Ep. 121 - Wrangler Western's Vice President & General Manager Allen Montgomery
THIS EPISODE… Podcast Episode Produced By Emilee Cole; Podcast Episode Research Curated by Katie Schrock; Podcast Episode Hosted by Katie Schrock & Rachel Owens-Sarno. Cowboy Cool
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Wrangler
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Coconut Cowboys
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Cowboy Cool 〰️ Wrangler 〰️ Coconut Cowboys 〰️
It seems as if we have been foreshadowing this episode for a while talking about the Yellowstone Effect and the history of rodeo, we are excited to have Allen Montgomery, the Vice President & General Manager of Wrangler Western.
Getting to Wrangler
Finishing school in Austin, Texas, Allen grew up in the apparel family and his dad said, “Hey Wrangler is looking for a trainee - go talk to them!” And, all these years, he’s still there! “I was drawn to the business because of my apparel background.
Role as the Vice President & General Manager of Wrangler Western
“I will start off by saying, I by far, have the best job in the country … nobody has a better job than I do… I am blessed to run the western side of the business because it’s the heart and soul of the company… I have had it a while and hope to continue on with it!”
Across the board, the special events which includes rodeo and equine events, plus any of the lifestyle events of country music and more - all roll into the western area. “We try to touch our consumers lives everyday,” says Allen.
Dealing with product, Allen wants to know what they’re going to do for internal vs. external, what the new women’s line, new colors for men, and more. There is a lot of nuts and bolts to plan it but on the fun side he goes to the AQHA, PRCA, PBR, FFA, and more when it comes to events. “You have no idea how much fun it is to be out there and be in contact with your consumer every day is!”
Based in the east, it can be challenging sometimes, but he spends so much time out west with their consumers. The special events teams are in Colorado, Arizona, and Texas to be even more involved. The marketing team is based in North Carolina though, where the company is based out of and has always been based out of.
Wrangler’s History
Seventy-six years ago, Wrangler was part of Blue Bell in North Carolina - the home of where most of clothing manufacturing was taking off in the 1940’s. Born out of renovation, Wrangler identified a group of rodeo cowboys and decided to talk to them about what they needed for jeans which were seen only as work jeans.
Sitting down with iconic cowboys like Jim Shoulders, Freckles Brown and other world champion cowboys in 1947 and asked them what they needed in apparel to help them do their job better. They wanted smooth rivets that didn’t scar their saddles, they wanted higher rise jeans with higher back pockets so they didn’t sit on their wallet in the saddle, they wanted more belt loops so the belt didn’t caught on things, they wanted a different out seam to not chaffe their legs, and more. Almost all of these are still done today!
“To this day we try to work with our rodeo athletes and our consumers to make their lives better and easier,” says Allen.
Celebrating 76 years this year, Wrangler has both good baggage and bad baggage but the good definitely outweighs the bad. “We have tried to be true to our core consumer … that western lifestyle, cowboy consumer,” says Allen. “We are a global company doing billions of dollars… but on an everyday basis it comes back to that western consumer.”
“We are all about ‘Cowboy Cool,’ … which is part of what drives our whole industry and that is apparel, that’s Miss Rodeo America, the NFR - it’s the life our consumers live every day,” says Allen. “The next piece that ladders up that we like to live by which is the ‘Code of the West.’ … We are very true to our values… integrity, purpose, respect - we take care of each other.”
Whether you are designing a line, putting together new product or new ad campaign, it’s a whole new rodeo every day. Realizing what changes each day and staying true to our values through the Code of the West, we take it to our cowboys with the Cowboy Cool vibe. “People outside of the lifestyle, it’s hard to explain it to them.”
Different Consumers Wranglers Identify
When you are working on a brand, you have to loo t consumer segnemsnt nd make sure you are helping your best consumers.
Authentic Cowboys
The easiest way to explain them, is that they are dependent on the land and livestock for their livelihood. They are the real deal. They are farmers, ranchers, in the industry business or forestry business - they are dependent on the land and what it entails to make their money and livelihood. It’s where the heart and soul of the brand was built and you see them wearing the core products. It’s about durability and comfort - that drives the heart of the brand.
New Cowboys
They probably grew up in that authentic lifestyle but they now live in the suburbs and sell insurance. They spend weekends roping, they go back to the family ranches on the weekends to help and their kids maybe do 4-H. While they still love the lifestyle, they aren’t depended on it. We see this one growing every day and they very much love our brand and what we do.
