Gant (company)

Gant
	File:Gant logo.svg
Company type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founder	Bernard Gantmacher
Headquarters	Stockholm, Sweden (global)
Number of locations	583 (2016)
Key people	Patrik Söderström (CEO);
Products	Accessories; Clothing; Footwear; Housewares; Glasses; Watches;
Parent	Maus Frères
Website	www.gant.com

Gant Inc., branded as GANT, is a fashion label of Swedish origin with American heritage, headquartered in Stockholm. The brand was established in 1949 by Bernard Gantmacher, initially operating out of New Haven, Connecticut. It currently serves 70 countries and is stocked by more than 4,000 retail outlets worldwide. The company offers three distinct lines: GANT, GANT Diamond G, and GANT Rugger.

History

Bernard Gantmacher emigrated to New York City in 1907 from Myropil, then part of the Russian Empire, as a Jewish immigrant. He began working in a garment factory assembling shirt collars, where he met Rebecca Rose, who specialized in buttons and buttonholes and later became his wife. After completing military service during World War I, the couple married and co-founded the Par-Ex Shirt Company alongside Morris Shapiro. This enterprise produced shirts for well-known brands such as Brooks Brothers, J. Press, and Manhattan. In 1927, the business relocated to New Haven, Connecticut. The Gant label itself was introduced in April 1949. Upon Bernard's passing in 1955, his sons assumed control of the company.

GANT became recognized for its distinctive dress shirts featuring elements like the back-collar button, locker loop, and box pleat. During the 1960s, it produced the exclusive Yale co-op shirt for the store located on the Yale University campus. Shirts from Gant and competitor Sero were highly sought after by affluent high school and college students during that era. In 1968, ownership transferred to Consolidated Foods, although the Gant brothers remained involved with management. The brand expanded into sportswear with its initial line debuting in 1971, followed by the launch of the Rugger collection in 1974. By 1979, Gant became a subsidiary of The Palm Beach Company and ceased its New Haven manufacturing operations.

In the early 1980s, Pyramid Sportswear from Sweden secured rights to design and distribute Gant products internationally outside of the United States. Initially limited to Sweden, Pyramid rapidly expanded the brand's global presence. The first European Gant store opened in Amsterdam in February 1995 and remains the oldest active location worldwide. That same year, Phillips-Van Heusen acquired U.S. rights to the brand from Crystal Brands, Inc., which had filed for bankruptcy. Two years later, in 1997, Gant inaugurated its first U.S.-based retail outlet. Phillips-Van Heusen divested its Gant operations back to Pyramid Sportswear for $71 million in 1999.

Gant went public in spring 2006 with a listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's O-List but was subsequently taken private again following its acquisition by Swiss retailer Maus Frères on March 20, 2008. In November 2010, Gant marked its return to New Haven by opening a new retail store there.

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