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| founder = [[Conrad Anker]]<br>Jay Boyle<br>Kevin Boyle<br>John Alf Engwall
| foundation = 1983 as Alfware, Inc.<br>2017 as Skythe, Inc.
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Nathan Fay ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])<ref name="deseret">{{cite news |title=About Utah company: Founder has come a long way from living in a snow cave |url=https://www.deseret.com/2016/7/17/20592167/about-utah-company-founder-has-come-a-long-way-from-living-in-a-snow-cave/ |newspaper=Deseret News |date=July 17, 2016 |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>}}
| location = [[Salt Lake City]],<br>[[Utah]]
| num_employees = 180 (2024).<ref>{{cite web |title=KÜHL Clothing Company |url=https://www.linkedin.com/company/kuhl-clothing-company |website=LinkedIn |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>
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KÜHL is a privately held American company that specializes in outdoor and lifestyle apparel. Founded in 1983 under the original name Alfwear (sometimes spelled "Alf Wear"), the company rebranded as KÜHL in 1994.
==History==
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A trademark filed later lists the first usage of the word mark "ALF" as 1984<ref>{{cite web |title=ALF - Trademark Details|url=https://trademarks.justia.com/751/94/alf-75194622.html |website=Justia Trademarks |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>. Old clothing made by Alfwear bears the mark "älf".
In 1986, three other co-founders bought in for $2000 per person: [[Conrad Anker]], Jay Boyle, and Kevin Joseph Boyle. Jay and Conrad are brothers. Jay Boyle met Anker while working at the Holubar mountaineering shop. About the $2000 investment, Kevin said "I had $2,300 to my name; it was basically everything I had"<ref name="deseret"
At the time, Anker was a student at the University of Utah.
Initially, the company originally offered the "Alf" hat, in the style of the Peruvian [[Chullo]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Why KÜHL is Cool |url=https://www.paddypallin.com.au/blog/why-kuhl-is-cool/ |website=Paddy Pallin |date=September 20, 2023 |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>.
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In the late 80s, the company leadership would transition from the four co-founders down to just Kevin Boyle.
At 8:40pm on Friday, October 31, 1986, Engwall was killed near Prince, Utah<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary for John Alf Engwall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-park-record-obituary-for-john-alf-en/113203789/ |newspaper=[[Park_Record]] |date=November 6, 1986 |page=A18 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>, when his car "ran off a winding state road and into a 15-foot deep culvert"<ref>{{cite news |title=John A. Engwall Dies in Crash |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/563440378/?article=6fab01cc-ea7b-4e26-9e96-ae4d7d103c89 |newspaper=[[Intelligencer Journal]] |date=November 6, 1986 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>.
According to Anker, the company was worth about $5000 in 1986<ref>{{cite news |last1=Page |first1=Amy |last2=Page |first2=Amy |title=Flipping his cap pays off |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/430511418/ |work=[[The Daily Utah Chronicle]] |date=November 9, 1986 |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/image/430511418/ 10], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/430511424/ 11] |access-date=July 26, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>.
A few years later, Jay Boyle and Anker also left the company. Jay went off to the "Thunderbird School of Global Management" in Phoenix, Arizona, where he got his MBA between the years of 1992 and 1993. Jay would later return to KÜHL.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jay Boyle LinkedIn Profile |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/expatcfo/ |website=LinkedIn |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref> Anker went off to other mountaineering pursuits.▼
▲A few years later, Jay Boyle and Anker also left the company, bought out by Kevin<ref name="deseret" />. Jay went off to the "Thunderbird School of Global Management" in Phoenix, Arizona, where he got his MBA between the years of 1992 and 1993. Jay would later return to KÜHL.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jay Boyle LinkedIn Profile |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/expatcfo/ |website=LinkedIn |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref> Anker went off to other mountaineering pursuits.
Alfwear, Inc. was incorporated in 1989<ref>{{cite web |title=Alfwear, Inc. |url=https://utah-biz.com/co/alfwear-inc |website=Utah-Biz |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>.
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On August 15, 1994, Kevin Boyle filed for the trademark KÜHL<ref>{{cite web |title=KUHL - Trademark Details|url=https://trademarks.justia.com/745/61/kuhl-74561353.html |website=Justia Trademarks |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>. That same year, at the Outdoor Retailer show, the company publicly re-branded itself as Kühl<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ|url=https://www.kuhl.com/content/faq/ |website=KÜHL |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>.
=== Continuing changes ===
In 2002, KÜHL switched from using a local company, Burdett Apparel Inc., for manufacturing, to using sewing companies in California, Canada, and India, according to Robin West of Alfwear<ref>{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Lesley |title=Burdett Apparel Sewing Its Last Stitch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/613525143/ |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |date=August 29, 2002 |access-date=July 25, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>.
In 2016, KÜHL had 60 employees<ref name="deseret" />.
On May 19, 2023, Kuhl opened a shop in Jackson Hole, bringing the total number of KÜHL store fronts in the U.S. to 4. They have locations in California, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.<ref>{{cite web |title=KÜHL Opens New Store in the Heart of Jackson Hole, Wyoming |url=https://thedaily.outdoorretailer.com/news/industry-press-releases/kuhl-opens-new-store-in-the-heart-of-jackson-hole-wyoming/ |website=The Daily |publisher=Outdoor Retailer |date=July 5, 2023 |access-date=July 25, 2024}}</ref>
=== Skythe, Inc. ===
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