Let’s get an insight into the Carhartt logo and some history behind the fashion label.
From a humble start to an iconic brand, Carhartt has become identical to comfort, durability, and excellence. First, it began clothing railroad workers by outfitting them with overalls made from duck and denim fabrics. Then not long after, it added farmers and other laborers.
In 1889, Hamilton Carhartt, an American entrepreneur, founded Carhartt. And since then, it has grown to cloth people from diverse industries. It’s favored by hip-hop musicians, heavy-duty workers, and skateboarders. Again, it has become a fashion choice among influencers and moms.
Carhartt is renowned for quality jackets, coats, vests, shirts, jeans, and dungarees, among others. Also, it has expanded into other clothing lines and locations. For instance, in 1994, it gave two designers, Germans, and Salomée, a license to create streetwear labeled—Carhartt WIP.
Today, a celebrated Carhartt logo represents the family-owned fashion label. This visual diplomat comprises a wordmark and a unique symbol. The custom icon is yellow and white, and a black lowercase inscription escorts it. The logo is unique, attractive, simple, and timeless.
Carhartt Logo Evolution And Its History
Over its long history, the Carhartt logo has significantly changed. The company unveiled its original logo in 1889. Then, in 1920, it was redesigned for the first time. After that, the second update came in 1940. Then, another redesign followed this in 1970. Compared to the previous emblems, the current logo is completely different. It’s classic, readable, modern, and eye-catching.
Now, let’s examine them further.
1889 to 1900—The Original Carhartt Logo
Carhartt unveiled its first logo in 1889. The green and yellow emblem featured a train car, diamond, heart, and inscriptions. Overall, it contained these design elements in a square background. Interestingly, the train car and the heart earned the logo its nickname—Car in Heart. And it’s a symbolic reflection of the company’s name and its philosophy.
1920 to 1940—The Second Carhartt Logo
The brand unveiled its second visual identity in 1920. It had a train car, inscriptions, and a heart. The heart formed the background, housing the other graphic elements. Then at the top sat the words—Union Made and at the bottom—Pants Overall & Cloves in caps. And beneath the train’s windows came the brand’s name—Carhartt, also in uppercase letters. The logo dazzled in red, dark blue, and white. And it reigned for almost two decades.
1940 to 1970—The Third Carhartt Logo
In 1940, Carhartt updated its logo by making it brighter. Also, the designer repositioned the texts and added another one. So, the top had—Master Cloth while the bottom read—Union Made. Then, in the middle, ‘Carhartt overalls’ became the inscription. It was written in cursive letters and projected in red and white. Finally, the designer refined the train in a contour style.
1970 to Now—The Current Carhartt Logo
In 1970, the company redesigned its logo, making it classic and iconic. This visual identity comprises a stylized symbol and a wordmark. The icon resembles a wavelike figure. And it evokes a sense of growth, evolution, and movement of the brand. Also, a critical look at the graphic element reveals a white crescent within the rounded yellow symbol. Finally, the wordmark comes in lowercase letters with a custom charisma. And it looks modern and brave.
Why Does Carhartt Logo Work?
1. The Carhartt Logo Is Simple:
Like most iconic logos, the Carhartt emblem has taken the path of simplicity. This is because it uses fewer graphic elements in conveying its core values. And that’s why it’s clean, readable, and highly noticeable. So, if you want to rule your market, aim for a simple logo design.
2. The Carhartt Logo Is Unique:
Carhartt has a custom visual ambassador. And it’s the reason customers can quickly differentiate it from competing brands. So, to create a unique logo, avoid templates, stock images, and clip arts. When you heed this advice, your logo will soar above its rivals.
3. The Carhartt Logo Is Memorable:
Media outlets bombard consumers with thousands of advertising messages daily. As a result, their attention span has reduced significantly. So brand owners must strive for retention. Thankfully, the Carhartt logo is memorable because it’s easy to interpret, increasing remembrance. Again, its unique and modest outlook has created a lasting impression.
