Russell Athletic

December 2, 2010 by Jimmy J  · 8 Comments  

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000.


Brand #15: Russell Athletic

Circulation: Common

Era: 1902-current

Information: Incorporated in 1902 with a small quantity of knitting and sewing machines – Russells first product was a ladies undershirt. Shortly after they added long underwear, sweaters and athletic shirts to their manufacturing mix. The company experienced massive growth over the decades – in 1983 they created a brand extension called JERZEES which was a line of sportswear and basic tees. By the late 90s they were ranked 5th among apparel companies by Fortune 500 magazine. In recent years the company has come under fire for their mill practices in Honduras.

If you have any info on Russell please comment below.

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  • http://bulldogvintage.com Frank

    Russell also ran Southern Manufacturing and were one of the biggest manufacturers of sports jerseys in the US from the 1930s to the 1960s. They changed their name to Russell Athletic in 1960, so you can date tags that way. Tags that say “Russell Southern” are pre-1960, I believe.

    I was a fan of Russell up to the early Nineties. Russell started making NuBlend shirts in 1992 and everything went downhill from there. Like most t-shirt manufacturers, they moved production overseas to save money on labor costs and sacrificed quality. They were bought out by Fruit of the Loom a few years back.

    Though I can’t confirm it, I’ve always suspected that the eagle in the logo is a nod to Auburn University’s War Eagle logo. As an LSU fan, this always bothered me, but old Russell’s are amongst my favorite vintage t-shirt brands.

  • Lecks

    What era could a shirt with this tag be?

    Thanks and best regards.

  • Anonymous

    1970s

  • Lecks

    Many thanks

  • defunkd

    Here’s a Russell tag from the 50s

  • Qoryhysteric

    i like it..
    rayon

  • defunkd

    Russell from the 1960s

  • defunkd

     Good to know