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Our Research Notes
Winston-Salem, North Carolina brand founded in 1919 by the Feinbloom family. Original sweatshirts and hoodies designed in USA. Some Champion Reverse Weave products made in USA. Most products made overseas. Known exceptions: the majority of production moved overseas in 1980s-90s. Heritage Reverse Weave line has some USA-made versions.
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Champion pioneered athletic performance apparel in the United States, inventing the sweatshirt and the sports bra from their Winston-Salem, North Carolina base, with a heritage dating to 1919 that shaped how Americans dress for sport and leisure.
Heritage & History
Champion was founded in 1919 by the Feinbloom family in Rochester, New York as the Knickerbocker Knitting Company, initially making sweaters. The company relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina — the heart of American textile manufacturing — and grew into one of the most important athletic apparel brands in American history.
Champion holds legitimate claim to several American apparel innovations: the sweatshirt (developed in the 1930s for college football teams who needed warm, flexible training gear), and later the sports bra, among other athletic staples. The Reverse Weave sweatshirt — with its horizontal weave that resists the vertical shrinkage that plagued traditional sweatshirts — became an American classic and remains in production today.
An American Athletics Heritage
Champion outfitted American athletes throughout the mid-twentieth century, supplying the Army, outfitting university programs, and eventually becoming the athletic department standard at colleges across the country. Their heavy cotton fleece and durability made them the practical choice for coaches, athletic directors, and anyone who needed gear that would survive the wash cycle.
The brand's Reverse Weave line — the original premium Champion product — maintains a connection to domestic manufacturing, with some styles still made in the USA. For buyers who want Champion's genuine American heritage rather than a licensed version of the brand, the Reverse Weave line in domestically produced versions offers the authenticity that the standard line can no longer provide.
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