Devil-Dog Dungarees Relaunches With Jeans, Casual Staples
Devil-Dog Dungarees has a rich and interesting history — and it has nothing to do with the Drake’s chocolate cream cakes.
As the story goes: in 1927, Louis Rosenstock, a World War 1 veteran, created General Sportwear, a small apparel manufacturer in Ellenville, N.Y. The company soon made a name for itself as a private label manufacturer and in 1948, Rosenstock decided the time was right to develop his own brand, believing the white space was in men’s jeans.
More from WWD
He named the line Devil-Dog Dungarees, a nickname for the U.S. Marines, and moved the company to North Carolina to be closer to the hub of denim manufacturing in the States at the time. Its motto was: “Tough as a Marine.”
Through the 1950s and ‘60s, Devil-Dog jeans became the core business for General Sportwear, but the demand for private label denim from major U.S. retailers caused the company to shift gears, move away from Devil-Dog and concentrate on production for other companies.
But while General Sportwear’s private label production still represents the lion’s share of its business, the brand’s third-generation owners believe now is the right time to relaunch its heritage brand.
Jeff Rosenstock, president of Devil-Dog and grandson of the founder, said he and his brother David Rosenstock, executive vice president, started talking about bringing the brand back in 2018. Their niche, they believed, was to offer a large men’s denim assortment in a variety of fits and washes that could retail for under $100.
They brought industry veteran Sean Connelly on board as vice president of merchandising and sales, and on July 1, 2019, General Sportwear relaunched Devil-Dog Dungarees in an array of vintage washes with nods to its past that included double D cording stitching, banana printed pockets, a replica label and a dog tag hanging from the belt loop. Chinos and shorts were added soon after.
“We kept the trademark and always knew it would be relaunched,” Jeff Rosenstock said.
Initially, the brand was sold only on the brand’s website, but it has since expanded its reach and is sold at Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Stitchfix, Von Maur and some 150 specialty retailers around the U.S.
But the Rosenstocks have larger ambitions for the brand and believe it can be a full lifestyle collection. So they hired Zulu Williams, who had spent 16 years at Macy’s in the private label division, to the team as senior design director.
For spring 2022, Williams has created an assortment of “casual men’s staples” such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, crewnecks and polos to dress the Devil-Dog jeans customer “from the waist up — everything that goes with jeans and chinos,” he said.
“Denim will always be our core, but we want to build a lifestyle brand,” said Jeff Rosenstock. So in addition to the jeans, chinos and shorts, the mix includes hats, bandanas and leather accessories such as wallets, belts and key fobs. Coming soon are denim trucker jackets in a stretch or rigid fabric.
Connelly said that unlike other start-ups, Devil-Dog has a unique advantage. “When you’re starting a new brand, everything is stacked against you and money and logistics can really trip you up,” he said. “But we have years of history in patternmaking, fit and sourcing.” And thanks to the ongoing success of its private label manufacturing, Devil-Dog also has adequate financing.
“That allowed us to relaunch Devil-Dog at the speed we wanted,” said David Rosenstock. “My father taught me that if you’re going to make something, take ownership of it.” So they tasked their company-owned factories in Central America to create a wide-ranging assortment that was ready for immediate sale to both customers and retailers who wanted to add the collection.
“We can offer scalability at a price,” said Jeff Rosenstock, adding that because of its manufacturing capabilities, wholesale customers are not held to any minimums or pre-pack requirements and the company can also handle drop shipments.
The brand currently offers seven fits and 24 washes in “a rainbow” of colors that range from light to dark. The top-selling item is the Burke, an athletic-fit jean in a vintage indigo wash created from moisture-wicking Sorbtek performance yarns and Repreve, a yarn made from plastic bottles. It retails for $79 and is also a top seller for Nordstrom, according to Connelly.
The other prices are similarly accessible with all long bottoms retailing for that same $79 price point, Ts selling for $34, shorts for $49, denim shirts for $79 to $89 and jackets for $109.
For the team, the goal is to continue to grow the Devil-Dog business by adding more fits and washes in denim as well as other products such as utility or carpenter pants. Big and tall sizing will be added in June.
Expanding its wholesale base is also in the plans, especially with independent retailers.
“We got to 150 pretty quickly and hope to get to 300 specialty stores by the end of the year,” Jeff Rosenstock said.
Although Devil-Dog is only projected to account for 10 to 15 percent of General Sportwear’s business by the end of the year, the team believes it’s just scratching the surface. “We’ve been in business 90 years and we expect to be around another 90,” said Jeff Rosenstock. “And we believe we have a lot of runway with Devil-Dog.”
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
