From Mail to Clothes: USPS Launches Apparel Line
Move over Northface, The U.S. Postal Service is dropping Saturday mail delivery and picking up a new line of clothing. On Tuesday, USPS announced plans to launch a new line of all-weather apparel and accessories.
The line, which is expected to launch in 2014, will include all-weather jackets, headgear, footwear and clothing which accommodates devices such as iPods.
Isaac Crawford, CEO of Wahconah Group, Inc. tells ABC News that this is going to be an "Image-concious, first class, high end line."
Crawford says that there is a two sided phase to this "Rain Heat & Snow" all weather line.
"One side represents the legacy, the romanticism of the postal service, the idea they started the same time that the country did."
He continues, "We are looking at carrying some of that forward but we are also trying to be innovative… We want to make it into something that everyone will be interested in today."
Steven Mills, Postal Service corporate licensing manager, said in a statement that the agreement is intended to put the Postal Service on the "cutting edge of functional fashion."
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The Postal Service has entered a licensing agreement with Cleveland- based Wahconah Group, Inc., a design and manufacturing firm. The designs will be displayed in a showroom in the Garment District in New York City. The line is initially geared to target men but will eventually aim to create a line for women as well.
In 2012, the USPS suffered a $15.9 billion loss. Now, cash-strapped agency is in the midst of a major restructuring and is using its "Rain Heat & Snow" brand to bring in profit and stay relevant.