GANT IS A PREMIUM LIFESTYLE BRAND, with an American Sportswear heritage, offering contemporary high quality casual wear with a European touch that is colorful, crisp and elegant. The company’s values are based on its authentic American East Coast heritage, dating back to its inception in New Haven, CT, USA in 1949.
GANT's history began when Bernard Gant started making shirts in New Haven, USA. GANT were rapidly recognized as skilled shirt makers and became trusted partners to some of the most notable brands of that time. Bernard Gant quickly turned his passion for quality and design into the business of making casual sportswear – a style he had both recognised the need for and believed in. His sons, Marty and Elliot, later joined the family business and maintained their father’s dedication to garment craftsmanship and attention to detail. In 1949, they launched their own label: GANT of New Haven.
The GANT shirt was an overnight success. One important feature was the button-down collar. Button-down shirts, originally an English innovation, were becoming very fashionable and GANT was the first label to introduce such a shirt on a larger scale in the US market. The combination of Bernard’s dedication to quality with his sons’ style sense proved to be a winning formula. Over the following years, GANT came up with a number of other creative tailoring features such as the locker loop, the box pleat and the button on the back of the collar to keep the tie in place. Such innovations helped maintain interest in GANT and scored the label a dedicated following. For GANT, it all began with the shirt.
In 1999, Sweden-based GANT AB (at the time named Pyramid Sportswear) acquired the GANT brand from Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation. Pyramid Sportswear had played a major role in the development of the GANT brand prior to the acquisition, and had received the rights to design and market GANT worldwide – excluding the US market – back in 1980.
When the GANT USA business was acquired in 1999, the new owners of the GANT brand finally had the opportunity to expand and develop GANT into a global label. In 2006, GANT was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. In 2008, GANT was acquired by the family-run Maus Frères Group, a company founded in 1902 that now operates worldwide with brands such as GANT, Lacoste and Aigle. GANT is headed by President and CEO, Mr. Dirk-Jan Stoppelenburg.
GANT has recently revitalized its branding by both looking to Europe and updating influences drawn from its own American East Coast heritage and Ivy League roots. This focus has led to the re-launch of the heritage-inspired GANT Rugger collection in 2010, the collaboration with designer Michael Bastian, the appointment of Christopher Bastin as the company’s Creative Director in August 2012, and accelerated global growth.
Today, GANT enjoys a global presence in over 70 countries, with over 700 stores and 4,000 selected premium retailers. In the Philippines, GANT is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) and is located in Mall of Asia, Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Bonifacio High Street Central, Eastwood Mall, and New Glorietta.
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