4. The Carhartt Logo Is Readable:
Names are crucial for developing emotional attachment with customers. However, some entrepreneurs hurt their brands by choosing unreadable fonts. However, Carhartt has a legible typeface that’s recognizable regardless of the distance or medium.
5. The Carhartt Logo Is Versatile:
The Carhartt logo can fit all print, web, apparel, and more applications. It can do this all-important task because of its clean layout. With this quality in place, the logo can reach most of its audience with less effort. Again, it can scale to any size without losing its quality.
Carhartt Logo Design Elements
Compared to its original logo, the current one has fewer design elements. Therefore, the designer has respected the basic rules of design. So, you’ll find a stylized symbol, wordmark, and two colors projecting the brand’s charisma. Now, let’s study them individually.
Carhartt Logo Shape And Symbols
Carhartt has used several identical symbols in its earliest emblems. However, the current logo has a custom yellow and white symbol. It shows a rounded shape with a wave coiling at its upper part. And with a creative eye, the white wave resembles a crescent.
Carhartt Logo Colors
1. A Yellow Color:
Yellow marks and evokes the rounded figure with a swirling signature. Interestingly, most experts see yellow as happiness, hope, and freshness. Also, the sunshine’s color can convey clarity, energy, and honor. Remember, in contrast, it can refer to jealousy.
2. A Blue Color:
Though the current logo has no blue, the previous ones did. It inked the personality of both the train car and the wordmark. Blue signifies loyalty, confidence, and inspiration. Again, the ocean color can convey stability, freedom, and calmness. However, remember, it can evoke coldness.
3. A Black Color:
Black symbolizes power, mystery, and authority. In addition, it can convey elegance, wealth, and strength. On the flip side, it can evoke negative emotions such as sadness, gloom, and fear. On the Carhartt logo, the dark color marks the charisma of the wordmark.
4. A White Color:
White dazzles on the swirling mark on the yellow rounded figure. It also gave clarity to the earliest logos and their inscriptions. White symbolizes purity, safety, and humility. Again, the color of goodness signifies innocence, cleanliness, and protection.
5. A Red Color:
In the past, red was the brand’s color. It held the persona of the iconic heart and the wordmark. Red, the color of blood, symbolizes love, passion, and desire. In addition, it signifies joy, vigor, and courage. Sadly, however, the color can convey negative emotions like rage and malice.
Why Is Carhartt So Popular Now?
Carhartt produces for the heavy-duty working class, military officers, and hip-hop musicians. By their work, these groups of people need original clothing of the highest quality. So, Carhartt met their needs by making its products authentic and durable. As a result, it earned loyal followers, becoming famous. Today, all classes of people desire the brand.
Does Carhartt Have Slogan?
Almost every brand has a slogan that conveys its unique selling persona. And, seriously, marketers can’t ignore slogans because they create powerful brand awareness. So, to emphasize and reinforce its brand image, Carhartt has used several catchy phrases over the years.
The company’s maiden slogan was—Honest value for an honest dollar. After this came others, including Union Made, Mater Cloth, Eight Hour Work Day, and From Mill to Millions, to mention a few. These catchy sayings have intensified its personality over the century.
What Is the Carhartt Logo?
The Carhartt logo comprises two parts—a graphic and an inscription. The wordmark is a custom font with a square-like attitude. However, the symbol is a yellow rounded figure with a white wave swirling to the right. Together, they give the brand a good and distinct outlook.
What Font Is the Carhartt Logo?
The Carhartt logo has a custom font with lowercase letterings. It’s unique, modern, geometric, and resembles Conradi font. Another alternative typeface to this is the Orbitron medium font. The font evokes the fashion style of the company while elevating it above others.
When Was Carhartt Founded?
The American fashion brand is over a hundred years old, and Hamilton Carhartt established it in 1889. Although the company has gone through several transitions, its ownership is still in the hands of the Carhartt family. And Dearborn, Michigan, remains its headquarters.
What Is the Original Carhartt Color?
