Lakeland Industries Calls on Seymour Holtzman to End His Proxy Contest

RONKONKOMA, NY - Lakeland Industries, Inc., a leading manufacturer of industrial protective clothing for industry, municipalities, healthcare and to first responders on the federal, state and local levels, announced April 16, 2008 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. 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. 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."