Carhartt, Champion of rugged individuals?

I went shopping the other day for new soccer shoes- it went well. I got a pair for 35 Euro and they only turned 35% percent of my feet into blistered rawness.

But, that is neither here nor there.

I'd like to use this blogpost as an opportunity to leverage my wanderings and photojournalism for a good cause- exposing the "other side" of Carhartt, the American company we thought we knew.

This story, or should I say investigative piece, started the day I landed in Germany.  Within 72 hrs of being in Germany, I noticed a lot of young people wearing Carhartt shirts, which took me by surprise.  This American brand isn't pervasive in the states, and in my opinion, is associated with very specific target audiences- and not the ones I imagined existing in Europe.  More on this later.

Makes me want to say " 'Merikah!" and listen to the National Anthem.

For those of you who don't know, Carhartt has branded itself as "the working man's brand of choice" in the States. They make high quality clothes for adults, including the Fire Resistant clothes worn by my fellow refinery workers everyday. This ad sums up their attitude and mission:

If you're like me, you probably didn't watch that ad. Here's my summary of the script:

"[Our Shirt] was not designed for 90 minute tennis, it was designed for 12hr work days"

"it was designed to build stadiums, not play in them"

"the guys who fix our roads shouldn't have to wear the same shirt you go to the lake in"

I like Carhartt.  In fact, I went on a youtube binge and watched all of their ads. I'm on board with 'made in America' and their emphasis on function and quality.

Side note: My favorite ad was the one that integrated footage of two guys trying to rip a pair of pants in half using ATVs. Spoiler Alert: The pants won. Which was awesome, because if they lost, the taught rope could have slung their metal "test apparatus" at one of their heads. And that would be a terrible ad. Raw footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qug4f_7rUQg

The investigative journalist that I am, I decided to look up "Europe Carhartt" on the Google. I needed to get to the bottom of this.

Meet the popular European Carhartt, Carhartt WIP:

Note: Text box added for emphasis

If you're wondering, WIP stands for "Work In Progress." Of course, not actual work, like construction of American roads and stadiums, but instead, they are referencing the hard work that is skateboarding and all forms of "gnar-chasing." (gnar is short for gnarly, which means, in proper context,  mind-blowingly awesome)

They called home and told their Moms they were at "Work"

If I were to have to pinpoint what I imagined the exact opposite culture of construction, oilfield, and farm workers, or those who enjoy hunting, I would have to pick all things associated with skateboarding and skateboarders. 

Which is why I thought it was funny to see this other side of Carhartt; it's a 180 from the US branding I used to know.

  

Truthfully, I did all of this research and story telling in order to have a reason to post my only two pictures from my soccer shoe shopping trip shopping:

Not the Carhartt to wear on your first day on the job-site.

5-panel hats. Globally worn by 0 people who have gone hunting or operated construction equipment.

I stand corrected. I found this hunter after googling "Wearing 5 panel hat"

Part of our pre-departure training was a series of readings called "It's not bad, it's not good, it's just that _________________ is different." I'll submit Carhartt to the document (people need to know!!!).

^^ It's been a slow night guys. Really stretching the news here.