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Report - - Kangol Hat Factory Cleator 10-2012 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Kangol Hat Factory Cleator 10-2012

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28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Kangol Hat Factory Cleator Cumbria, with some amazing weather over the past few weekends i thought now is the time to get this done. some may look at this and think what a shit hole and you would be right it's trashed within an inch of i it's life, but if you can look past all that and think about the history of this place it made the 300 mile round trip well worth it as i managed other things in the area too...this for me was a personal quest, in the 80's if you were into Hip Hop then a kangol was a must, don't take my word fort just ask LL cool j to name a few. the explore it self was better than i thought going over old reports there was a danger that the place was in a far worse state than 2007 and it was but i did find some nice old photo's and labels but best of all were some original hat presses and evan some of their world famous kangol berets...so all in all this for me was a well worth trip.
HISTORY​
Founded in Cleator, Cumbria, England in 1938 by Jaques Spreiregen, Kangol (the K from silk, the ANG from angora, the OL from wool) produced hats for workers, golfers, and especially soldiers. They were the major beret suppliers to the armed forces during World War II, including famously Field Marshal Montgomery.

During and after the war, Kangol berets were the height of fashion. In the 1960s, designers Mary Quant and Pierre Cardin worked with the company, whose products graced the heads of the rich and famous, including the Beatles and Arnold Palmer, and later Princess Diana. The company also supplied uniformed organisations such as the Scout Association.
In the 1980s Kangol berets entered a new phase of fashion history with their adoption by members of the hip-hop community, such as Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Kangol Kid of UTFO, and The Notorious B.I.G.. The release of more consciously stylish products in the 1990s such as the furgora (angora-wool mix) Spitfire, was helped by its presence upon the head of Samuel L. Jackson in 1997.[1] Kevin Eubanks, bandleader for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, sports a Kangol beret on an almost nightly basis. In 2009, Eminem wore the Cotton Twill Army Cap Kangol hat on his Beautiful video.
Kangol has been owned by Sports World since 2006, when they acquired the brand from private equity fund, August Equity Trust. Licenses to manufacture and sell Kangol apparel have been sold to many different companies including D2 and Topshop. The global rights to Kangol hats have been held by American hatmakers Bollman Headwear since 2002.[2]
It was announced in February 2009 that Bollman were reviewing their worldwide operations, putting 33 jobs and the future of the Kangol head office in Cleator in doubt.[3] On 6 April 2009, it was announced that the original factory would be converted to a warehouse with the loss of 25 jobs. Only 7 employees now remain employed at the company's original site and the outlet shop will close at the end of August 2009. However, hats will continue to be made at their sites in Eastern Europe & the United States.



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Old school Hip Hopper's..​
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