LAKELAND
INDUSTRIES CALLS ON SEYMOUR HOLTZMAN


TO
END HIS DISRUPTIVE PROXY CONTEST





RONKONKOMA, NY, April 16, 2008
– Lakeland Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: LAKE), a leading manufacturer of industrial
protective clothing for industry, municipalities, healthcare and to first
responders on the federal, state and local levels, today announced that it has
called upon veteran shareholder activist Seymour Holtzman to withdraw his letter
of nomination and terminate his disruptive proxy contest against Lakeland and
let management return its full attention to delivering on Lakeland’s significant
potential and enhancing value for ALL Lakeland shareholders.





As
Lakeland has previously confirmed, it has received notice that an entity
affiliated with Mr. Holtzman intends to nominate two individuals, Mr. Holtzman
and Dennis R. Heinreich, for election to Lakeland’s Board of Directors at
Lakeland’s 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The notice contained no
additional information regarding Mr. Holtzman’s plans or
intentions.  Both Mr. Holtzman and Mr. Heinreich serve as executive
officers of Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. (NasdaqGS: CMRG).  Mr.
Holtzman serves as the Chairman of the Board of Casual Male and Mr. Heinreich
serves as the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief
Financial Officer of Casual Male.  Mr. Holtzman is also a significant
stockholder in Casual Male.





Christopher
J. Ryan, President and CEO of Lakeland, issued the following statement
commenting on Lakeland’s request to Mr. Holtzman:





“We are
at a loss to understand how anyone, including Mr. Holtzman, could believe that
initiating a disruptive proxy contest against Lakeland is in the best interest
of ALL Lakeland stockholders.  Unfortunately, the only one who has any
potential to benefit from this disruptive endeavor is Mr.
Holtzman.  While we would much prefer to focus our time elsewhere such
as our numerous ongoing initiatives to enhance shareholder value, this proxy
contest, if continued, will be about the long-term future of Lakeland and we
will not be bullied into acceding to the demands of one dissident shareholder
seeking to further his own personal agenda.  The Lakeland Board and
management strongly believe that Lakeland must be run like any other public
company – for the benefit of ALL shareholders – and are committed to doing just
that.  We are very confident that Lakeland is moving in the right
direction.





The
Lakeland Board and management have a proven record of being committed to taking
tangible steps to enhance value for ALL shareholders as demonstrated by
our:





·
            Recently
      announced stock buyback program which reflects the faith that the Lakeland
      Board and management have in Lakeland’s operating fundamentals and growth
      prospects and our belief that the current valuation does not reflect
      Lakeland’s underlying long-term
value;





·
            Global
      expansion into emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Chile, Japan and
      India;





·
            Pursuit
      of strategic acquisitions that add low-cost manufacturing, provide us with
      entry into new markets or enhance our brand portfolio, that fit within
      existing product lines, are supported by existing distribution channels,
      and are accretive to earnings;





·
            Broadening
      of our protective apparel product
portfolio;





·
            Sourcing
      of lower priced raw materials; and





·
            Continuing
      reductions in selling, general and administrative
  expenses.





If Mr.
Holtzman intends to pursue his disruptive proxy contest against Lakeland, we are
happy to contrast for our shareholders our public record of acting in the best
interest of ALL shareholders and taking tangible steps to enhance shareholder
value with his public record after assuming control of past targets such as
Casual Male and George Foreman Enterprises, Inc. (OTC BB:
GFME.OB).  To examine Mr. Holtzman’s record as we have, shareholders
need look no further than the numerous public filings through proxy
contests made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Mr.
Holtzman, Casual Male and George Foreman Enterprises.  In particular,
Casual Male’s various SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual
meeting proxy statements, provide a detailed discussion of the generous
compensation, consisting of cash plus stock options, that Mr. Holtzman or his
affiliated entity, Jewelcor Management, Inc., has been able to obtain from
Casual Male since he assumed effective control over it some nine years
ago.





Given
that the Lakeland Board and management team beneficially own, in the aggregate,
approximately 20% of Lakeland’s issued and outstanding shares, our interests are
closely aligned with those of ALL Lakeland shareholders.  Accordingly,
on behalf of ALL Lakeland shareholders, we urge Mr. Holtzman to consider our
request to withdraw his letter of nomination and terminate his disruptive proxy
contest before it reaches a “point of no return” where both parties will have
“locked horns” in an acrimonious and costly proxy contest that does nothing to
help us all further the growth of  shareholder
value.





We remain
open to listening to all of Mr. Holtzman’s ideas and suggestions on how we may
continue to enhance shareholder value, but his disruptive proxy contest does not
advance our ability to constructively engage with him and have those
discussions.   We look forward to a positive response from Mr.
Holtzman, sooner rather than later, so that we may move beyond this unnecessary
distraction and return our full attention to delivering on Lakeland’s very
significant potential and enhancing value for ALL Lakeland
shareholders.”





ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION





Lakeland
Industries, Inc. and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be
participants in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders in connection with
the Company’s 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.  The Company plans
to file a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in
connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Annual
Meeting.  Information concerning persons who may be considered
participants in the solicitation of the Company’s stockholders under the rules
of the SEC is set forth in public filings filed by the Company with the SEC,
including its proxy statement relating to its 2007 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders, and will be set forth in its proxy statement relating to its 2008
Annual Meeting of Stockholders.  These documents may be (currently or
when filed with the SEC) obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at
http://www.sec.gov and the Company’s website at http://www.lakeland.com.





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


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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
Control and Prevention, and may other federal and state agencies.  For
more information concerning Lakeland, please visit the Company online at www.lakeland.com.





Contacts:


Lakeland
      Industries, Inc.
              631-981-9700
              Christopher
      Ryan, CEO,
              CJRyan@lakeland.com
              Gary
      Pokrassa, CFO,
              GAPokrassa@lakeland.com
              701-7
      Koehler Avenue, Suite 7
              Ronkonkoma,
      NY 11779
              www.lakeland.com
            Darrow
      Associates for Lakeland Industries, Inc.
              631-367-1866
              Jordan
      Darrow
              jdarrow@darrowir.com















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