Our Story
Est. 1946 · Denver, Colorado
The Beginning:
Four generations. One vision. The original Western snap shirt.
Jack A. Weil, born in 1901, founded Rockmount Ranch Wear Mfg. Co. in 1946. He was the oldest CEO in the world, working daily until age 107. He is to Western wear what Henry Ford is to the car.
Papa Jack made the first Western shirts with snaps and is key to popularizing Western fashion. He was also the first to commercialize bolo ties.
Jack A. began working in an apparel factory during WWI, while in high school, and learned manufacturing. Later, he and his newly wed wife Bea moved to Colorado in 1925. Ranchers and cowboys wore Western hats and boots but their shirts were conventional. He saw an opportunity to create a fashion identity for Westerners. It was his cue that there was a potential market for something distinctive. His shirts fit differently, had yokes, 2 pockets with flaps, wider cuffs -- a complete departure from what was worn generally.
It also sparked an idea... if you have a western shirt with snaps instead of buttons, when the bull's horn gets caught on the rider's shirt, it will unsnap rather than rip through the material or worse.
Papa Jack's snap shirt invention became the longest-running shirt design in American history — born in the West, built for a lifestyle.
“I’ve always believed we were never selling just the cowboy—we sell the romance of the West. That’s so much more…”
— Papa Jack
1946 · Four Generations
Rockmount Becomes a Family Business
1946
Papa Jack's dream to start Rockmount Ranch Wear Mfg. Co., dedicated to a new brand of Western shirts came to fruition in 1946. He opened the business in Denver's Lower Downtown on Wazee Street, once a warehouse district that supplied the mining industry. His new shirt design, Rockmount's signature design, featured sawtooth pockets and diamond snaps. This eventually became the longest running shirt design in America. He also made many other designs including embroideries and other special treatments that are synonymous with Western shirt design today. Rockmount continues to operate out of our historic 1909 building on Wazee Street today.
1954
His son, Jack B. Weil joined the firm in 1954, heading design and merchandising for fifty years. Jack B. was one of the first to introduce Western fashion east of the Mississippi.
1981
Steve Weil, Rockmount's third generation and current President, grew up in the business and joined the company in 1981. Steve expanded the business internationally and later took over design. He introduced Relaxed Fit shirts which are now an industry standard. Three generations of the Weil family represent the evolution of the Western business from regional, to national, to international. Steve wrote the book on Western shirts. This first book Western Shirts: A Classic American Fashion covers the history, design elements and the brands that made an impact. It chronicles the story of the people who popularized the fashion and surveys 70 years of design.
2026
In 2026, forth generation Colter Weil joined the firm. Papa Jack's great-grandson, Jack B.'s grandson, and Steve's son, Rockmount is a four generation manufacturer of apparel, hats and accessories. Colter began his career in banking at J.P. Morgan, but decided he would rather be part of the rag trade — something tangible. His focus is continuing Rockmount's tradition of innovation, responding to a new generation without losing what made it legendary, and importantly, making sure the world finds us. The Rockmount brand is sold by 1,000 retailers worldwide from Santa Fe, to Paris to Tokyo. While the firm was originally wholesale only, today it has added the channels of web and its flagship retail store.
"Papa Jack didn't just create a new kind of shirt, he started a whole new fashion. He gave those who identify with the American Western way of life a style tailored specifically for them. Rockmount stands out from other fashion companies because we have maintained a consistency of design across three generations. We go our own direction and don't look to other brands for our inspiration."
— Steve Weil.
Many museums, including the Smithsonian, National Cowboy Museum and the Autry Museum of the American West have Rockmount in their collections. Our signature “Sawtooth” pocket & “Diamond” snap design is considered the longest continuously made shirt in the USA.
An amazing number of cultural visionaries have worn Rockmount including Elvis, Ronald Reagan, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant, Robert Redford, and David Bowie. (See our Celebrity Gallery for more.)
Rockmount’s hundreds of movie credits include Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (the shirts later sold at auction for $101,000). Rockmount was worn by Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits, Kevin Costner in Yellowstone, Barbie and Ken in their movie, Aidan Quinn in Practical Magic, Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Cage in Red Rock West, Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid in Flesh & Bone, and Woody Harrelson in The Cowboy Way.
Rockmount’s Media Archive includes NPR, CNN, CBS Evening News, Fox, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Vogue, and Gentleman’s Quarterly features.
Lower Downtown Denver
The Store
The Rockmount flagship store is a historic landmark built in 1909 in lower downtown Denver (LoDo). Rockmount is the last remaining early business in the neighborhood. It also features a museum of vintage Rockmount and memorabilia.
Come visit us at 1626 Wazee St · Denver, Colorado 80202
Timeless Style
From the West to the World
Few companies span the birth of Western fashion to the AI age. It goes to show that an innovative small family business with unique designs can compete despite retail disruption by massive cyber entities. Rockmount remains committed to the spirit of the West and the role of individuality.
“The West is not a place, it’s a state of mind.”
— Papa Jack
Now Worldwide
Rockmount.com
After opening the storefront, Rockmount started its own website Rockmount.com to sell around the world online.
Rockmount Ranch Wear has been making western shirts from our historic building on Wazee Street in Denver, Colorado since 1946. Founded by Jack A. Weil — Papa Jack — inventor of the pearl snap western shirt and the longest-running shirt design in America, Rockmount is the original western shirt brand.
Worn by Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie — never by paid endorsement, always by choice. Featured in Brokeback Mountain, Yellowstone, and The Misfits. Held in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Autry Museum of the American West.
Now in its fourth generation, Rockmount sells men's western shirts, women's western shirts, kids' western shirts, bolo ties, and cowboy hats through 1,000 retailers worldwide — from Santa Fe to Tokyo.
The original pearl snap shirt. Still on Wazee Street. Since 1946.
