Fruit of the Loom

The white T-shirts with the Fruit of the Loom label arrived in Europe with the American armies that landed in Salerno, Anzio, and Normandy. They conquered Europe, withstanding even the fashion for decorated and painted T-shirts and without losing their leadership position in the U.S. Legend has it that the brand was created by the daughter of a fabric dealer in Rhode Island who used her watercolors to paint a fruit basket on the edge of some fabric. That was 1851. But it is known for sure that in 1906 James Goldfarb, a Polish immigrant, began to produce and sell T-shirts with that logo.
On the edge of bankruptcy, the company enters receivership.
It loses $157.8 million on total sales of $1.3 billion, of which $163 million comes from Europe.
The firm is rescued and acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company in Omaha, Nebraska run by Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world. Among the most important and successful investors and analysts in the history of the stock market, Buffet is president of Berkshire Hathaway.
The launch of a men’s underwear collection for 2003. The Chicago company has been producing underwear for more than 60 years and, up to now, has had 32% of the U.S. market. Fruit of the Loom employs 3,000 people in Europe, and has its main plants in Ireland and Morocco.