Pangea Sport Launches Vintage - Original Issue vintage college apparel line

After breaking new ground in the Old World by pioneering the university sportswear market in Europe, brothers Dan and Lee Mirman, co-founders of Pangea Sport, are now focusing on the United States with the rollout of Original Issue, a new vintage college apparel line.

Created in 1998 and launched as a division of Pangea Sport in 1999, Original Issue takes its inspiration from athletes of the '30s and '40s. The line is aimed at high-end retail chains and specialty stores and consists of 96 pieces of worn-looking sweatshirts, sweatpants, shorts, T-shirts and baseball caps, which feature the nostalgic logos of Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford and Yale.

Each garment is produced under a rigorous aging process and comes complete with stretched-out cuffs, worn seams and prescratched buckles to give an authentic look and feel. Additionally, all of the garments are made from heavy-weight materials: T-shirts are 7 1/2-ounce 100 percent cotton, sweatshirts are 13 1/2-ounce 100 percent cotton, and baseball caps are made from 100 percent brushed cotton twill.

In explaining the philosophy behind the worn look, Lee Mirman told Bobbin: "The clothes we change into after work, our favorite clothes that we wear in a nonprofessional environment, are not always the nicest or newest. Often, it is that comfortable T-shirt or sweatshirt that has been broken in. The opportunity we saw was to create a garment that has that look and feel the day you buy it."

Inspired by the mantra "The Work Clothes for the Scholar Athlete," Original Issue strives to capture the spirit and integrity of the pursuit of academic and athletic excellence. "The idea is to brand the legacies of these schools, their histories, traditions and rivalries, and create a fashionable piece of clothing in the process. ... Hopefully people will sense that purity, that kind of drive in Original Issue," said Mirman.

Although the new line has just been launched in the United States, interest has been high. For example, selections from the line are featured in the new Neiman Marcus holiday catalog and the company continues to expand its product offering since the initial launch.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Miller Freeman, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group