Carhartt - Fashion Company Profile
Carhartt is the Dearborn, Michigan workwear company founded by Hamilton Carhartt in 1889 to make overalls for railroad workers, and still owned by his family. Its chore coats, duck canvas jackets, double-front pants and knit caps are work clothing first - bought by tradespeople, farmers and outdoor workers - that fashion later adopted without the company changing the product. A separate licensed line, Carhartt Work in Progress (WIP), serves the streetwear market from Europe.
Company Snapshot
- Status
- Operating - family-owned workwear company
- Type
- Private - Carhartt family owned
- Headquarters
- Dearborn, Michigan, United States
- Founded
- 1889, in Dearborn, Michigan, by Hamilton Carhartt
Shop Carhartt Now
Shop Carhartt on Amazon Shop Carhartt on eBayThe Amazon and eBay links on this page are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, Apparel Search may earn a commission.
Company Profile
The company's rule has been continuity: the same fabrics, fits and union-made heritage lines season after season, with new categories added only where a job needs them. The railroad-overall beginnings are told in the profile section below.
For 120 years, by the company's own count, Carhartt has manufactured premium workwear known for exceptional durability, comfort, quality of construction, and fit that you can feel in the fabrics and see in the performance. Expanding the line from the traditional outerwear pieces, Carhartt now offers a complete product line for warm and cold weather alike that includes jeans and work pants, shirts, sweats, shorts, tees and accessories. As a choice brand of those who work and play outdoors, Carhartt serves workers in construction and manufacturing along with farmers, ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts - a customer definition, construction and the farm, that the brand has kept since the railroad era described below.
Carhartt History
The earlier record for this company - its history, past brand line-ups, figures and photographs from the periods described - is kept on a separate page for historical reference.
Carhartt History & Historical Profile →Common Questions
When was Carhartt founded, and by whom?
In 1889, by Hamilton Carhartt (born 1855 in Macedon Lock, New York), beginning with overalls in duck and denim made for railroad workers, with 4 sewing machines and about 5 employees, in the historical record.
Where is Carhartt headquartered, and who owns it?
Dearborn, Michigan, with more than 3,500 employees worldwide; privately owned and managed by descendants of the founder, in the historical record.
What did the March 2009 Madisonville expansion involve?
Completion of a 360,000 square foot distribution center expansion in Madisonville, Kentucky, built with green materials where possible, including FSC certified lumber and recycling of 50% of building material waste.
More Apparel Companies C
Start from the C letter hub, or compare this filing with its closest neighbours in the letter:
More to Explore on Apparel Search
References & Further Reading
Looking for More Fashion Companies?
This profile is one filing in the Apparel Search company names directory. Browse the full A-to-Z listing on the Fashion Company Names directory, or shop by category in the Apparel Search shopping directory.