Western Inspired
These people grew up in cities and just love to wear jeans and boots, go to country western concerts and rodeos. There are a whole lot of people like that plus more and more every day. Things like Yellowstone, the TV show, make that even bigger. It’s amazing because, once they do that, it sticks. It has males and females on both sides so this helps them grow the brand and the industry.
Tough Enough to Wear Pink
“We try to touch our consumers in every way we can,” says Allen, “our western consumers are very patriotic - it means a lot to us.” To try to give back to that demographic, Terry Whitley helped develop Tough Enough to Wear Pink, by creating pink shirts to sell to give back to cancer research - it was very successful.
National Patriot Program
Jeff Chadwick who runs the special events area, came and had the idea that while we had the great program with Tough Enough to Wear Pink and that we should do something around the military of the country. George Strait worked with them and they use those shirts to fund the National Patriot Program. Giving to veterans and service-members, they also put together the National Patriot Tour.
Over the course of the tour, they have taken PRCA Wolrd Champions and Miss Rodeo America’s and country and western stars. The tour connects the western lifestyle and the Wrangler brand with our service members overseas. From Afghanistan to North Africa, parts of Asia to Alaska, and so many other places - Wrangler is doing the best they can to honor and respect them.
The final performance of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo they honor those service members and now have even included first-responders as well. “I have never got to go on those tours,” says Allen, “but Jeff has been on all of them… We look forward to doing them again and that it’s a part of the brand.”
Wrangler Abroad
In the early sixties, Wrangler opened its first office in Europe in Belgium. Back then it was America, blue jeans, and youth culture, which led to selling jeans in Europe. While the brand was catching on, there was nothing more American overseas than blue jeans, whether that was Europe or Asia.
“We have always seen continued growth and, like I said, we want to take that whole Cowboy Cool culture globally,” says Allen. “That doesn’t include rodeo, which you can make it even better that way, but it does intel the aspects of the brand as a fashion aspect…. You are going to do a product in Europe and Asia that consumers want over there but have the heritage and fashion elements that are true to who Wrangler is. It looks like Wrangler, but its a different Wrangler for sure in fits and styles.”
Marjorie Murphy was all over Allen back when he lived in Texas because she had seen Wrangler jeans in Europe and as a part of the Miss Rodeo Texas and Miss Rodeo America programs, she couldn’t believe they weren’t being offered to the public here in America. At the time, Allen wasn’t even sure what she was talking about!
The Yellowstone Effect
The Yellowstone Effect is driving our entire industry with Yahoo Finance even saying that everything is turning “cowboy” for a short time in history - very similar to the tv show Dallas or even the Urban Cowboy trend. There is also the Garth Brooks effect and other “western moments” that have dictated and changed fashion and we are experiencing that with Yellowstone.
“What’s interesting about Yellowstone, is that I don’t think I’ve ever seen something that is more true to what I would call western lifestyle,” says Allen. “They do a darn good job of really picking up on how people living that western lifestyle do… they show moments, they show dress, they show all kinds of things that are reflective of not just a Hollywood show, but what’s happening to consumers and how people in the western lifestyle live their lives.”
Allen attributes this reasoning to why Wrangler has had such a successful collaboration with Paramount on Yellowstone. One of the few companies doing lifestyle pieces, they look at what someone on the show would be wearing on the ranch such as work shirts with the Yellowstone/Dutton Ranch brand, and other authentic pieces which have been successful. “Authentic pieces” over fan-wear, Paramount has been a fan of these “in lifestyle pieces.”
In a relationship that started authentically in the first few seasons, the Yellowstone production company wanted Wrangler banners to authenticate the rodeo arena. As they have grown, Wrangler has grown with them in their partnership.
“People who are obsessed with it amaze me,” says Allen.
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
“It always amazes me that a lot of people have their first rodeo at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo,” says Allen, “and then I laugh and say it’s ‘all downhill from there.’”
“This is the western event for the red carpet, the Super Bowl, the Grammy Awards, and Las Vegas Events makes it that much funner,” says Allen. “It’s my favorite time of the year for the brand.”
It’s the time of year that everyone is a cowboy and you can go outside and see everyone wearing Wrangler’s in the streets. It’s a great coming together of western culture with Cowboy Christmas, Wrangler NFR, the Team Roping Finals, and all the country music acts that you can see. “It’s really, really fun and a great experience.”
