Pendleton
Started by Thomas Kay, an intrepid Englishman in search of the perfect place to rear sheep and weave wool, Thomas settled in Oregon in the mid 1800's and started to build the infrastructure to produce quality wool of his own, by 1909 with the company in the capable hands of his three grandsons Pendleton became known for its now famous 'Indian trading' blankets for commerce with Native Americans. It was not until the 1920's that the company started producing shirts. Seeing a gap in the market for well made brightly coloured and patterned wool shirts as a alternative to the uniformly drab utilitarian offerings available the company started producing it's own Umatilla shirt fabric, these new shirts were an immediate hit when released in 1924 and have endured the test of time maintaining the popularity today. In 1960 the now iconic Board shirt was a must for any Californian surfer, so much so a band named themselves The Pendleton's because of their much loved board shirts, The band changed their name to the Beach Boys and faded into obscurity... But the shirts live on enduing the test of time and transcending trends.