Bugle Boy Industries, Inc. was a clothing company founded by

William Mow William C. W. Mow (Traditional Chinese: 毛昭寰; born 1936) is the former chairman and CEO of Bugle Boy Industries. Biography Mow was born in Hangchow, China, the son of Lieutenant General Mow Pang Tsu of the National Chinese Air Force. In May ...

in 1977. It is perhaps best known for its namesake brand of denim jeans that were popular in the 1980s. The company declared bankruptcy in 2001. William C. W. Mow (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

: 毛昭寰) was born in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

, China, and later moved with his family to the United States. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1959 and then earned an MSEE from

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

in 1967. He worked for Litton Industries for two years before venturing out on his own. Mow founded Macrodata based on his invention of a method of testing large-scale integrated chips and the company went public in 1973. Around 1976, Mow sold his shares and left the company due to an investigation by the SEC. Although he was later cleared, he had to stay out of the electronics design industry for a few years due to a non-competition clause he had signed with Macrodata. In 1977, Mow founded Bugle Boy Industries. During the 1980s, the company enjoyed continued growth. Sales approached $1 billion, making Bugle Boy one of the largest privately owned apparel companies in the United States, but the company fell into troubled times in 2001, declared bankruptcy, and was sold that year for $68.6 million. The Bugle Boy brand was purchased in 2001 by

Schottenstein Stores Corp. Schottenstein Stores Corp., based in Columbus, Ohio, is a holding company for various ventures of the Schottenstein family. Jay Schottenstein and his sons Joey Schottenstein, Jonathan Schottenstein, and Jeffrey Schottenstein are the primary h ...

, owner of

Retail Ventures Retail Ventures was a holding company originally created in 2003 for DSW (NYSE: DSW), Filene's Basement, and Value City Department Stores. The retailer's initial public offering was in 1991 under the Value City name. Value City went on to purchase ...

and several retail chains. Bugle Boy featured men's and boys' clothing, often with a denim theme. Elastic cuffs at the bottom of the jeans and cross-stitching patterns were also a major part of the Bugle Boy style, with brands such as Pilot and Cotler being its contemporaries. They also popularized

parachute pants Parachute pants, originally known as flight pants, are a style of trousers characterized by the use of nylon, especially ripstop nylon. In the original tight-fitting style of the early 1980s, "parachute" referred to the pants' nylon material, si ...

during the breakdancing fad of the early 80s, in a line called Countdown. Bugle Boy also produced men's and boys' tops, but was best known for its varieties of jeans and jean shorts. As of 2018, the Bugle Boy brand is no longer in use. In 2001, Bugle Boy closed all 215 of its U.S. outlet stores in an agreement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. All the operation centers in China, Taiwan, Singapore were also closed. Their store at

Gurnee Mills Gurnee Mills is a shopping mall and outlet mall in Gurnee, Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area and it is one of the tourist destinations in Chicago, Illinois. Like the nearby Six Flags Great America and Great Wolf Lodge, the mall's pla ...

remained open to sell off remaining inventory.

References

External links

2001 Asian Week article on the rise and fall of Bugle Boy
Jeans by brand Clothing companies established in 1977 1980s fashion 1990s fashion 1977 establishments in California Companies disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in California {{clothing-stub