Carhartt, Inc. is a U.S. based clothing company founded in 1889. It is still a family owned company, owned by the descendants of company founder Hamilton Carhartt, with its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
In the United States, Carhartt is known for hard-wearing, rugged, durable work clothes, such as jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, vests, shirts, jeans and dungarees.
Carhartt was originally founded to make work clothing for railroad workers. Their initial growth throughout the 1890's was focused on railroad workers' need for durable and long lasting work overalls. Over time, Carhartt clothing items evolved trademark features intended to further extend durability, including the use of heavy duty threads, reinforcing rivets at vital stress points, and a variety of durable, high technology materials resistant to flames, abrasion and water. Today Carhartt is commonly found on construction sites, farms and ranches, among other job sites. In 2007, the company launched a Carhartt for Women line of women's workwear for the Fall season.
The brand has always thrived on the ideal of a hard working American laborer, and has been proud of its Made in America by Textile union shops, but due to competitions from other apparel manufacturers and pressure to drive down prices, many of its non-core apparel items have been increasingly outsourced abroad. Carhartt continues to own and operate unionized cutting, sewing and distribution centers in the United States and Mexico, and offers a "Union-Made in USA" line of workwear through its retailers, but items like t-shirts, knit caps, and even some lower priced items such as chore coats have been increasingly seen with labels from a foreign county though most feature American-made fabrics and components.
