How Carhartt Helped Build a Cult Following Around Workwear | WSJ The Economics Of

When Carhartt began, 38% of the workforce was devoted to farming and 31% worked in mining, manufacturing, and construction. Today, the average worker spends 43.6% of the workday sitting. After making workwear for a century, the company burst into the streetwear fashion mainstream in the ‘80s and ‘90s, with clothes eventually being spotted on Drake, Rihanna and even former President Obama. Despite this popularity, Carhartt never really swayed from its core strategy.

WSJ explains how Carhartt stays true to its identity while growing its business despite work changing across the country.

Chapters:
0:00 Carhartt’s popularity
0:34 Carhartt’s foundations
1:40 Focus on workwear
4:45 Carhartt’s pivot

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#Carhartt #Fashion #WSJ

[miguelgomes]

two things love about this brand, quality and simplicity almost a low profile in 90% of products love that

[SouthwestTee]

Started off with buying a beanie for the winter and was instantly impressed with the fit and quality. Started to buy more pieces and I love the fit. In like Carhartt has a very generous sizing, nice and roomy and comfortable. Quality is excellent and very durable. Have over 30 pieces of Carhartt apparel now and have never looked back. The WIP brand is a slightly more fitted line but has the same quality. If ever you are in NYC make sure you visit Big Dave’s store on 19th street. He has a massive selection of Carhartt items.

[tosin]

In high school in the 90s everyone was wearing Dickies so I chose Carhartt. I still have my beanie from back then and it looks like its basically brand new. I wish I could still fit my other Carhartt items.

[chapelknight]

Its just the quality. My Carhartt shirts and pants have never been sliced open by steel plate at work like every other brand. When I see something made by Carhartt, I know it's sturdy and worth the money.

[willienelsongonzalez]

Levi’s, Caterpillar, JCB, Dickies, Ox, Barbour, Helly Hansen, Stan Ray, Wrangler …. all started off as work wear or as manufacturers of heavy goods and all have a great line up of clothing that can be worn everyday whilst being seen as fashionable. Carhartt (USA) definitely keeps true but I’m not so sure about Carharrt WIP (European licensed brand). Even military lines such as Alpha and Schott have a fantastic line up of clothing. Genuinely fascinated how different folks, youth movements and cultures adopt brands as part of a larger and broader fashion movement. That said, I hope these brands can keep making good quality clothing that can be bought at a reasonable and affordable price.

[paulw]

I’m in the UK and I’ve been buying Carhartt for nearly 20 yrs. Good hard wearing quality clothing.

[gsatiucla]

My issue with Carhartt products nowadays is the sizing inconsistency on their products. That is very inconvenient when shopping online.

[samanthab]

My dad was an Ironworker out of NYC/NJ back in the 60’s-90’s. Carhart was just all his work clothes. Mostly worn in the winter. My brothers & wouldn’t touch the stuff.

[jensrand]

i ran into a kid on my bicycle and was pushed against a concrete wall for about 4 meters (13 ft.). My carhartt jacket was a little dusty, but cleaned up like new. the build quality, design and feel is just so good.

[tliew]

I love Carhartt ❤ such a good quality make in USA 🇺🇸 love

[punxoioioi]

People in the Pacific Northwest never wore this brand. I've been thrifting almost 30 years, not until the internet/recently/Goodwill Bins resellers did it show up. The beanie is just some acrylic garbage, no better than any other hat/beanie, just a stitched on logo. I've had a few I got for free (found on a bridge, found a couple at my old job). If you want something better/nicer/warmer, buy a wool beanie.

[PastorShayne]

It wasn’t about branding, it was about quality; as a worker, it was warm and didn’t wear out.

[kerng]

I love the product. That said, I wish that the Flagship store floor staff would engage with visiting customers in a more helpful manner. I couldn't get the sales staff's attention for my pilgrimage visit this past winter. I am still a great fan of the brand, but I was disappointed with my brand at source experience .

[tooreal]

Majority of the folks wearing Carhartt wants to show that they have the "roughwork image" but never done any real labor intensive work a day in their life.

[AlphaRedd]

Ironic how the workwear jacket became casual

[BroAnarchy]

I have two Carhartt Jackets, the first one the Zipper broke. Apparently, Carhartt has a Repair system in place where they will repair your product for free - if it's Defective, and for the life of the Product (i belive)

[laurajohnson]

All my dad wears is carhart t shirts 😂

[luisreviews]

They have a good thing going, problem is their stuff is hard to find considering it is up to the retailer on what they decide to offer. For that reason I buy more from Duluth, I can actually go to their store and try stuff on then buy. I am not much for online shopping, I have to try on the clothes and feel the fit & quality. Respect to carhart but I buy Duluth.

[QuizmasterLaw]

This was remarkably uninformative. How they took a potentially interesting and useful topic ("how to achieve brand loyalty and sell more product!") and killed it of all useful ideas escapes me. Despite comparing two successful companies each of which in different ways attained brand loyalty and market share there's basically nothing useful beyond "oh, one allowed product variation for style and marketed beyond its base while the other didn't and didn't." Ok, that took: 3 seconds. You had 6 minutes. :/

[avi]

What is the secret to their durability? What do they do to their material?