Carhartt is an American apparel family owned company founded in 1889. Carhartt produces heavy-duty working clothes such as jackets, coats, vests, shirts, jeans, dungarees plus many more.
Founded by Hamilton Carhartt in Detroit, Michigan, to create work clothing or manual labourers. Carhartt first started off with two sewing machines and five workers, with their first slogan as "Honest value for an honest dollar.". In the 1890s Carhartt focused on working closely with local railroad workers to produce strong, long lasting work clothes and ensured to meet their needs.
Within 20 years, Carhartt had expanded its facilities to eight other cities, including locations in the United Kingdom and Canada. During the Great Depression, Carhartt had to downsize due to declining sales but then experienced a resurgence in World War II.
Over the years, Carhartt items evolved their trademark features by extending durability, using heavy duty thread, reinforcing rivets at stress points and a variety of materials resistant to flames, abrasion and water. Today, Carhartt is found on Construction sites, farms, ranches and many more job sites.
In 1990, Carhartt had total sales of $92 million, as of 1992, Carhartt sold more than two million jackets per year and as of 2013 Carhartt has had sales of about $600 million per year.
Carhartt is renowned for its full-cut, weather-resistant, snag-proof, heavy-duty work jackets which are popular with construction workers, miners, farmers, hunters, and outdoor, adventurous people, but the brand has also successfully expanded its appeal to general street wear.
Carhartt jackets are manufactured in muted colours such as mustard, khaki and navy blue. They are usually waist-length or three-quarter length and most are made from relatively stiff 12-ounce cotton canvas with triple-stitched seams. Carhartt also produces matching pants and overalls. Carhartt jackets are designed to typically accommodate hefty men rather than tall, slender men. And in 2007, the company launched the Carhartt for Women line of women's workwear.
Germans Edwin and Salomée Faeh, designers specialised in denim, discussed representing Carhartt in Europe when they visited the United States in 1989 and in 1994, they were granted a licence to create their own lines of clothing under the name Carhartt Work In Progress (WIP). WIP is the streetwear version of the Carhartt brand.
Carhartt has also teamed up with a range of brands. Collaborations from 2013 include lines from Adam Kimmel × Carhartt, as well as collections by A.P.C. × Carhartt. Carhartt has also collabed with Converse Cons and Toogood. Carhartt WIP often collaborates with other streetwear brands. The line of A Bathing Ape X Carhartt WIP produce camouflage hoodies and jackets and there have also been collaborations with A.P.C comme des Garçons, Vetements, Junya Watanabe Pontus Alv's Polar Skate Co, and Gosha Rubchinskiy and Tolya Titaev's skate brand PACCBET.
