GANT CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY WITH VINTAGE-INSPIRED CAMPAIGN 

Gant is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a new campaign and limited-edition collection, launching today. The campaign film, directed by the acclaimed Matthew Frost, and images by Tom Schirmacher, feature an impressive ensemble of talent including Matt Dillon, Infinity Song, Throwing Fits, Tony Özkan, and Eleonore Jeanne.

In the campaign the cast explores a vintage store in New York, selecting timeless Gant pieces and engaging in candid interactions, capturing the essence of the brand’s heritage and its journey over the past 75 years.

“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?,” says Christopher Bastin, Creative Director of Gant.

Bastin, who was the creative director of the brand for 11 years, left the brand for a few years, but returned in 2019 as its artistic director. His focus has been on the Gant story and heritage as a shirt company that started on the Yale campus.

“We look at ourselves as a ‘challenger brand,” says Bastin. “Meaning we are not huge, but we compete with the big brands. We have a global presence and are now massive in Europe. Internally there’s a sense that we are having a comeback. There’s a real internal pride in the brand.”

While the Gant brand, then owned by PVH, was sold to a Swedish company in 1999, it is returning to its roots by making a limited-edition shirt collection in Garland, North Carolina. The premium product retails for $220 and is made from deadstock fabrics. The brand is also operating a retail location and studio in New York City’s Little Italy neighborhood and is currently using the label Gant 240 Mulberry in honor of the location.

“We’re in what might have been called a few years ago the ‘#menswear’ neighborhood, next to Aimé Leon Dore, Rowing Blazers, etc. It’s the epicenter of contemporary menswear.”

The Anniversary Collection is a limited-edition capsule collection spearheaded by a limited run of archival replicas, including heavy ruggers, essential Oxford shirts in pinstripes, and candy-striped poplin, as well as twill and flannel, inspired by pieces from the 1950s and onwards. A favorite from the vast Gant archive, a full-leather varsity jacket from the 1980s is reinvented in the finest vegetable-tanned leather. A classic Ivy Harrington jacket from 1997 is updated from the original soft yellow to a light olive khaki shade.

“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,” says Bastin. “It’s commemorating without being overly nostalgic; it all feels very contemporary, and now, I think it is a true testament to how iconic clothing stands the test of time and trends,” he continues.

Bastin himself built the Gant archives, building them up over time by scouring eBay and other online sites, as well as vintage stores. The company had pieces from the 1980s and up, and he’s now added everything he could find from 1939 to 1979—the “best of” from across history, informing the development of the new capsule.

The brand is currently only sold online and at the 240 Mulberry shop. The goal is to build the brand back up in the United States and then consider a partnership with a major department store.