What company originally produced Wrangler jeans?

Wrangler jeans were originally produced by the Blue Bell Overall Company.

Blue Bell began as the Hudson Overall Company, founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1904. The business adopted the Blue Bell Overall Company name in 1919 and built a major workwear operation before entering the western-jeans market. In 1943, Blue Bell acquired the Casey Jones Work-Clothes Company and obtained rights to the Wrangler name. It then developed jeans specifically for rodeo riders and working cowboys.

Blue Bell hired Bernard Lichtenstein, known as “Rodeo Ben,” to help shape the line. He consulted cowboys about fit and function, leading to features such as felled seams, comfortable pocket placement, and a zipper fly. Blue Bell introduced the first Wrangler jeans in 1947, initially using the 11MWZ lot number, later renamed 13MWZ. The brand eventually became part of VF Corporation and, after a 2019 separation, Kontoor Brands. H.D. Lee and Levi Strauss are separate historic denim companies, not Wrangler’s original producer.