Warnaco Group

The Warnaco Group, Inc. was an American textile/clothing corporation which designed, sourced, marketed, licenses, and distributed a wide range of underwear, sportswear, and swimwear worldwide. Its products were sold under several brand names including Calvin Klein, Speedo, Chaps, Warner's, and Olga. On 31 October 2012, the company announced that it would be acquired by PVH for $2.8 billion in cash and stock. The deal that will give the PVH more control of the Calvin Klein clothing brand as it will unite Calvin Klein formal, underwear, jeans and sportswear lines. It was acquired by PVH in Feb 2013.

History

Dr. Warner's Health Corsets

In the late 19th century, Dr. Lucien Warner, a prominent physician gave up his Cortlandville, NY practice to begin a new career on the medical lecturing circuit, specializing in women’s health issues. Dr. Warner lectured about the harmful effects of the rigid steel-boned corsets of the time. After seeing how little influence his lectures had on women’s attitudes towards fashion, he returned to his New York home and began a more aggressive approach to fighting the ills caused by the corset. In 1873, he designed a corset that provided both the shape desired by women and the flexibility required to allow some movement and reduce injuries caused by previous designs. The next year, Lucien Warner and his brother Dr. Ira De Ver Warner gave up their medical practices and founded Warner Brothers Corset Manufacturers.