Polo-shirts in focus: Gant

August 21st, 2008

Bernard (sometimes spelt Bernhard) Gant arrived in New York in 1914, as an immigrant from the Ukraine. His first job, as with so many immigrant men, was working in the garment industry as a collar-sewing specialist in a Manhattan factory. Within a couple of years he’d met the woman who was to become his wife: she was a button and buttonhole specialist who worked for the same company.

As he progressed from factory hand to entrepreneur Bernard Gant sold ‘fine’ shirts to private labels in America, including Manhattan Shirts, J. Press and Brooks Brothers and his sons came into the business in the 1940s to help. While they consistently sold to other companies, their shirts always bore a small red ‘G’ embroidered in an unobtrusive spot.

Their ‘preppy’ shirts became fashion must haves on university campuses across the USA in the late fifties and early sixties – worn with the collar undone and no tie, and even with the top button undone unless formal events were being attended. The Gant style included a shirt-front that buttoned down a double-truck hem, and the distinctive Gant loop at the top of the back pleat which was used for hanging up the shirt when changing for athletic events – this was the key feature that made the shirt a success – as sportsmen and their adoring fans found the loop useful, it became a fashion icon. At one point in the 1960s, Gant was the second-largest shirt maker in the world but the family sold the business in 1967 and it has changed hands several times since then – to day it is owned Pyramid Sportswear of Sweden.

Gant has avoided some of the negative connotations that have struck other brands that appeal to young men, such as Fred Perry’s right-wing fan club of skinheads, but has been associated with homosexuals who are attracted to sportsmen in the lyrics of some rock songs.

The Gant style is roomy, often even blousey, and the collars whether hard or soft, have a ‘roll’ – formal shirts have a back pleat and both formal and polo-shirts have the signature hanging loop. Gant polo-shirt collars are often a little wider and flatter lying than other brands; being noticeably more difficult to ‘pop’ or stand up than most.

Gant shirt courtesy of Gant

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Entry Filed under: Fashion history, Polo Shirts, Sport Related, casual wear, famous clothing, mens clothing