Dockers (brand)

American brand of garments

Dockers is an American brand of garments and other accessories from Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co., then specializing in denim, introduced the Dockers brand in 1986. Dockers became a leading brand of business casual clothing for men under the leadership of Bob Siegel. In 1987, Dockers introduced a women's line. In 1993 the Dockers brand was introduced into Europe under the leadership of Joe Middleton. Dockers makes belts, pants, leather wallets, shoes and other apparel.

In 1853, Levi Strauss landed in San Francisco after leaving his home of Bavaria. After getting his business going, he resumed selling goods to the American people. Some of the goods he sold included clothes and footwear. Still in the early 1900s, khaki color chino cloth trousers, known as "khakis", become domestic and are worn for “classier” occasions. All the while, undergoing a few label changes. 1916 marks the creation of the label Levi Strauss Make, which khakis then fell under. In the 1920s, Levi Strauss and Co. began producing women’s khakis made specifically for outdoor activity and comfort. By the late 1920s, khaki underwent another label change and now falls under the “Two Horse Brand”. in 1963, the company opened its first warehouse below the Mason–Dixon line. The new factory was in Blackstone, Virginia. The late 1900s consisted of major moves on a business level for Levi Strauss and Co.

Khakis were more widely worn in the US when “casual Fridays” gained popularity in offices in the late 1980s, and led to the emergence of Dockers as a popular brand. Before going global in 1992, characters from the television series Cheers were prominently wearing Dockers clothing in the late 1980s, and Dockers made an appearance on an episode of the television series Seinfeld. In the 2000s, the company started producing denim and continued to expand into different countries.

A 1996 study concluded that a pair of Dockers pants often had a price range of $50–$80 per pair. A study in 2014 compared older prices to more current prices within the Dockers label. A 2014 article argued that in 2014 a pair of Dockers pants sells for roughly $140 and a long sleeve shirt reaches prices as high as $120. In 2012, 27.9 percent of respondents who came from a household where the annual income was $200,000 or more stated that they owned Dockers brand apparel, accessories, and footwear.

In 2009 Dockers as a company overhauled its corporate structure and product assortment in a strategy to try to revitalize their core competency, the khaki pants. According to Jim Calhoun, former president of Dockers, “The brand is going back to focusing on what we do best: khaki pants for men." The Dockers campaign tagline, "Wear The Pants" was marketed as a call to masculinity for men. The campaign incorporated outside sources to incite men to reclaim their lost male aesthetic. Along with a new campaign message, the Dockers brand has since revitalized their product line as well, featuring several new styles aimed at a younger, status seeker consumer. The Dockers brand has also partnered with Habitat for Humanity as their charitable cause.