Founder Profile
John Van Heusen
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is John Van Heusen?
John Van Heusen is a founder of PVH Corp., which was founded in 1881 with Moses Phillips.
- Company founded
- PVH Corp.
- Founded
- 1881
- Co-founders
- Moses Phillips
Background
Dutch-American inventor.
Founding Story
John Manning Van Heusen invented a revolutionary new process for fusing cloth to create a soft, folding shirt collar that didn't require stiff starching. In 1919, he partnered with the Phillips company to mass-produce the 'Van Heusen' collar, which became an absolute massive global sensation and permanently changed men's fashion. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Sources
This profile does not yet cite a source specific to John Van Heusen. The sources below document the company company rather than the person, so check them against the claims above.
- PVH FY2025 Form 10-K (PVH Corp.)
- PVH FY2025 results release (PVH Corp.)