Love Your Job
Jack A. Weil, hailed as the "the king of Western wear" and the oldest working C.E.O. in America, recently died at the age of 107. His grandson, Steven Weil, says that "he was to Western shirts what Henry Ford was to cars."
A true stylist, Jack Weil dedicated his life to producing and marketing a special fashion identity for Westerners--cowboys, ranchers, and farmers living in the American West. They had special boots and hats but until Jack A., wore ordinary, boxy, work shirts.
"The first thing I did was get rid of the farmer," Mr. Weil told the Denver Westword in 2001.
"Cowboys have a strong independent identity and want to be different. [I] offered them a special fashion statement...to make them stand apart from city slickers when they come to town." He says on his website.
To give them a distinct identity, he designed shirts that were slim fitting to accentuate the body--a better fitting shirt is less likely to get caught or snagged while riding the range. He also added shirt yokes to broaden the shoulders and flap pockets that fasten to better hold their contents. The snap fasteners also break-away to let loose if the shirt gets caught, say on a hostile horn, and hold better than buttons--figuring that most cowboys didn't like to sew.
By understanding his audience and appealing to their vanity Jack Weil popularized Western wear; and by popularizing Western wear, he popularized Rockmount Ranch Wear, the Denver company he founded in 1946. His constant motivation was to design for a western state of mind--life style, not trends that come and go. As Western wear's popularity spread across America Jack A. coined the phrase "The West is not a place, it is a state of mind."
Steven Weil says: "he remained vital until the end--when he got into his 90s, he seemed like he was 60." Steven remembers his Grandfather often saying: "Love your job; if you don't, change jobs because nothing's worse than the drudgery of a job you don't like." And he goes on to say: "for him, his work was his second romance--next to his marriage."
Before Jack died, he talked about one secret to his longevity: "a bit of Jack Daniels once or twice a week to keep [his] blood thin."
Rockmount Ranch Wear
1626 Wazee St. (map)
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: (303) 629-7777
Toll Free: 800 7 ROCKMO
LoDo (downtown) Office, Store & Museum Hours (Denver time)
Monday - Friday 7 - 5
Saturday 11-5
Sunday 11 - 4
Sources
"Oldest CEO And Popularizer Of Cowboy Shirts Dies." NPR. 15 August 2008.
"Jack A. Weil, the Cowboy's Dresser, Dies at 107." NY Times. 14 August 2008.
"Our Story." Rockmount Ranch Wear website
