Alpha Industries is an American clothing manufacturer founded in 1959 in
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
and specialises in American military style and fashion apparel. Alpha makes items such as
flight jacket
A flight jacket is a casual jacket that was originally created for pilots and eventually became part of popular culture and apparel. It has evolved into various styles and silhouettes, including the "letterman" jacket and the fashionable "bomber ...
s and
vest
A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. ...
s, and has made jackets for the
military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
like the
M65 Jacket
The M-1965 Field Jacket (also known as M65, M-65 Field Jacket, and Coat, Cold Weather, Man's Field), eponymously named after the year it was introduced, is a popular field jacket initially designed for the United States Armed Forces under the ''MI ...
for over half a century.
History
Superior Togs Corporation
Alpha Industries has its roots in a
family of companies comprising Superior Togs Corporation, Rolen Sportswear and Dobbs Industries. Through the 1940s, these companies were linked by common ownership and an identical business of manufacturing flight jackets for the United States military.
In January 1948, Robert Lane and his wife Helen incorporated Superior Togs Corporation in order to manufacture flight jackets on a
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
contract.
In 1952, Superior Togs Corporation was shut down when the government suspended the contract. Robert Lane set up a new company called Rolen Sportswear, an equivalent of Superior Togs under a different name. They picked up the same
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
(DOD) contracts and used the same
Elizabeth, New Jersey factory.
By 1957, Robert Lane created Dobbs Industries in
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
where labor was plentiful and manufacturing costs were substantially less.
Creation of Alpha Industries
Robert Lane was accused in 1959 of bribing a government official for a Department of Defense contract. As such his business and any business associated with him were barred from ever obtaining another contract from the government. Although he held 90% of the shares to Dobb Industries, this still spelled the end for Samuel Gelber, Lane's accountant, who split with Lane and approached Herman "Breezy" Wynn, founder of Wynn Industries Group who is credited for the early success of Alpha Industries. Because of his knowledge of the textile industry and because of his numerous resources, Mr. Herman “Breezy” Wynn allowed Alpha Industries to grow from its humble beginnings. On October 17, 1959, Gelber incorporated his new company, Alpha Industries, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Alpha Industries began operations making military clothing in the basement of a rented
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
factory using leased sewing machines and only a few employees. Department of Defense contracts were initially difficult to secure in a time of peace, however, the start of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
meant a sudden increase in demand for military clothing and Alpha's growth rapidly accelerated.
In 1963, Alpha Industries started to produce the
MA-1 bomber jacket
The MA-1 bomber jacket (also known as the MA-1 flight jacket) is an American military jacket which was developed in the 1950s. The MA-1 and its predecessor, the B-15 flight jacket, were originally developed and needed at that time because the c ...
.
[Aria Hughes]
MA-1 Flight Jacket Boosts Business for Alpha Industries
''Wwd.com'', 11 January 2011
Vietnam War
Due to the unusual nature of manufacturers who worked by government contract the multiple companies were persuaded to work collaboratively through subcontracts and affiliations, which was known as the Wynn Confederation. It was a series of DOD contract manufactures who would lease sewing machinery to other companies within the Confederation, provide them with technical assistance, and provide and train employees. Wynn would also locate the fabric and component suppliers for the Confederation groups. This subcontracting made it possible for fledgling groups like Alpha to acquire work and survive past its first 12 months of existence.
With America's escalating involvement in Vietnam starting in the 1960s, companies like Alpha found themselves inundated with work. Alpha expanded considerably over the decade and soon occupied all four floors of the 614 11th Street factory. The government's demand for quality control brought John Niethammer in who became a significant player to Alpha's expansion..
When the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
ended, Alpha made the rounds through army surplus stores. The only changes Alpha would make over the next 20 years for the public market were in the color of the jackets.
In 1970, Alpha Industries started to cater to the consumer market.
