Founded in 1981, it has now become one of the biggest suppliers and most successful franchisers of outdoor products including sports equipment, mountain and leisure clothing, footwear, rucksacks, sleeping bags, and tents.

[citation needed] Reports announced in April that private equity firm Blackstone had handed over control of the German company to a group of its lenders in a debt-for-equity swap.

[8][clarification needed] Since July 2010, Jack Wolfskin has been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), a multi-stakeholder initiative working to improve workplace conditions in the garment and textile industry.

Youth Camp[9] a UNEP-initiative which has the aim to train young persons an environmentally awareness and a thrifty use of resources in cooperation with Arved Fuchs.

When the Clean Clothes Campaign distributed questionnaires about working and production conditions to several outdoor producers in 2009 and 2010, Jack Wolfskin decided to become a member of the FWF as there were many similarities to their own established social audit system.

[14] This prompted a backlash in online forums for handicrafts and bloggers documenting corporate behaviour, outraged at the bullying tactics used by a large firm against individual hobbyists with barely measurable income through clothing and no intention to mimic Jack Wolfskin goods.

As the impact of the negative publicity became apparent, Jack Wolfskin later issued a press release to indicate they would in future open dialog directly with people it suspected of breaching its copyright, rather than sending damage payment demands as the first contact.

[citation needed] On 19 December 2011, the Civic Association Dog Soul from Slovakia (a non-profit organization) received an e-mail with a copy of a letter from an attorney and patent office representing the Jack Wolfskin Ausrüstung für Draussen GmbH & Co. KGaA company.

[15] In August 2010, Jack Wolfskin signed a 3-year deal to sponsor the English football club Liverpool FC, in a chance to increase its exposure in the UK.