In a move to capture Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing consumer market, Japanese conglomerate ITOCHU Corporation has signed a major licensing agreement with PT Brightspot Indonesia to expand the footprint of FRUIT OF THE LOOM® across the Indonesian market.
The deal marks a significant step forward in ITOCHU’s strategy to scale the legendary American essential wear brand throughout Asia, backed by an aggressive regional sales target of 20 billion yen ($130M+ USD) in retail net sales over the next three years.
From Berkshire Hathaway to the Streets of Jakarta
While the iconic fruit emblem is a staple of American closets, behind the everyday innerwear lies serious financial muscle. Since 2002, Fruit of the Loom, Inc. has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.Operating out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, the global power house generates over $6 billion in revenue and controls a diverse portfolio of heritage apparel and sports brands—including Vanity Fair®, Spalding®, and Russell Athletic®.
What makes the brand uniquely resilient is its hands-on approach to production. Unlike many fashion labels that outsource operations, Fruit of the Loom manufactures the vast majority of its products in its own facilities across key hubs like Vietnam, Morocco, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, and the U.S.
A 170-Year-Old Brand Gets a Modern Lifestyle Twist
The brand’s origins trace all the way back to 1851 in Rhode Island, making it older than the lightbulb and the automobile. The iconic name itself was inspired by the biblical phrase “fruit of the womb,” while its famous apple logo was born in 1856 when a shopkeeper’s daughter painted fruit images on bolts of cloth to make them stand out.
Today, ITOCHU is taking that 175-year-old heritage and repositioning it as a modern, everyday lifestyle staple for a global audience.
Brand Core Philosophy: “Comfortable lifestyle goods for everyone—transcending genre, age, and sex.”
Having acquired the master license for Asian markets in May 2024, ITOCHU executed successful market launches in South Korea and China in early 2025.
By partnering with PT Brightspot Indonesia—the trendsetting force behind curated retail destinations like THE GOODS DEPT・ and the massive brightspotMRKT fashion event—ITOCHU is bridging classic American innerwear with Southeast Asia’s style-conscious youth.
The Retail Blueprint: Omnichannel & Cross-Industry Branding
To build momentum in Indonesia, ITOCHU and Brightspot are rolling out a two-pronged retail strategy:
- Direct Retail & E-Commerce: Opening direct-operated shops in high-footfall department stores and premium shopping malls, paired with an online presence through Brightspot’s digital platforms.
- Lifestyle Crossovers: Building on successful Asian campaigns, ITOCHU will drive brand awareness through unexpected collaborations—ranging from café chains to airline partnerships—elevating basic cotton tees and innerwear into lifestyle statements.
As demographic shifts and rising middle-class incomes drive demand for quality essentials across Southeast Asia, the century-old underwear empire, now owned by Warren Buffetts is finding fresh life on the shelves of Jakarta.
