It’s fair to say Carhartt is an established urban outfitter and although part of their success is due to their incredible designs and fine materials we should not overlook the part that their ad campaigns have played in their success over the past two decades. When it comes to ad photography Carhartt has always stood out for a few simple reasons; there campaigns are never set in lavish studios, models are only ever friends and fans of Carhartt and their shoots are never staged.
While other brands were focusing on staging photo shoots Carharrt were focusing on “documenting a lifestyle” and that’s what we see in every campaign – the end result is always images full of truth that stand out and this has been the case for the past 18 years.
We can look at the campaigns over the past two decades and obviously notice a difference in quality but that realism and naturalness never fades. Recently I’m sure you have noticed other brands also taking this style up and this is the sole reason that Carhartt have begun experimenting with their campaigns, I’m pretty sure we will see this continue in further ad campaigns but there’s one thing we can be certain of… the realism will stay firm.
Items featured from Carhartt’s WIP AW/12 collection are available online.
Michael Smith heads up online marketing at Northern Threads, a menswear retailer based in the UK and shipping worldwide.