Carhartt expands its women's clothing, launches new line
With the launch of its spring 2024 women's collection Thursday, Dearborn-based Carhartt Inc. wants to deliver a message to customers: Despite its reputation as a masculine brand, it does, in fact, make clothes for women.
The workwear brand has been selling clothes sized for women for more than a century, starting with women's coveralls for industry workers in 1917. This new line, though, which includes sweatshirts and T-shirts in TENCEL-branded fibers in both Jersey and French Terry, represents the start of an effort years in the making to offer clothes specifically designed for women.
"I kept hearing that (the customer) didn't want to ... 'Pink or shrink it,' " Susan Hennike, chief brand officer at Carhartt, said in an interview at a launch party for the collection Wednesday at Carhartt's pop-up store in Midtown Detroit, describing taking a men's product and shrinking it to fit a woman or simply changing the color to appeal to women. "It doesn't work."
The motive behind creating the new line was the growing number of women working in the trades, and specifically in construction, where women represent about one in 10 workers in the industry, a share that has been growing since 2016, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
After talking with customers, Carhartt realized women had different needs than men, valuing comfort, fit and style, Samantha Denton, vice president of the women’s category at Carhartt, said in an interview at the launch party.
"Really the key is that Carhartt is known for quality and durability, so we cannot miss on those," Denton said. "But we have to figure out how to make it more appealing and something that she can wear all day long."
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The shirts, which are sold at Carhartt.com and select retailers nationwide, come in colors such as lilac, coral and peach, among others, and range in price from $25 for a T-shirt to $60 for a crewneck sweatshirt.
Later this year, Carhartt plans to launch several additional lightweight women’s products, ranging from work pants and joggers.
"This is just a start," Hennike said. "We plan to do a lot more in the women's business. The consumer will tell us what she likes or what she doesn't like, and we'll adjust as best we can."
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Carhartt to expand women's clothing line, launches spring collection
