Timberland
Timberland is the rare case of a work boot brand that became street fashion without changing the boot. The company behind it changed hands in 2011, when VF Corporation paid 2.3 billion US dollars. Since then Timberland has been one brand among many in a Denver-based group, with the group's supply chain, the group's factory list and the group's decisions.
Timberland
- Origin
- United States
- Founded
- 1973
- Group
- VF Corporation
- Production
- Supplier list published
- Core materials
- Leather, Cotton, Polyester
- Price level
- 3/4
How much this brand discloses, and how much of it we could verify. It is not a quality rating — a composition line cannot tell you how good a fabric is. How we calculate it
- Production disclosure 25/25
- Linked sources 20/20
- Own material check 0/15
- Fabric weight stated 0/12
- Country stated per product 0/10
- Construction detail stated 0/10
- Cost breakdown published 0/8
Evidence for the price About what this price band usually documents
Who the brand is for
People who wear the yellow boot as a classic, and anyone looking for sturdy everyday shoes, jackets and cotton basics with a well-known tree logo. Timberland sells through its own stores, retail and online; prices sit in the middle band, with the six-inch boot as the flagship.
Who owns it
The roots go back to the Abington Shoe Company, which Nathan Swartz took over in the 1950s; in 1973 the waterproof boot named Timberland came to market, and in 1978 the whole company took its name. The headquarters have been in Stratham, New Hampshire, for decades.
On 13 September 2011 VF Corporation completed its acquisition of Timberland: 43 US dollars per share, 2.3 billion in total. VF is a listed group from Denver that today owns The North Face, Vans, Dickies, Eastpak, Napapijri and icebreaker, among others. Timberland is therefore no longer an independent company but a brand in a portfolio, and the figures in VF's annual report are group figures accordingly.
The New Hampshire heritage is on the label. The supply chain is in VF Corporation's factory list.
Where it is made
VF describes its sourcing in the annual report for the fiscal year ended 29 March 2025: about 260 million units across all brands, obtained from roughly 273 contractor factories in about 30 countries. For the US, the group names Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia as its four largest sourcing markets; less than two percent of US products come from China. A split by brand, that is which countries supply Timberland, VF does not publish.
What VF does publish, since 2016, is a factory list: by its own account all tier-1 facilities, about 80 percent of tier-2 facilities by spend and nearly all licensee factories, updated quarterly. The list does not tie a boot to a factory, but it can be checked, and it applies to Timberland just as it does to Vans.
What the price buys — our view
This section is an assessment, not a finding. For the boot, the material is comparatively well documented: leather, rubber sole, sealed seams. For clothing and basics, cotton and polyester are the rule. What you get for the price is a documented group supply chain with a public factory list, but no statement about which of the roughly 30 countries made a particular pair. Neither brand nor group publishes unit costs; figures online are estimates.
Verifiable statements with a source, not a rating. We publish no ethics score of our own — for that, follow the external link.
- Production countries
- Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, ID
- Supplier list published
- View the list
What we can document
- Acquired by VF Corporation on 13 September 2011 for USD 2.3 billion (VF press release)
- Boot since 1973, company name since 1978, headquarters in Stratham (Timberland newsroom, VF)
- Group sourcing: about 273 contractor factories in about 30 countries, top markets for the US (10-K for fiscal 2025)
- Public group factory list, updated quarterly (VF Corporation)
What we cannot
- Which countries and factories make Timberland products — VF does not split the list by brand
- Unit cost per pair — not public
- Material declarations of individual apparel items — product pages not yet audited
- Wages in the contract factories
Sources
5 in total · archived internally- Pressemitteilung VF zum Abschluss der Übernahme, 13. September 2011 — 43 USD je Aktie, 2,3 Mrd. USD — VF Corporation Read 13 September 2026
- Timberland-Newsroom: der Original-Stiefel seit 1973 — Timberland Read 13 September 2026
- Jahresbericht 10-K für das Geschäftsjahr bis 29. März 2025 — Beschaffung, Fabriken, Länder — VF Corporation / SEC Read 13 September 2026
- Fabrikliste des Konzerns — Tier 1, Tier 2, Lizenzfertiger, vierteljährlich — VF Corporation Read 13 September 2026
- Unternehmensgeschichte VF — Marken und Übernahmen — VF Corporation Read 13 September 2026
Reader reviews of Timberland
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Read on
A garment is made across several countries. The label almost always names only one of them. Which one, and what falls away in the process.
We asked twenty brands across four groups the same question: does the product page say where the item was made? The answer has nothing to do with price — and that is the real story.
Questions readers ask
Who owns Timberland?
Since 13 September 2011, VF Corporation of Denver, which paid 2.3 billion US dollars. The same group owns The North Face, Vans and Dickies.
Where are Timberland boots made?
VF names about 273 contractor factories in about 30 countries for the group, with Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia as its largest sourcing markets for the US. There is no split by brand.
Is there a factory list?
Yes. Since 2016 VF has published a list of its tier-1 factories and most tier-2 facilities, updated quarterly. It covers all group brands without assigning individual products.
How long has Timberland existed?
The waterproof boot named Timberland came to market in 1973; in 1978 the whole company, previously the Abington Shoe Company, took its name. The headquarters are in Stratham, New Hampshire.
Which brands belong to the same group as Timberland?
VF Corporation owns The North Face, Vans, Dickies, Eastpak, Napapijri and icebreaker, among others. The figures in its annual report are group figures, not brand figures.