California Apparel News

Veteran Los Angeles apparel maker Jerry Leigh of California has been given the license to make Dickies Girl juniors apparel. The license was awarded by Texas work wear company Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Co., which has been making hard-core work wear as well as more fashionable pieces since 1922.

The Oct. 30 announcement said that Jerry Leigh would start design, production and sales of the line immediately. Products will include work and fashion tops, bottoms, outerwear, juniors underwear, sleepwear and loungewear.

Jerry Leigh takes over the Dickies Girl license from Los Angeles–based Apparel Limited Inc., which had been making Dickies Girl apparel for about 15 years.

“Dickies has a rich and storied history, and Jerry Leigh is thrilled to be involved with this revered brand,” said Andrew Leigh, president and chief executive of Jerry Leigh, founded by his father in 1962. ‘We are excited to have been selected to grow and update the Dickies Girl pants and tops business. We also look forward to supporting the category with fashion items to wear in social settings.”

Apparel Limited founder Masud Sarshar, who launched his company in the late 1980s, started to dye classic Dickies bib-overalls in 24 bright colors in 1996. Shortly afterwards, he approached Williamson-Dickie about obtaining the exclusive license for Dickies Girl, which he won. For years, he injected color and youthfulness to the juniors brand and sold it at major department stores and specialty stores.

Years later, the two had a falling out. In 2012, Apparel Limited sued Williamson-Dickie in federal court, claiming that the work wear company was cannibalizing the Dickies Girl brand. Apparel Limited said in its lawsuit that it became aware in 2010 that Williamson-Dickie allegedly was manufacturing and selling merchandise that duplicated Apparel’s custom-designed Dickies Girl line.

Apparel Limited said Williamson-Dickie was selling “even sizes” of these designs on the same racks in Walmart and other stores where Apparel’s Dickies Girl was sold in odd sizes. The products were so close that neither customers nor sales staff could distinguish between the two products, court papers said.

Sarshar said he returned the Dickies Girl license a few months ago to Williamson-Dickie.

Jerry Leigh will begin shipping Dickies Girl in February 2015 as current inventories are depleted. The company will start with legacy products and develop new items in 2015.

Jerry Leigh, who has manufacturing operations in Guatemala and Shanghai, has other licenses that include agreements with Disney, Hello Kitty, Hasbro, Paul Frank, Marvel and a host of other well-known brands. It makes clothes for men, women, children and babies.