Gant: Company Info

The Ukrainian immigrant Bernard Gant arrived in New York in 1914. He found work in the Manhattan garment district, where he toiled with collars and buttonholes. There he also met his wife, who was a button and buttonhole seamstress. They had two sons, Marty and Elliot and the family, along with a cousin, opened a subcontracting shop in New Haven, specialized in high-quality shirts. Bernard sold shirts to clothing houses such as Brooks Brothers and J. Press until his military service interrupted the work for a few years. When he returned unscathed from the front, his brother Elliot resigned from the Navy and joined the family business. Subcontracting continued as before, but the G sewn into the corner of the shirts told customers where the high quality really came from.

In the 1960s, Gant dress shirts were a hot item for American male students. They wore the company's shirts with the top button undone and without a tie, as this was the new style. Gant also participated in the madras craze of the time, producing shirts in wild colors and patterns for anyone who dared to wear them. Ivy League fans in particular were enthusiastic about the company's button-down shirts, and Gant focused its advertising on fine publications such as The New Yorker. Sales took off like an oiled dove and in the 1960s, Gant was briefly the second largest shirt manufacturer in the United States. In 1967, the family sold its ownership for a nice profit, and the company began to open stores like mushrooms all over the United States. Since then, Gant has changed hands several times, and is currently owned by the Swedish corporation Pyramid Sportwear of Sweden.

The Swedes made Gant a global clothing brand that is even listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Gant makes carefree, comfortable basic clothes that cost more than needed. The style of the models is American and similar to Ralph Lauren. Unfortunately, Gant puts its logo prominently on most pieces. Some of the clothes are made in obscure faraway places.