How Outdoor Gear Became Popular Style: L.L. Bean Boots and the History of the American Outdoor Industry

This talk traces the history of the outdoor industry in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, when outdoor companies were growing alongside the booming interest in outdoor sports.

Are L.L Bean boots popular because of fashion or function? These icons of outdoor equipment had been around for decades, but in the 1970s this question plagued L.L. Bean president Leon Gorman. L.L. Bean executives faced the same challenge that many outdoor companies did at that time: how to cash in on the rising popularity of outdoor wear as everyday wear, while maintaining the aura of authenticity that attracted consumers to the brand in the first place.

Rachel S. Gross is a historian of the outdoor industry as well as a gear enthusiast. She is assistant professor of history at University of Colorado-Denver, where she teaches U.S. environmental, business, and public history.

Faculty, students and staff are also invited to join Dr. Gross for lunch on Monday, April 25 between 11:30-1:00 in Mitchell South, Thorne Hall, an informal reception at the Outing Club on Tuesday, April 26 from 4:00-5:00, and for dinner before her talk, Tuesday, April 26 from 5:30-6:30 in Mitchell South, Thorne Hall.

Open to the public free of charge.
Sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program, the Departments of History and Economics, the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Program, the Bowdoin Outing Club, and supported with funds from the Annie Talbot Cole Lectureship.

Bowdoin College requires all guests five years and older at indoor events to provide proof of full vaccination (and booster fro age 12 and older) either through the smartphone app Health Pass by Clear, by showing vaccination card and ID, or showing their Bowdoin ID.

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