parent company)
 The store with the safari theme was founded by a reporter and illustrator at the San Francisco
Chronicle. They thought of the apparel theme while traveling in Australia and liked the
utilitarian look of an old British Burma jacket they bought at a surplus store.

BANANA REPUBLIC
 Founded: 1969
 Parent Company: The Gap Inc.
 What it sells: Casual apparel aimed at youth
 Stores worldwide: 1,234
 Revenue: $16.6 billion (parent company)
 Husband and wife Doris and Don Fisher opened the first casual clothing Gap store in 1969 in
San Francisco because Don couldn't find a pair of pants that fit. The name refers to the
generation gap.

GAP
 Founded: 1977
 Parent Company: American Eagle Outfitters Inc.
 What it sells: Denim, casual apparel
 Stores worldwide: 1,061
 Revenue: $4.03 billion
 American Eagle Outfitters was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman and
offers a variety of apparel for men and women.

AMERICAN EAGLE
  Founded: 1964
 Parent Company: Nike Inc.
 What it sells: Athletic apparel, sneakers
 Stores worldwide: 951
 Revenue: $37.2 billion
 Sportswear company Nike was originally called Blue Ribbon Sports and was a distributor for
a Japanese shoemaker. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company with the famous swoosh
symbol later took the name Nike, after the Greek goddess of victory, from a suggestion by an
employee.

NIKE
  Founded: 1853
 Parent Company: Levi Strauss & Co.
 What it sells: Denim
 Stores worldwide: 854
 Revenue: $5.57 billion
 Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss invented work pants in the 19th century to outfit gold
prospectors in California that would upend fashion.
 Founded: 1967
 Parent Company: Ralph Lauren Corporation
 What it sells: Country-club prep style clothes
 Stores worldwide: 510
 Revenue: $6.31 billion (parent company)
 After a stint in the Army, Bronx-born Ralph Lauren persuaded New York City clothier Beau
Brummel to invest in wider neck ties in the late 1960s. The ties sold well and Lauren's
clothing empire began.

POLO RALPH LAUREN

 Under Armour
 Founded: 1996
 Parent Company: Under Armour Inc.
 What it sells: Performance apparel
 Stores worldwide: 179
 Revenue: $5.19 billion
 The preferred undergarment for athletes had its origins with Kevin A. Plank, a former special
teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank grew tired of constantly
changing the cotton T-shirt under his jersey as it became wet and heavy during the game. So
he devised a garment that would remain drier and lighter and in the process created the
performance apparel category.

UNDER ARMOUR
 Founded: 1985
 Parent Company: PVH Corporation
 What it sells: American-themed apparel, fragrances, eyewear
 Stores worldwide: 1,800+
 Revenue: $4.3 billion
 Long before Tommy Hilfiger's name became synonymous with red, white, and blue American
style, the Elmira, New York, native started his retail career at age 18 selling jeans in high
school. He opened a store with high school friends that was called the People's Place.

TOMMY HILFIGER
 Calvin Klein
 Founded: 1968
 Parent Company: PVH Corporation
 What it sells: Clothes, accessories, home furnishings
 Stores worldwide: 4,115 (including distributor stores)
 Revenue: $3.7 billion
 Calvin Klein was originally recognized for his suits and coats but branched out into sportswear.
Ads for his products pushed boundaries, such as the jeans ad with a 15-year-old Brooke Shields,
who said in a famous television commercial, "Do you know what comes between me and my
Calvins? Nothing."

CALVIN KLEIN