Which company became the owner of Wrangler and Lee after VF Corporation’s 2019 spin-off?

Kontoor Brands became the owner of Wrangler and Lee after VF Corporation’s 2019 spin-off.

VF Corporation separated its jeans businesses from its other brands in 2019, creating Kontoor Brands as an independent publicly traded company. The new company’s principal global brands were Wrangler and Lee, two labels with long histories in workwear and denim. Kontoor also includes other apparel operations connected with those brands.

The spin-off was a corporate restructuring rather than the creation of either jeans label. Wrangler originated in the United States as a western and workwear brand, while Lee developed from an American workwear company whose denim products became widely recognized. Both brands therefore predate Kontoor Brands by many decades.

Kontoor is sometimes mistaken for a consumer-facing jeans label because its name appears in business and ownership news rather than on most garments. The company’s role is that of a brand owner and apparel corporation. VF Corporation continued to own other major clothing and footwear brands after the separation.