FOR
      IMMEDIATE RELEASE








Lakeland
      Industries, Inc. Signs a Letter of Intent to Acquire Brazilian Protective
      Apparel Supplier Qualytextil S.A., Based in Salvador Bahia, Brazil








RONKONKOMA,
      NY – February 19, 2008 -- Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE), a market
      leader in protective apparel, today announced that it has signed a letter of
      intent to acquire Brazilian protective apparel supplier Qualytextil S.A.,
      subject to the negotiation and execution of final
      documentation.  Qualytextil, based in Salvador Bahia, Brazil, was
      founded in 1999 and serves the Brazil Protective Clothing market in the
      following areas:  firemen’s turnout gear, conductive
      and  electric arc garments, chemical protective garments,
      occupational, multilayer and waterproof operational garments, aluminized and
      molten metal lines of protective clothing.





Pursuant
      to the letter of intent, it is anticipated that, upon the signing of definitive
      documentation, the initial purchase price to be paid by Lakeland would be
      approximately USD$12.5 million. The purchase price is also anticipated to
      include an earnout based on Qualytextil’s 2010 EBITDA.  The
      acquisition is expected to be accretive to Lakeland’s earnings per share.
      Adjusted Proforma EBITDA, as defined in the agreement, for the twelve months
      ended December 2007 is approximately USD$1.8 million. Sales for this period
      were
      approximately USD$9.8 million, with current gross margins of 50%.





Qualytextil
      is located in Salvador, Bahia, in the northeastern part of the country, where
      the State provides tax incentives, labor rates are favorable and is conveniently
      located to transport garments economically throughout the country.





Christopher
      Ryan, CEO of Lakeland, commented: “The Qualytextil acquisition in Brazil would
      allow Lakeland to expand worldwide in one of the ten most important emerging
      economies. Brazil is a new market which is rapidly increasing its GDP by
      about  5% per year.  Qualytextil has been operating in the
      market for 7 years, and can provide Lakeland with an in-house sales force of
      20
      employees and 28 outside sales representatives to cover the entire country,
      selling directly to the end user. Qualytextil is selling directly to the major
      state owned companies and agencies and the main oil and chemical companies
      in
      Brazil. By selling direct, we can get better margins, and lead times will be
      shortened because we will first approach the companies that are buying direct,
      and be able to run through their testing trials faster than if an uneducated
      distributor is doing it.  Qualytextil also has a contract with
      Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro, NYSE:PBR), a large Brazilian petroleum company
      to supply fire-retardant overalls through January 2010 and has a store located
      inside the Petrobras facility.”





“To
      operate in Brazil, it would benefit Lakeland to acquire its own sewing operation
      , which would give Lakeland a competitive advantage in these four (4) Mercosur
      markets of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, plus Venezuela as an
      associated member, increase its local and international sales, add to Lakeland’s
      offerings a new fire-retardant and electric-arc flash product line.
      Additionally, we will be able to access immediately 100 sewing employees and
      20
      in house salesmen to manufacture and sell our own complete line of disposable
      and chemical product lines at a competitive market cost and gain access to
      additional warehousing for Lakeland’s product lines. Also we will have the
      immediate ability to a set up separate distribution channels selling direct
      to
      large international companies.”





Mr.
      Ryan
      further commented:  “We have laid out our growth strategy consistently
      for some time now as having three major focuses – new products, international
      growth and acquisitions.  This fits squarely into all
      three.  We expect this transaction to be instrumental in building long
      term shareholder value.”




Marcos
        Vieira, President of Qualytextil, commented:  “Having Lakeland as our
        parent company will give us the resources we need to expand our business
        into
        other Latin American countries and new products.  Qualytextil can also
        provide Lakeland with a distribution channel to reach those small industrial
        areas spread throughout Brazil.  Lakeland can add to Qualytextil
        existing product lines, its own product line in disposables and chemical
        garments, gloves, NFPA fire gear, reflective garments at reasonable costs.
        The
        plant can also be used to warehouse Lakeland’s products such as the chemical and
        cut resistant gloves, and other Lakeland products that may not be subject
        to
        high Mercosur import duties.  We also share many of the same suppliers
        which should generate economies of scale in our purchasing.”
 
 The
        Mercosur Treaty was signed in 1994 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
        These countries established a common market, called “Common Market of the
        Southern Cone” (MERCOSUR). Today, Venezuela has become a new member and Chile
        and Peru are associate member countries with some reduced duty benefits,
        on a
        narrow line of products. The treaty guarantees the free movement of goods,
        services and factors of production between countries through the elimination
        of
        customs duties and non-tariff restrictions on the movement of goods, and
        any
        other equivalent measures.
 
 The
        transaction is still subject to confirmatory due diligence, execution of
        definitive legal documentation, regulatory and other third party approvals
        and
        such other conditions as may be contained in the Definitive Agreement of
        Purchase and Sale. The companies are negotiating the terms of a Definitive
        Agreement of Purchase and Sale, but there is no assurance that these
        negotiations will result in a completed transaction. Assuming the execution
        of
        definitive documentation, the closing of the acquisition of Qualytextil is
        expected to occur at the end of April 2008.
















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 800 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 Control and Prevention, and may other federal and state
      agencies.





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      #
      #





Safe
      Harbor Statement: This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
      within the meaning of 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 timing of the execution of any definitive agreements
      relating to the transaction or the expected closing of the acquisition, the
      ultimate purchase price to be paid to acquire Qualytextil, the benefits and
      synergies of the transaction, the future opportunities for the combined company,
      the size and growth of product markets, and the potential impact of the proposed
      acquisition on shareholder value, pro forma revenue, earnings and combined
      operations.  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.





Therefore,
      actual outcomes and results could materially differ from what is expressed,
      implied, or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could
      cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially include, among others,
      the
      following: (1) the possibility that we and Qualytextil may not be able to
      successfully negotiate definitive purchase and sale documents, (2) our ability
      to successfully integrate Qualytextil’s operations and employees, (3) general
      economic factors, (4) general industry trends, (5) the potential effects on
      the
      combined company of competition in the protective apparel market, (6) growth
      rates in the market for protective apparel, (7) shifts in demand by potential
      customers, (8) market acceptance of new or enhanced products developed, marketed
      or sold by the combined company, (9) delays in scheduled product availability
      dates, (10) actions or announcements by competitors, (11) reduction in sales
      to
      or loss of any significant customers, (12) the dependence on intellectual
      property licensed from third parties, (13) each company's ability to attract
      and
      retain qualified personnel, (14) each company's ability to contain costs, (15)
      changes in the political climate in Brazil, and (16) other risks described
      in
      our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not
      limited to, our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and our latest Quarterly
      Report on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained from
      www.sec.gov.  If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize or
      any of the assumptions prove incorrect, our results could differ materially
      and
      adversely from our expectations in these statements.  We assume no
      obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements except
      as the law may require.





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





Contacts:Lakeland
                Industries
            Darrow
                Associates for Lakeland Industries631-981-9700
            631-367-1866Christopher
                Ryan, CEO,  CJRyan@lakeland.com
            Jordan
                Darrow, jdarrow@darrowir.comGary
                Pokrassa, CFO, GAPokrassa@lakeland.com701-7
                Koehler Avenue, Suite 7Ronkonkoma,
                NY 11779www.lakeland.com