History of Alpha Industries
The clothing factory was founded in Knoxville by the accountant Samuel Gelber in 1959 with the aim of providing the army with quality outfits. The Alpha Industries was formed as the successor of thre manufacturers: Superior Tags Coporation, Rolen Sportswear and Dobbs Industries. The company mostly famous for its flight jackets preserved its relationship with the American armed forces, however, became one of the leading producers of the civil spheres.
(The Alpha Industries clothing factory in the 1980s)
After the Vietnam War, the number of orders increased and the company gained strength. The army ordered a lot of clothing, especially the MA-1 pilot jacket turned out to be very popular. (An interesting fact: the American actor Jason Statham wears the same in the film ’Expendables 2’. In the same film, Sylvester Stallone wears a wool mariner’s Peacoat. In the film ’Terminator 4’ Christian Bale puts on a vintage B-3 shearling jacket. Rambo wore a M65 field jacket in 1982. Robert De Niro was dressed in the same already in 1975, in the film ’Taxi Driver’.)
(Robert De Niro in a M65 coat in ’Taxi Driver’)
In the 1970s not only coats but other pieces of clothing were ordered by the army. Therefore, the company outsourced a few of its manufacturing activities. During this time after the end of the Vietnam War, the clothing that became redundant got sold. First only those bought the jackets and trousers who had already got acquainted with the brand during the war. Then the civils also discovered that they were great.
In 1980, the Alpha moved to a new site. At this time, they had been manufacturing 550.000 jackets a year. The company extended its activity from the government field to the civil market. They only made a single modification: with the three horizontal lines sewn on the military gear they separated the product name from the instructions. The buyers looking for something unique then started to search for the pieces with ’three lines’.
After the death of its founder in 1982, Samuel Gelber, Alpha strengthened its market position further.
The company did not make alterations to a great extent, only the colours of the jackets changed while the models remained the same.
(Alpha coat label)
The evident glory had lasted until the end of the cold war, approximately until the 1990s when the company’s government orders fell by 75% and the ’Made in USA’ signal got driven back. The situation got further aggravated with the booming of the Far Eastern clothing industry.
Later, neither the Gulf War, nor the Iraq offensive could raise Alpha’s number of orders because they rather aggregated the money on machinery and guns.
Upon the recognizing the trend, Alpha turned completely to the preferance of streetwear, now owning a male, female and children’s collection. The company has centres in the United States, Germany and Japan. The need of the American and European buyers differ, so a few basic pieces are available everywhere while others get to the shops only in a given country.
(The accessory of most Alpha coats is the RBF strip)
Almost all Alpha products have a small tab with the company logo, which is sewn on the left arm pocket in case of jackets. Most jackets have a REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT strip which is one of the main distinctive features of Alpha, similarly to the stitsching on the sleeve of the flight jacket. Another characteristic is the velcro nametag on the left chest, as well.
Alpha = tried, controlled, proven
