Lakeland Industries, Inc. Enters Into Australian Distribution Agreement

RONKONKOMA, NY, Mar 31 (MARKET WIRE) --
Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE), a market leader in protective
apparel, today announced that it has finalized a distribution agreement with
Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety ("WIS"). The supply agreement grants
exclusive distribution rights for Lakeland disposable and protective clothing in
Australia to two Wesfarmers subsidiaries -- J. Blackwood & Son Limited
(Blackwoods)
and Protector Alsafe. Lakeland believes that the sales generated from this
distributionagreement will be significant and potentially material to its total
international revenues and represents Lakeland's latest successful initiative to
expand its international sales.

Under the terms of the agreement, the WIS operating units will be custodians
of Lakeland and will promote the products as their own brand. In exchange for
granting the exclusive distribution rights, Lakeland Industries will, for the
first time, have an extensive marketing channel to sell its products in a
broad geographic region covering Australia, New Zealand, (through New Zealand
Safety & Protector Safety) New Guinea, and South Africa. Marketing
initiatives will be undertaken by the two WIS companies, both with
established reputations for quality, service and expertise in the safety
industry.

WIS (www.wesfarmers.com.au), a publicly-traded company on the Australian
Securities
Exchange (ASX: WES), comprises nine businesses that together make it the leading
supplier of engineering products and workplace needs, safety, packaging,
materials handling and lifting products and services to industry and
government across Australia and New Zealand. Blackwoods is the largest
distributor of industrial and engineering supplies in Australia and New
Zealand, with over 142 locations stocking over 150,000 product line items.
Blackwoods also distributes in Southern Asia and the South Pacific.
Complementing
Blackwoods in Australia are four major national specialists, with Protector
Alsafe
operating as its provider of safety products and services. Protector Alsafe
is Australia's largest specialist safety distribution company dedicated to
serving customers with an unparalleled range of specially selected quality
products
and brands. The company prides itself on supplying the broadest range of the
world's best brands of safety equipment. Protector Alsafe's branch network
of 40 locations offers sales and technical support backed by a team of safety
specialistsdedicated to offering the best personal protection solutions for the
industrial marketplace. As is the case for Protector Alsafe in Australia,
Protector
Alsafe subsidiaries in New Zealand are the market leaders in the region.

Commenting on Lakeland's latest successful initiative to expand
internationally,
Chris Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Lakeland, stated, "Our agreement with
Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety is consistent with Lakeland's goal of driving
growth in international markets. The combination of Wesfarmers' sales and
distribution capabilities with our unique line of disposable and chemical
protective garments positions both parties for growth amid the favorable
market conditions in Australia. This agreement offers a unique opportunity to
employ a different business model that will maximize distribution channel
efficiencies and the corporate strengths of both companies to cost-effectively
deliver high quality products to the market. We anticipate a long and mutually
beneficialrelationship with Wesfarmers.

"Our international expansion initiatives continue to show progress, and we
are beginning to achieve benefits of scale for our regional manufacturing
facilities in
China and India. Our prior investments in manufacturing, along with the
distribution
agreement announced today, are integral to Lakeland's growth strategy in the
Pacific. Within the region, Australia is one of the most mature personal
protective equipment markets which, until this agreement, we had not formally
entered. Leveraging a local partner such as Wesfarmers -- with its formidable
ability to penetrate Australia -- Lakeland has made a sound choice while
preserving critical resources for use in further capitalizing on developing
markets like China and India."

About Lakeland Industries, Inc.:

Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) manufactures and sells a
comprehensive line of safety garments and accessories for the industrial
protective
clothing market. The Company's products are sold by a direct sales force and
through independent sales representatives to a network of over 1000 safety
and mill supply distributors. These distributors in turn supply end user
industrial customers such as chemical/petrochemical, automobile, steel, glass,
construction,
smelting, janitorial, pharmaceutical and high technology electronics
manufacturers,
as well as hospitals and laboratories. In addition, Lakeland supplies
federal, state, and local government agencies, fire and police departments,
airport crash rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease
Controland Prevention, and may other federal and state agencies.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaningof Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements, without limitation,
regarding
our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. We
intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor
provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements that are not historical are forward-looking. Forward-looking
statements may
relate to, but are not limited to, the effect of the product distribution
agreement on our international and total revenues and the size and growth of
the Australia market for protective apparel. Such forward-looking statements
are based upon current information and expectations. These estimates and
statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, are not
guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that are difficult to predict.

For more information concerning Lakeland, please visit the Company online at
www.lakeland.com.

Contacts:
Lakeland Industries
631-981-9700
Christopher Ryan
CEO
Email Contact
Gary Pokrassa
CFO
Email Contact
701-7 Koehler Avenue, Suite 7
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
www.lakeland.com

Darrow Associates for Lakeland Industries
631-367-1866
Jordan Darrow
Email Contact

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