Pendleton

Pendleton Woolen Mills was founded in 1909 in Pendleton, Oregon by Clarence M. Bishop as a small woolen mill specifically focused on producing trade blankets for the Native American communities of the American Southwest — the iconic 'Pendleton blanket' became the brand's foundational product, with the multi-coloured geometric and abstract patterns that referenced Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo weaving traditions. The brand expanded through the 20th century from Native-American-trade-blanket production into a broader heritage-Americana menswear-and-homeware operation. The Pendleton vocabulary settled around several specific products: the iconic Pendleton blanket (still produced at the Pendleton Mill in Pendleton, Oregon using mid-20th-century weaving equipment), the Board Shirt (a 1960s-era heavyweight wool overshirt that became culturally famous as 'the surfer's shirt' through the Beach Boys-era California surf scene of the early 1960s), the Western Shirt, various heavyweight wool overcoats and jackets, and the long-running Pendleton × Beams Plus, Pendleton × Original Vintage, Pendleton × Nike, Pendleton × Levi's Vintage Clothing, and Pendleton × Engineered Garments collaboration programmes. Pendleton is privately held by the Bishop family through five generations from the original 1909 founder Clarence M. Bishop (Mort Bishop III is the current chairman). The brand operates approximately 60 retail stores across the US, plus international flagships in Tokyo (Aoyama, Daikanyama), Osaka, plus a wide international wholesale presence through MR PORTER, Beams Plus, Self Edge, the major US heritage-menswear specialty retailers, and the broader 'Americana-revival' wholesale network. The Pendleton Mill in Pendleton, Oregon continues to produce blankets using the original early-20th-century weaving methods.