Kangol

Kangol is a British clothing company famous for its headwear. The name Kangol reflects the original materials for production, the K coming from the word 'silK' (a recent attribution to 'Knitting' is incorrect), the ANG from 'ANGora', and the OL from 'woOL'. Although no Kangol hat has ever been manufactured in Australia, the Kangaroo logo was adopted by Kangol in 1983 because Americans commonly asked where they could get "the Kangaroo hat".

==Early history== Founded in 1938 by a Polish Jew, Jacques Spreiregen, Kangol produced hats for workers, golfers, and especially soldiers. Spreiregen, born Jacob Henryk Spreiregen in Warsaw in 1893, emigrated with his family to Paris in 1906. He then moved to London in 1914, where he worked as an importer and seller of various products that included wool, woollen goods, and berets. He served in the British Army in World War I, joining the Labour Corps to drive ambulances, and obtained British nationality in 1920. In 1938, he was joined by his nephew Joseph Meisner to open and run the first Kangol factory at Cleator, Cumbria. A second factory was opened at nearby Frizington, and later, under the direction of Spreiregen's younger nephew Sylvain Meisner, a third factory, manufacturing motorcycle helmets and seat belts in Carlisle. Kangol was the major supplier of berets for the armed forces during World War II; the company also provided the berets for the British Olympic Team in 1948.