Gant: lifestyle brand, sports fashion, fragrances & home collection
Gant – Gant is a lifestyle brand that is clearly influenced by the American Sportswear style. It offers high-quality, modern casual wear that is also characterized by a European touch. The company’s values and authenticity date back to the brand’s founding in 1949 on America’s East Coast. Today, Gant is a global lifestyle brand that covers the full spectrum of clothing for men, women and children. In addition, the company offers watches, shoes, underwear, fragrances and a home collection.
History: Swedish or Swiss
The history of Gant begins with Bernard Gant, who manufactured shirts in New Haven, Connecticut, after World War 2. His passion for quality and design soon led him to turn to manufacturing casual and sportswear as well. His sons, Marty and Elliot, later joined the company and maintained their father’s commitment to allowing only high-quality workmanship and paying attention to detail.
In 1999, the Swedish company Gant AB (then called Pyramid Sportswear) acquired the Gant brand from the Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation. Pyramid Sportswear had already acquired the rights to design its own collections for the Swedish market under the Gant brand in 1980. Pyramid Sportswear subsequently obtained the right to distribute Gant worldwide, with the exception of the U.S. market. When the new owners also took over the US business in 1999, the opportunity finally arose to develop Gant into a true global brand. In 2006, Gant was floated on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, but in 2008 the listing was delisted and the company was sold to private Swiss investors Maus Frères in March of the same year.
Everything that Gant produces comes from the original shirts. These are the foundation on which the Gant brand is built. Gant invented some creative features for shirts, such as the hanging loop, the box pleat and the third collar button in the back, which ensures a tight fit for the tie. These extras, along with the introduction of the original English button-down shirt in the U.S., have secured Gant’s place in fashion history.
Gant has experienced strong international growth over the years and is now represented by 700 Gant stores and a large number of selected retailers in over 60 countries.
Collections of all kinds
Over the years, Gant has accumulated several collections and lines with different orientations. Until 2015, the Gant collections for men and women were divided into different subcategories. There was a main line, a jeans-heavy label and a dressier, higher-priced collection. From then on, CEO Nilsson completed a rebranding. Since then, the company has presented itself as the House of Gant with the fashion lines Gant Originals, Gant Rugger and the newly created Gant Diamond G collection, all for men and women. In addition, there are collections for children and babies as well as home accessories, shoes, eyewear, watches and a fragrance range.
Collaborations: Designers and musicians
In all collaborations that Gant enters into, the brand takes great care that not only their characteristics in the designs come off well and stand out, but also the DNA of the partner appears and so a mixture of two different worlds is created. With this approach, Gant not only makes many friends in the fashion world, but also creates unique collections.
Gant x Wrangler
US brands Gant and Wrangler are teaming up to launch a capsule collection where East Coast American preppy style meets the wild West. Characteristic features of both brands can be found in the designs. While Wrangler focused on Western style, Gant’s focus was on preppy style with its signature buttondown shirts. The result is jeans, vests, jackets in denim or leather, as well as shirts and accessories, for both men and women.
Diemme x Gant
Gant now collaborated with Diemme for the second time to create a limited unisex shoe and also clothing collection. According to the designers themselves, the latest collection is far better than the first. In this combination, American sportswear and Italian hiking meet. Diemme also took influence on the design. The two brands combine the worlds of American sportswear and artisanal Italian mountaineering. The five-piece collection is meant to conquer new adventurous territory with its preppy aesthetic. In doing so, Gant may be the first brand ever to collaborate with Diemme on apparel. The result is pieces not only in neutral colors like black, but also in bright neon pink and orange.
Gant x St. Vincent
Annie Clark, better known by her stage name St. Vincent has now turned her hand to fashion design, collaborating with Gant on a range of garments suitable for sporty, powerful live performances, but also sophisticated enough for the most dazzling after-parties. Gant is no stranger to musical collaborations. They recently released an instantly sold-out collaboration with music collective Drain Gang. From contemporary Swedish music to American rock ‘n’ roll, Gant uses their technical know-how for this fresh new collection.
In both the album and the capsule, St. Vincent questions the figure of the father and reflects on her own father’s imprisonment for financial fraud. From these reflections, Gant produces a limited edition of items inspired by stage clothes.
More videos from Gant:
Gant videos
