GANT

The shirt is the starting point for GANT’s take on American sportswear. Founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1949 by Bernard Gantmacher and his sons Marty and Elliot, the brand became associated with Ivy League dressing. Its appeal still rests on clothes that move easily between dress codes, where a button-down shirt can work beneath a blazer or with faded jeans.

The family’s background was in shirt manufacturing. Selling under their own name gave that expertise a public identity, and the Yale Co-op helped introduce GANT shirts to a collegiate audience. Details such as the locker loop, back-collar button, and box pleat became part of the brand’s vocabulary. These were practical features, but they also made a shirt recognizable to people who paid attention to how it was made.

That campus connection continues to shape GANT’s approach to menswear. Oxford shirts anchor the wardrobe, while rugby tops and knitwear bring sporting references into everyday dress. Chinos offer a more relaxed partner for tailoring, and outerwear gives the clothes a life beyond the classroom. The result is prep as a way of getting dressed, with room for wear, personality, and an imperfectly tied tie.

Now headquartered in Stockholm, GANT carries its American origins into an international business. Its strongest looks preserve the ease that made collegiate clothes appealing in the first place. A shirt should look as convincing with its sleeves pushed up as it does beneath a jacket; the wardrobe works when the wearer seems comfortable in it.