“We have been involved with the PRCA since 1947 to an extent,” says Allen. “We have been the official jeans of the PRCA since the late ‘50’s.” Working with the PRCA and Las Vegas Events, it used to be that when you walked into the Thomas & Mac, Wrangler came alive. Thinking that there was more to do, Wrangler changed thirteen years ago to bring not just the Thomas & Mac alive, but to bring the whole town alive.
It wasn’t just exploding like they thought it was so they became intentional. They started putting the arch up, wrapping the buildings, worked with hotels to bring music acts, and billboards and more. It just bloomed which was fun for the whole organization to say! “Everyone works with us to make it happen. All the partners come together to make that happen!”
The National Finals Rodeo is the only event in Las Vegas Events to sell out every year, for Wrangler to have their name coined at the front of that, that’s amazing. The Wrangler team is busy the whole time with a team working on Cowboy Christmas, a marketing team, a rodeo-athlete team, and even more compartmentalized teams.
Places You Should Go At The WNFR:
Go to a performance. If you can get into a performance, you’ve got to go. The Thomas & Mac holds 14,000 people plus almost a million overall that are watching the rodeo. There is nothing funner than to watch from a Gold Buckle seat if you can do it!
Cowboy Christmas. How crazy is it that there is one trade show that has every possible thing that you can ever think of wanting to have. There is apparel, equine stuff, trailers, and more. You can spend DAYS just walking Cowboy Christmas. It’s also how you get ideas to see if there is something new out there and to see what other brands are doing because they are showing what they are thinking about going forward with at Cowboy Christmas.
Attend a Concert Around Town.
Attend Other Trade Shows.
Attend a Watch Party. Whether it’s at Resorts World or the Mirage, they can be just as fun as the event if you are with your friends.
Miss Rodeo America Coronation. It’s great to see that happen and it’s a lot of fun.
Future Trends
Coconut Cowboys is a big one and it’s Hawaiian inspired prints that can be seen in retail stores even as soon as now. The story behind the name is that the design team was discussing island type prints to which Allen said, “Call it Coconut Cowboys!’ He then explained that they used to wear Hawaiian shirts and go to country music concerts.
Through research, one of the things that come up constantly with authentic cowboys, is that they are very much about hot/cold, wet/dry and range of motion. In the winter, you’re cold - what are your jeans going to do to keep you warm? In the summer, you’re hot - what are your jeans going to do to keep you cool? You used to have jump through water and how would your jean handle it?
Motion has been the easiest to problem to solve through range of motion with stretch and flex. Did you know that you used to not be able to say “stretch” when it came to men’s jeans? But it’s starting to catch on now, something that women have known for a while.
“We are really seeing what I’ll say is ‘western flare,’” says Allen. “You’re going to see that on the female side. .. we have what we call “stories” such as ‘punchy.’” A lot of color and throwback color pieces, it’s an ever changing thing season to season. At the same time, they have to make sure they stay true to all things Wrangler.
Large western chains, numerous small farm stores, and online at Wrangler will have all of these new trends of throwback vibes, Coconut Cowboys, authentic Wrangler and the Yellowstone collaboration. Selling out extremely quick, you’ll want to stay on top of it!
PRCA RULE CHANGE, MODIFICATION OR ADDITION:
“We have a great relationship with the PRCA and we have for many, many years,” says Allen. “The PRCA is a tricky organization. If you are the commissioner or CEO of the PRCA you have to deal with a board made up of stock contractors, rodeo committees, rodeo athletes and others - trying to keep all those factions happy can be a tough job.”
To have all of those factions working with that commissioner to keep moving forward and not get hung up on things that may not matter as much to the group overall. As the business guy, Allen leans heavily on Jeff Chadwick for all things rodeo, while also staying involved. The guy in the organization, they need real cowboys in the company to work with the real cowboys that make up the lifestyle.
As a unique sport/industry, it’s cool to see how we can have this be our livelihood by working on a ranch and raising livestock, but there is also a whole business side. We can’t lose those angles of it and it’s important to connect.
DEEP THOUGHTS ON THE RODEO TRAIL WITH ALLEN MONTGOMERY WITH WRANGLER WESTERN WEAR:
“Most of the things you worry about never happen,” says Allen. “Bad things happen, but most of the things you worry about never happen… I try to remind myself of that everyday.”
“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity,” says Allen. “I really try to get that across to my team - let’s figure out what is going to work and not spend a lot of time doing the same thing.”