Fruit of the Loom: Bearing Fruit

They’ve also become part of the pop culture landscape thanks to licensing endeavors like Underoos, an inbound licensing effort that allowed the company to use the IP of four major comic book characters from DC and Marvel at the beginning of its licensing program.  First introduced to the public in 1978, Underoos were an immediate hit with kids and created a memorable slogan (“The Underwear That’s Fun to Wear!”). In 2016, the brand managed to earn a shout-out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, “Captain America: Civil War,” when Iron Man teasingly christens Spider-Man “Underoos” based on his costume.

Fruit

From the very beginning, the company understood the power of branding. In 1856, founding partner Robert Knight noticed that the daughter of one of his customers hand-painted apples on the bolts of cloth he had sold him, and that those were the most popular sellers. Not long after, Fruit of the Loom, with its signature bundle of fruit logo, was born. Today, as the company reaches its 170th year, Fruit of the Loom, and its wide variety of brands  – which range from Russell Athletic to Spalding and Vanity Fair lingerie – continues to make strong inroads into the licensing space.

“Licensing allows us to drive brand equity by expanding our reach to create deeper, more meaningful consumer connections,” says Mandy Emedi, director, licensing, Fruit of the Loom. “We do this through category extensions in native markets, and we license our brands into new geographic markets as well.”