News + Trends

This Carhartt classic is being hyped like never before

6.2.2024

Translation: machine translated

From the street to the catwalks: all high fashion brands want to be part of the Carhartt aesthetic. Who is taking a particularly bold look and what the interpretations cost.

I still find it a bit of a mystery how certain products manage to climb overnight from the "one among many" drawer to the Olympus of the most coveted items of a season or even an entire generation. The "Detroit Jacket" from Carhartt WIP has just made it to the top.

You definitely know which jacket I'm talking about. It's the absolute classic in the Carhartt WIP repertoire: robust "Dearborn" canvas (made from 100 per cent organic cotton), camel-coloured, dark brown corduroy collar, three simple zipped pockets.

On the market since 1954, the «Detroit Jacket».
Source: Carhartt WIP

The actual worker jacket has been an integral part of the hip-hop, skate and graffiti scene since the early 1980s. It's as much a part of street culture as Netflix is to chilling out. Today, they are suddenly appearing on the catwalks of high fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. Not the original, of course. No, people are being inspired. The phenomenon is called trickle-up, as trend researcher Alexandra Viert explained to me last summer in a different context.

Background information
Is Instagram influencing my tastes? I asked a trend researcher
by Laura Scholz

So a trend or hype trickles upwards from street fashion. People there now want some of the workwear aesthetic, please. And that can cost a little too.

Pharrell Williams, Creative Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear since February 2023, unleashed jackets onto the catwalk for the brand's current autumn/winter collection that clearly carry "Detroit Jacket" DNA. The same Carhartt affinity was already recognisable at Prada. Cost: over 2000 francs. And at Miu Miu. Here you pay more than 4000 francs for the hype to cover up. For comparison: the good old original from the workwear label founded in Detroit in 1889 is currently available for 189 francs.

Miu Miu Autumn/Winter 23 — Prada spring/summer 24

But it's not just high-priced brands that have lost their hearts to the simple, beautiful canvas jacket. You can also find them in the affordable price segment at brands such as Jack & Jones, Arket or Monki. I just ask myself: why should you? After all, the original is still better than any copy ... right?

Original or (expensive) fake?

The Carhartt "Detroit Jacket" is my only choice.
77%
As long as the look is right, I don't care which brand.
23%

The competition has ended.

In the best-case scenario, Carhartt WIP itself benefits from the newfound attention. And every trickle-up is followed sooner or later by the trickle-down principle anyway - another thing I learnt from Alexandra Viert. Then street culture will get its aesthetics back. We just have to be patient.

Unfortunately, we don't currently have the "Detroit Jacket" in our range. With these pieces, you can bring home more classics from Carhartt WIP.