Deane Apparel’s life began in the 1930s in New Zealand. It was a time of hard labour in a hard world, but for our founder, Edward Deane, it was a decade of revolution.
Edward Deane was never content with standing still. From initially supplying school uniforms and industrial garments, Deane soon set his sights on breaking boundaries and moving into exciting new industries. By the 1940s, we weren’t just the go-to for trousers and overalls, we were the manufacturers of the New Zealand Armed Forces’ uniform during the Second World War.
As a company, we recognised our strengths, but instead of sticking to what we were already doing, we wanted to explore, to expand and to discover what we could do.
As the 1950s rolled around, our jeans had become iconic and we had reinvented ourselves as a company that the world’s biggest clothing brands entrusted with their designs. Not only were our factories making Deane jeans, we were also making Levi’s.
Fast-forward to the late 1980s and we re-focused our vision back to uniforms and workwear. We returned to our roots.
After expanding our operations into Australia in the 1990s, we found renewed motivation to dress the working population of Australasia with confidence and quality. As such, we doubled down our focus on the invaluable knowledge of market, design and quality. We also sought to expand our standing as the region’s preeminent maker of clothes for industrial laundries by creating garments that were functional, durable and fit for purpose.
The Deane of today is the product of nearly 100 years’ worth of skill and knowledge, which has seen us become leaders in the uniform and workwear industry.