How Jantzen swimwear appeared, which made a revolution in beach fashion

Once upon a time, swimsuits were called bathing suits and carried purely utilitarian functions. It would be difficult for a person who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to explain the combination of "sexy swimsuit". The first swimwear that could be called fashionable, stylish and seductive began to be produced by the American company Jantzen.

It all started with a small firm Portland Knitting Company, which sold knitted things in Portland, Oregon. Its founders were three entrepreneurs: John Zentbauer, Karl Jantzen and S. R. Zentbauer. The company, which appeared in 1910, was engaged in the sale of hosiery and sweaters and could not boast of huge turnover.

The three founders of the firm were united not only by business, but also by hobbies. All of them were lovers of an active lifestyle and were fond of rowing. They were even in The Portland Rowing Club. One day, in 1913, a fellow member of the club asked the guys if they could create some kind of wool suit for rowing in the autumn-winter period.

Soon the Portland Knitting Company introduced the world's first mass-produced insulated model of clothing for water sports. It was a suit with elastic loops, tightly fitting the athlete's body. It was liked not only by rowers, but also by swimmers and divers. It wasn't the famous men's bikinis yet, but it was something. The costumes sold out like hot cakes and the customers were delighted. I liked to create clothes for sports and Zentbauers and Yantzen. They continued to work in this direction, and it went!

Despite the fact that the First World War was going on, the bathing suit business flourished in the USA. In 1918, the company was renamed Jantzen Knitting Mills. The name of one of the founders of the business. Karl Yantzen, it turned out to be no coincidence in it. It was he who once headed a new line of business and invested maximum time and energy in it.  By this time, a significant part of the company's assortment was occupied by women's and men's swimwear.

In 1920, billboards with beauties dressed in Jantzen bathing suits flooded the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. In 1921, the swimwear created by Yantzen appeared on the covers of Vogue and Life magazines, which even then set the tone for fashion. Following this, the entry into the world market did not take long to wait.

By 1932, Jantzen could already safely be called a global brand and a trendsetter of beach fashion in two hemispheres. Moreover, she got into the ranking of the most recognizable brands on the planet, taking an honorable seventh place in it. Almost immediately after that, the company fell on hard times. The Great Depression did not encourage parties on the beach and forced even the richest to live more modestly. Therefore, the company Jantzen lost most of its customers and barely made ends meet.

Fortunately, the company survived and almost completely restored production volumes before the outbreak of the war. However, the owners of Jantzen remembered socks and sweaters again. Troubled times have taught us that swimsuits are often dispensed with, but warm clothes are relevant during any crisis. But the beach collections continued to come out and in 1940 there was a line for sports and leisure Sun Clothes, which included trendy swimwear.

In 1941 , the United States entered into World War II and Jantzen almost stopped producing civilian products. The manufacturer returned to its usual assortment in the late 40s. And in 1951 the company built a new factory in Seneca, South Carolina. She also began to work closely with Asian trading companies.

In 1954, Jantzen Knitting Mills was renamed simply to Jantzen Inc. The second half of the 20th century was incredibly turbulent for the company. The brand has opened and closed a variety of production facilities around the world. Sweaters and socks, swimwear and underwear, sex toys and sports uniforms — what an American company did not undertake.

However, bold experiments, like the release of goods for sex shops, did not last long. The company quickly opened directions, but if there was no return, it also rapidly folded them. In the 70s, it became clear that it was more profitable to trade licenses for the production of products than to maintain factories around the world themselves. The appearance of licensed products has somewhat shaken the prestige of the brand.

In 1980, the denim giant Blue Bell acquired the trademark Jantzen Inc. By 1986, VF Corporation became the new owner of the company. As part of the corporation, Jantzen was stripped of the rights of an independent brand and made the company a simple division of VF. This is the glorious history of the company from Portland could have ended, but that would have been unfair.

In the early 90s, the trademark returned all its privileges. Under her own logo, she began selling swimwear and women's clothing. In 2002, the last "transfer" to date took place. Jantzen was bought from VF by Perry Ellis International. Now the company continues to delight its fans with excellent beachwear and its swimwear, as before, are considered classics.