From its founding in 1895 through the 1950s, The Stronghold was the most successful and recognizable workwear brand in Los Angeles. The Stronghold garments were worn throughout the Los Angeles area by workers and farmers as they built the city from 65,000 people in 1895 to America's second largest metropolis.
The Stronghold was the first branded apparel to be manufactured in Los Angeles County and the company was the only maker of denim and canvas workwear in Los Angeles until after WWII. By 1912, The Stronghold employed over one thousand workers in downtown Los Angeles, making them the largest manufacturer of clothing in Southern California.
Coinciding with the boom years of the Hollywood film industry, it is no surprise that you'll find The Stronghold garments worn by working class characters in classic Hollywood films. Two such examples: Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times (1936) and Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Chaplin was also an official endorser of The Stronghold brand; appearing in the company's advertisements in the 1910s.
In 2004 The Stronghold brand was relaunched, after laying dormant for several decades. The brand's current products are based as faithfully as possible on original vintage examples, and from product imagery found in The Stronghold's original advertisements and catalogs. All of the rivets, washers, buttons, labels, and fabrics are authentic reproductions based on items in the company's archives.
True to its roots, all of The Stronghold's products are still manufactured in Los Angeles.