Carhartt’s original colors were green and yellow. However, by the 1920s, it started using dark blue, red, and white. But today, the brand favors yellow, black, and white. These colors symbolize friendship, elegance, and safety, respectively.
Is All Carhartt Made In the USA?
Carhartt is widely known as an American fashion label. So, it’s quite convincing to say its products are made in the United States. The second location is Mexico, its neighbor. Both countries keep to quality control, ensuring they produce only durable garments.
Who Founded Carhartt, Inc.?
Carhartt, Inc., the over thirteen decade-old company, owes its formation to Hamilton Carhartt. He was born in Macedon Lock, New York, in 1855. However, he grew up in Michigan and Wisconsin. And though he came from a family of scholars, he took an interest in business.
So, at 27, he left school to pursue his commercial interest. He began with furniture, then to apparel. And though he faced several challenges, he never gave up. Unfortunately, he died on May 13, 1937, after a car accident in Grosse Pointe.
Today, his fashion legacy lives on, and his descendants are managing it.
A Brief History About Carhartt
Hamilton Carhartt founded Carhartt, Inc. in 1889. It’s an American fashion label that specializes in heavy-duty garments. These include jeans, jackets, vests, coats, and overalls. Also, the company makes hunting and fire-resistant apparel.
Today, the brand is still family-owned, and its head office is at Dearborn, Michigan. The company’s journey began in 1882. It was the period Hamilton left school to run a wholesale furniture business. However, he changed the business to focus on producing menswear.
Interestingly, he started with five workers, two sewing machines, and a half-horsepower electric motor in Detroit. Though it was the period of steel, steam, and locomotives, Hamilton failed. To correct his mistakes, he conducted thorough market research.
Thankfully, the research revealed what the workers badly wanted. Therefore, based on this insight, he made the exact product, solving the needs of the railroad workers. Then, about twenty years into its formation, Carhartt expanded into other cities.
These included but were not limited to Liverpool, Paris, Toronto, and Atlanta. And like several companies, the Great Depression affected Carhartt. So, to stay afloat, Hamilton reduced its locations and staffing strength. Yet, despite these challenges, the company bounced back.
In 1937, his son, Wylie Carhartt, became the company’s president. He led the—Back to the land campaign, leading to a new location in Kentucky. Also, Wylie supervised the creation of Super Dux and Super Fab hunting lines. These were the brand’s first outdoor wear.
In the 1970s, the company created Carhartt South, Inc. It was the brand’s modern subsidiary focusing on jeans making. For nearly a decade, it became popular, spreading to several locations. However, in the late 1980s, the directors merged the subsidiaries with the mother company.
Fast forward to 1994, and the brand created Carhartt Work In Progress. This is streetwear designed by Germans Edwin and Salomée Faeh. Then, about four years later, Hamilton’s great-grandson, Mark Valade, became the company’s president.
Under his leadership, the brand established a global eCommerce business and began operations in Europe. Today, the company employs over 4,000 workers working in major countries globally. Also, it enjoyed revenue of about $800 million at the close of 2021.
Concluding Remarks On the Carhartt Logo And Its History
Carhartt, Inc. came into existence in 1889. Its founder, Hamilton Carhartt, left school at 27 to start a furniture business. Later, he changed to fashion, focusing on railroad workers. However, without a proper plan, he failed. But learning from this mistake, he conducted market research.
With this data, Hamilton made apparel suitable to the workers’ needs. Initially, he created overalls from duck and denim materials. Gradually, the company expanded into another line of products and territories. So, you can find Carhartt jackets, jeans, coats, and shirts, to list a few.
The brand has become famous because of its authenticity and durability. And it’s no doubt that these qualities have attracted influencers to heighten its fame. In addition, its simple logo is also making its bid by conveying its core values. It does its job by displaying on multiple channels.
Finally, though the brand is about 133 years old, it hasn’t changed hands. As a family-owned business, it remains in the hands of the founder’s descendants. And according to Forbes, the family’s net worth is about $1.2 billion. The brand, as of 2022, employs over 4,000 workers.
