Lands' End began as a mail-order
yachting supply company in 1963 in Chicago. It was founded by
Gary Comer, along with his partners,
1963 Pan American Games gold medalist sailors
Richard Stearns and
Robert Halperin, and two of Stearns' employees. In 1978, it expanded into general clothing and home furnishings, and moved to
Dodgeville, Wisconsin. In the late 1980s, Lands' End was the jersey supplier of the
United States national rugby union team. In July 1995, the company launched its website, Landsend.com. In 2002,
Sears, Roebuck and Company acquired the company for $2 billion in cash. Sears offered products by Lands' End in many of its retail stores, until 2019. In November 2009, Lands' End launched Lands' End Canvas, which offered a more fashion-oriented selection of casual clothing for men and women. It was discontinued in 2013. The line was reintroduced in 2016 but cancelled in 2017 by the new CEO. In 2013, the company partnered with Borderfree to display international orders in local currency. The company began selling on
Debenhams and in 2014, in its first international partnership, in
House of Fraser. In April 2014, Sears completed the
corporate spin-off of the company, which once again became publicly traded. Jerome Griffith became CEO in March 2017, succeeding
Federica Marchionni. In 2018 and 2019, the company produced uniforms for employees of
Delta Air Lines and
American Airlines. In 2019, Lands' End closed its remaining
store-within-a-store branches in Sears stores, after Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2020, the company entered into a partnership with
Kohl's to sell the company's products in its stores. In fiscal 2023, 63.2% of its revenue was from
online retail orders in the U.S., 7.7% of revenue was international orders, 18.3% of revenue was sales of logo apparel to businesses and schools, 7.6% of revenue was received from third-party sellers, and 3.2% of revenue was from company-operated stores. ==Awards and recognition==