Why Carhartt earned its place.
Hamilton Carhartt founded the company in Detroit in 1889 to make overalls for the railroad workers building America. Five generations of the Carhartt family later, the company still cuts 12-oz duck canvas in Michigan and remains family-owned. The Detroit Jacket and the Double-Knee Pant are American working-class uniforms — and the brand has refused for 135 years to be anything other than that.


