Blue Bell launched the Wrangler jeans brand in 1947.
Blue Bell was an American workwear company that introduced Wrangler as a brand aimed at the growing Western-wear market. The company worked with professional rodeo figures, including tailor Bernard Lichtenstein, known as Rodeo Ben, to develop jeans suited to riders and ranch work.
Wrangler jeans became associated with features useful in the saddle, including a higher back rise and construction intended to reduce discomfort while riding. The brand’s identity was shaped by rodeo, Western films, and country culture rather than only by mining and factory work.
Blue Bell later became part of VF Corporation, but that later corporate ownership should not be confused with Wrangler’s launch. Levi Strauss & Co. and the H.D. Lee Company were competing denim manufacturers, not the company that introduced the Wrangler name in 1947.