Monday 11 March 2013

Vintage History: Jantzen

One of the more famous vintage  swimsuit labels would definatley be Jantzen.
Jantzen began under the title of Portland Knitting Company which was founded in 1910. They started making woolen knits and then expanded to unisex swimsuits in 1918 which of course were mostly woolen back then. This is when they changed their name to Jantzen knitting mills.
Jantzen is very famous for their logo which came about in 1920. It featured a diving girl in a red swimsuit. This became the Jantzen trademark. As styles changed, so did the red diving girl, and the style of her suit can be a hint as to the age of the garment.
As their popularity continued they expended into sports and leisure wear, with the swim suit being the best seller.
Jantzen is still in the swim wear business and still supplying well made fashionable swimwear.

 Images via google

Currently in store I have a 1960's Jantzen swimsuit. It is utterly gorgeous in a blue hue and striped. It was one of those items i would have loved to keep for myself but alas this stifling weather -hopefully- will be gone soon and i wont need to think about swim wear but maybe beaded cardigans. You can have a look at the listing for it here (https://www.etsy.com/listing/125665688/1960s-vintage-jantzen-swimsuit?) It is truly a vintage collectable!


 Images owned by HollyhocksVintage


No comments:

Post a Comment