Carhartt started in Detroit in 1889 producing overalls with two sewing machines. By 1910, Carhartt had grown nationwide. Carhartt provided military uniforms in World War I and World War II.
Though overalls are the most popular product for Carhartt, the Carhartt Chore Coat introduced in 1917 is still popular 100 years later and remains largely unchanged.
Hit hard by the stock market crash and the Great Depression, Carhartt almost didn’t survive. A partnership to white label products for what is now vintage Sears, vintage JCPenney, and vintage Montgomery Ward clothing in 1972 saved Carhartt.
In 1975, Carhartt debuted a heavy-duty hooded jacket, dubbed the Active Jac, that remains the most popular Carhartt jacket today.
The cultural shift happened in the 1980s and 1990s when Carhartt became popular outside of the trade industry and made another resurgence during the hipster scene in New York in the early 2000s.