In the 1970s, the Department of Defense deemed it necessary to equip every man with separate clothing for every possible weather scenario they could encounter. This meant a busy period for manufacturers like Alpha. Because DOD contracts were given preferably to small companies, Alpha did not want to risk increasing its employment to more than 500 workers, so new subcontracting groups were created, like Summit Apparel and Benton Manufacturing. With a move to a larger factory in 1980, Alpha was able to devote whole buildings to single types of jackets. The new factory saw the production of 550,000 field jackets per year.
End of Cold War
![MA-1 Jacket in petrol](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/MA-1_Jacket_in_petrol.jpg)
Alpha soon began to sell commercially. By this time Alpha had dabbled in commercial sales in between DOD contracts through subcontracted groups such as Dobbs Apparel.
In 1982, Samuel Gelber died at the age of 67 and left the company to his wife Mildred with the assistance of John Niethammer and her son-in-law Alan Cirker. The new management expanded the commercial side of its business.
The
Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
administration called for an increase in DOD spending which exceeded 1.8 billion dollars in textile alone. Alpha became the leading producer of the new
CWU 36/P and 45/P Nomex
Nomex is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.
Properties
Nomex and related aramid polymers are related to nylon, but have aromatic backbones, and hence are more rigid and mo ...
flight jackets which replaced the
MA-1 bomber jacket
The MA-1 bomber jacket (also known as the MA-1 flight jacket) is an American military jacket which was developed in the 1950s. The MA-1 and its predecessor, the B-15 flight jacket, were originally developed and needed at that time because the c ...
, and the
Gore-Tex
Gore-Tex is a waterproof, breathable fabric membrane and registered trademark of W. L. Gore & Associates. Invented in 1969, Gore-Tex can repel liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through and is designed to be a lightweight, waterpr ...
systems which replaced the parkas.
By the mid-1980s Alpha found that some of their products were envied by foreign military groups and were recommended to military attachés by the
United States Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). In deals that required foreign groups to purchase through American manufacturers Alpha found itself with new customer bases in other countries.
The end of the
Cold War brought the
Peace Dividend
''Peace dividend'' was a political slogan popularized by US President George H. W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the light of the 1988–1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, that described the economic benefit of a decrease in d ...
and by the early 1990s, DOD spending had decreased by 75%. Liberalization of trade barriers and a reduction of duties also led to a breakdown in the American apparel industry. Those factors highly threatened to end Alpha Industries. The
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
and
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
did not noticeably increase the demand for military apparel. The military's focus became on technology and electronics that would reduce the use of human life. Therefore, Alpha turned more and more to the commercial sale of its products.
Fashion brand
Alpha Industries is now a manufacturer of military style apparel with customers ranging from U.S. surplus to stores across
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. Alpha now creates replicas of famous military wear as well as casual clothing that is military-inspired. Children's clothing and accessories are also made by Alpha Industries.
In 1992, the brand switched to the flying A logo to adapt to the internationalization of their sales.
[Alpha Industries, what you need to know about the clothing brand](_blank)
''Highsnobiety.com'' During the latter decades of the 20th century Alpha produced clothing for military organizations throughout the world including
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Australia,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
,
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Jordan, New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Uruguay.
Alpha has expanded into networks of international distributors, retailers, and internet sellers. Supplementing its small American factory base (still located in Knoxville), Alpha has expanded its range of manufacturing outside of the United States. Much of their product is made in China.
In 2008, Alpha Industries started to partner with other clothing brands to release new lines of products.
In 2011, Michael Cirker replaced his father as CEO of Alpha Industries. While the father Alan had focused on international distribution, the son Michael turned Alpha into a fashion brand.
Partnership
In October 2020, Alpha Industries partnered with A Bathing Ape. The partnership features all the garments to dual branding of patchwork, embroidery and other streetwear textures.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.alphaindustries.com/
Clothing companies of the United States
Clothing manufacturers
High fashion brands
Companies based in Fairfax County, Virginia
American companies established in 1959
Clothing companies established in 1959
1959 establishments in Virginia