Boot Manufacturer
Wrangler
The Western jeans brand also sold boots. Sam Lucchese consulted for the Wrangler Boot Company in Nashville in 1969, the year before he sold Lucchese to Wrangler’s parent company, Blue Bell. Sheplers’ Spring 1976 catalog sold four boots printed “by WRANGLER.” Wrangler footwear since 2021 is made under license, so a modern Wrangler label says nothing about 1970s production.
Related: Lucchese
Why collectors care
Wrangler is best known for jeans, but the brand also sold Western boots. Collectors meet 1970s pairs in retail catalogs and resale listings, and a far larger number of recent pairs made under license. The label alone does not tell you which one you are holding.
Wrangler is a brand, not a documented factory. For the 1970s, sources name a Wrangler Boot Company in Nashville but do not say who owned it or where later pairs were built.
Company history
| Year | What happened | Collector meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Blue Bell buys the Casey Jones Work-Clothes Company and, with it, the rarely used Wrangler name. The date comes from Wikipedia, which gives no citation for it. | The name predates the jeans |
| 1947 | Blue Bell introduces Wrangler 11MWZ jeans | Wrangler becomes a Western brand |
| 1969 | Sam Lucchese works as a consultant to the Wrangler Boot Company in Nashville, per the Handbook of Texas | Earliest dated reference to Wrangler boots found so far |
| 1970 | Sam Lucchese sells Lucchese to Blue Bell, Incorporated, of Greensboro, North Carolina, which the Handbook of Texas calls “the parent company of Wrangler” | Lucchese and Wrangler share an owner. No source found says Lucchese built Wrangler boots. |
| 1976 | Sheplers Western Wear, Spring 1976, sells the Caravan, Eagle, Miss Laurel, and Sweetwater, each printed “by WRANGLER®” | Dated, named models in the Bootmaker Catalog |
| 1986 | VF Corporation acquires Blue Bell, including the Wrangler brand | Ownership change |
| 2019 | VF completes the spinoff of its jeans business as Kontoor Brands, which includes Wrangler | Current brand owner |
| 2021 | Wrangler footwear made under license by Twisted X begins distribution in the spring. Wrangler called it the brand’s “inaugural venture into the category.” | Modern licensed pairs. The “inaugural” claim conflicts with the 1969–1976 evidence above. |
| 2025 | Wrangler and Genesco announce a multiyear footwear license, with the first collection due in Fall 2026 | Newest licensed production |
Known for
1970s Blue Bell–era Wrangler boots; a brand name, not a documented factory