Carhartt Work in Progress (Carhartt WIP) is a family-owned apparel business and part of WIP Trading AG. Founded in 1990, it began as a licensee and European distributor of the US workwear manufacturer Carhartt and has since evolved into a company that develops its own collections, drawing on the original Carhartt workwear designs.
The company's product is the Carhartt WIP collection line: apparel built on workwear originals and revised continuously while retaining the brand's workwear origins. This development has been organic rather than driven by rapid scaling, running to roughly three decades since the early 1990s. Its presence spans Europe and the United States, the latter being the origin of the underlying Carhartt workwear brand, and its activities sit across apparel and fashion, workwear, and retail and distribution.
Carhartt WIP describes its culture as having grown organically alongside its customers and employees, who are credited with helping shape what the company is today. The stated orientation is one of continuous progress and evolution without losing sight of where the brand came from - a long-term approach to business development under family ownership.
