Step by step.
That’s how Patrik Söderström describes Gant’s growth strategy. The chief executive officer of the brand was in New York this week to kick off the celebration of the company’s 75th anniversary and to introduce its new vintage-inspired campaign and capsule collection.
The brand traces its roots to 1949 when Bernard Gantmacher, an immigrant from the Netherlands, and his two sons, Marty and Elliot, opened a shirt factory in New Haven, Conn., and began selling a button-down shirt to the broader American market. It was embraced early on by the Ivy League students at the East Coast universities and soon became a key part of the preppy uniform.
But since 2008, Gant has been owned by the family-owned Swiss company Maus Frères, which also owns Lacoste and Aigle. And even though its roots and classically skewed aesthetic are clearly America, the company has had a hard time regaining a foothold here.
Currently, it operates an e-commerce site and one “studio” space on Mulberry Street in New York and it has a small wholesale business.
The U.S. market accounts for less than 2 percent of overall sales, which are around $1.5 billion. A small number, Söderström acknowledged, “but it was zero two years ago.”
Over the years, Gant has attempted several times to revive the U.S. market, but its efforts were not profitable, he said, so they were abandoned.
“We made a decision to actually put us into, let’s call it, hibernation, because the business that was set up was just not profitable,” he said. “So we decided to take a step back and restart. That’s pretty much what we did a year and a half or two years ago. We came back, we opened up this little creative hub, we opened up e-comm again. And we have a couple of select wholesale customers. Then we’re going to take it step by step from here. We have no urge to go too fast.”
Instead, he said, Gant is determined to “do it right” this time and develop “friends of the house,” a group it will work to grow year-over-year, season by season. He knows that to reestablish itself as a viable business here, “you really have to respect the market.”
The studio on Mulberry Street, literally situated above the popular Mulberry Bar, is not a traditional store. Although the current collection is merchandised in the space, there is no stock and customers who wander in and want to buy something have to place their orders on the Gant website.
“If we really want to be able to build on the legacy and the history we have, then we need to start it from here,” he said. “Even if the business is not big, the creative part and legacy — and the feeling of actually being close to the original home — is really, really good for us.”
Söderström said the bulk of the business today is in Europe — Germany and the U.K. are its biggest markets — as well as Sweden. “That was due to the fact that the guys who took the brand from the U.S. [initially] were three Swedish entrepreneurs, so some people actually think it’s a Swedish brand.”
Gant is actually in some 80 countries around the world and it operates 850 stores globally. It has a big business in India and Australia as well as China, he said, and the brand recently entered Indonesia. In many of these countries, Gant works with distributors and Söderström said the company is selective in whom it will work with. “We want to find distributors that are really connecting with the brand and are prepared to actually invest long term rather than just a quick business and sell some pieces,” he said. “The key is to make sure we have another 75 years of good business.”
But this week, it’s the fall campaign that is top of mind. On Sept. 12, the brand will release a film, directed by Matthew Front and augmented by still images by Tom Schirmacher starring actor Matt Dillon, the sibling musical group Infinity Song, podcasters Lawrence Schlossman and James Harris of Throwing Fits, influencer and model Tony Ozkan, and model Eleonore Jeanne.
Infinity Song in the Gant campaign.
Courtesy of Gant
The cast is pictured shopping at a vintage Gant store with music from Infinity Song in the background and a narrator named Bernard — no doubt a nod to the founder — saying, “Fashion hasn’t changed a lot over the years, and this style is forever.”
“What better way to celebrate 75 years of American sportswear than to headline the campaign with Matt Dillon, supported by Throwing Fits, placing them in a vintage store packed with Gant clothing and having Infinity Song burst into this wonderfully Broadway musical song number,” asked Christopher Bastin, creative director of Gant.
In the film and photos, the cast is wearing pieces from the anniversary collection, a limited-edition capsule of modernized versions of some of the brand’s most iconic pieces such as heavy rugger shirts, oxford button-downs in pinstripes or candy-striped poplin, twill or flannel, as well as a full leather varsity jacket and a classic Ivy Harrington jacket.
“We poured our hearts into creating this anniversary capsule recreating some of our absolute favorite pieces from the past seven decades and the outcome is a personal and highly curated cross section of our legacy within American sportswear,” Bastin said. “It’s commemorating without being overly nostalgic, it all feels very contemporary and now, which I think is a true testament to how iconic clothing stands the test of time and trends.”
Tony Ozhan in reissued archival looks from Gant.
Courtesy of Gant
Much of the collection is unisex but Gant is primarily a men’s brand. The primary customer is between 35 and 50 but the brand has recently begun to attract younger shoppers. And shirts continue to account for between 20 percent and 25 percent of sales, although jerseys are also gaining in importance.
Looking ahead, Söderström believes the future is bright for the brand. “We’re 75 years young,” he said. “Look, 75 years is a long time and what we really wanted to do was celebrate the fact that we’ve done really well as a brand for many years now. We wanted to highlight the legacy of the brand. And we thought the best way of doing that is just to become a better Gant and build on the legacy and history, rather than reinventing the wheel continuously. Obviously, there needs to be with a modern touch, but there’s so many good pieces, let’s celebrate that with actually revitalizing some of those products.”
He stressed that Maus Freres are “really good owners” and continue to remain dedicated to the brand for the long term. “We’ve had three record years in 2021, ’22 and ’23 and since we’re not on the stock market, we can do it right and take it step by step.”
