How Carhartt Evolved From Industry Standard Into A Name Synonymous With Streetwear

The year is 1989, 100 years after the brand’s inception. The wheels of hip-hop are really starting to turn, and increasingly, its stars are spotted wearing oversized Carhartt outerwear. A certain German designer and denim aficionado by the name of Edwin Faeh takes a trip to The States enchanted with the world of off-duty workwear and the street credibility cemented by these early icons of rap music. He takes the idea home to Europe and begins to push Carhartt products under the title of ‘All American Concept’. Five years later, he is its sole European distributor under the better known label Carhartt WIP, and in another two, ties up a deal to manufacture Carhartt WIP outside the USA.

From East Coast to West, the biggest names in music are seen sporting Carhartt silhouettes in their music videos and on album covers. Across Europe, the brand begins to emerge in films (if you haven’t seen La Haine, put it at the top of your list), skate mags and more. The brand’s cultural significance in the 90s is a snowball, and one that continued to roll into the 2000s, culminating in the dominant streetwear force of the 2010s that prides itself on coveted collaborations with A.P.C., Fragment Design, Junya Watanabe and Nike, to name a few. Rich in history, forever a work in progress.