Hamilton Carhartt founded Carhartt in 1889 in Michigan with 4 sewing machines and 5 employees. Their goal was to set the standard for excellence. Their first product was overalls made from durable fabrics. While the Great Depression hurt the company, they remained family-owned. In the 1980s and 90s, Carhartt jackets became popular fashion items worn by hip hop artists and others. This led to rapid growth but also challenges in balancing their traditional and new urban markets. Carhartt expanded internationally including creating the Working in Progress brand for Europe. They have collaborated with various brands and remain popular in film, music, and action sports.

1. Brand History

2. Hamilton Carhartt
Born 1855
Grew in South
Michigan
Added an extra ‘t’ to his
name in order to stand
out.
First established a
furnishing business.
Founded in 1889
Started with 4 sewing
machines and 5
employees
GOAL ‘Set standard for
excellence’
1ST PRODUCT
Overalls made from
duck and denim
fabrics
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
resulted in only 3 plants
being left open however
Wylie, Hamilton Carhartt’s
son launched a campaign
‘Back to the land’ which
became popular with
Farmers and Ranch
workers.
Hamilton Carhartt died
1937
The company still
remains a family owned
business
“Mills to Millions”
"I believe that when a man
wears an article that I
manufacture, his self-respect
is increased because he knows
that it is made by an honest
manufacturer, who is honest
with his employees" -
Hamilton Carhartt
Advised to stand out
and find a niche
Carhartt spoke to
Railroad engineers,
encouraging him to
create overall
garments specifically
for them.

3. 80/90sCarhartt was already
selling to Japan solely
for fashion in 1987
The emergence of Carhartt as a
fashion label started when crackdeals
started wearing the jackets on the
street. Spending a lot of time on the
streets they needed to keep warm and
the multiple pockets were useful
when carrying alot of gear around.
Kids saw these guys, and through
copying it became the hip thing to
wear.
1989, Tommy Boy records picked up
on this already hot trend and used the
jacket as a promotional tool, giving
them away at shows and even
embroidering their company logo.
Hip Hop artists such as Kriss Kross, Dr
Dre and Snow all wore the label
religiously therefore channels such as
MTV was bombarded by the label.
Kriss Kross even wore the label to the
American Music Awards.
1991 Carhartt presented
their Outdoor Working
Men’s Collection at New
York Fashion Week and
was stocked at the likes
of Barneys.

4. 1992, 2 million
jackets sold to
army navy stores
and boutiques.
Kmart wanted a
multi million deal
but Carhartt
specified that it
didn’t sell to
discount stores.
Vogue assured its
readers that it’s
the “hottest
label”
Appeared in
Jump Around
music video by
House of Pain.
Naughty by
Nature modelled
Carhartt for
Rolling Stones
magazine.

5. 80/90s
This was the start of when people
started appreciating function over
form.
From the west to the east of America
there was a distinct difference in how
these hip kids used the Carhartt
brand. New York preferred the
mustard browns, hunter greens and
baggy corduroy jeans, whereas in LA
so called ‘chain gangs’ wore their
Carhartt in darker shades and t shirts
underneath buttoned at the neck
shirts.
HOWEVER, this rise in popularity left many
disappointed as all plants were maxed.
By 1993 `Carhartt had to turn down
accounts from department stores and store
chains.
Carhartt found it difficult to find a balance
between their new urban market and their
traditional market, as their main target
market began to not being able to buy the
clothes they wanted to.
This led to 2 more distribution centres
being opened, even a plant in Mexico.

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8. Other brands started to get on this
new fashion trend. Brands such as
Quicksilver, a southern Californian
surf brand introduced its own
‘Working Class’ collection. This
included oversized shirts, pants and
heavier fabrics found in workwear.
Customers grew tired of the 80s
constant change in trends and
wanted clothes with more value, or
at least perceived value.

9. With this new consumer
Carhartt didn’t want to simply
cater for this new target
market and lose its roots.
Carhartt occasionally
found itself in Europe
through small imports
by independent
companies and
acquired a small
group of fans.
A German denim entrepreneur in 1996 struck a deal with
Carhartt to manufacture Carhartt outside the USA. This
lead to the creation of Working In Progress.
The new branch of the brand uses Hamilton’s ideas as the
starting point then remixed to appeal a European
audience.
WIP is produced exclusively for Europe and is
reinterpreted, the original cut is adapted such as the jeans
are slimmed down and sleeves have become shorter,
more appropriate for an active lifestyle.
Carhartt has become the largest street wear brand in
Europe. US consumers are usually shocked when they
visit Carhartt in Europe as American sizes come up to 52
inch whereas WIP stops at 36 inch.

10. Collaborations

11. From my research I would place
Carhartt at a bridge market level.
It’s items are of luxury quality and
are priced equally so. It is
accessible to those in the know,
yet still remaining exclusive.
Film
The Town (2010)
Warrior (2010)
Don?t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Country Strong (2010)
The Company Men (2010)
Winter?s Bone (2010)
Brothers (2009)
Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009)
Longshots (2008)
The Family That Prays (2008)
Into The Wild (2007)
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Smart People (2008)
Beer For My Horses (2008)
Jumper (2008)
Are We Done Yet? (2007)
The Ultimate Gift (2006)
Work in Progress has closely involved
Carhartt with the European skateboarding
and BMX scene.
“Honest value
for an honest
dollar”
Carhartt WIP
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