Here's how Carhartt continues to find fans even after sticking to vaccine mandate

The yellow Carhartt logo can be spotted everywhere, from on the shirts worn by workers at construction sites to the hats of diners at trendy restaurants.

Somehow, the Dearborn-based apparel company has kept somewhat of a low profile despite being almost omnipresent.

But last month, the company was thrust into the spotlight when a leaked email from its CEO to U.S. staff that said the 133-year-old company would continue with its vaccine mandate — despite the U.S. Supreme Court saying it, and other private companies, did not have to abide by the Biden administration's vaccine and testing rule that set off court fights and division among workers. 

"An unvaccinated workforce is both a people and business risk that our company is unwilling to take," CEO Mark Valade said in the Jan. 14 email.

The email was widely circulated on social media a few days after it was sent. It became a trending topic on Twitter, with politicians and customers praising the brand's commitment to worker safety, while pundits and other customers criticizing the brand — which they associated with more rural, conservative consumers — for mandating their employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Nearly 7,000 people joined a Facebook group called "Boycott Carhartt."

But some consumers, like Michelle Carter, the owner of Junk It Junk Removal in Portland, Oregon, say they admire Carhartt's stance on vaccines.

Carter and her husband, who co-owns the business have been buying Carhartt for their employees since they started the junk removal company in 2012, even when they couldn't really afford it.

"The business image was always really important to (my husband) even when we didn't have money," Carter said. "He was always adamant that we weren't going to look like junk haulers."

Carhartt's commitment to keeping workers safe goes back to its beginnings and has attracted customers and fans from across the political spectrum, from cities and rural communities across the world and those working in careers ranging from welders to rappers.

The company has done this without alienating its core customer: the blue-collar worker.

"From the very beginning, the founder built this brand to service people who do hard work," said Marcus Collins, a marketing professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "That was the entire ethos of the brand. Since its inception, it's been true to that."

Carhartt's origins

Carhartt was founded by Hamilton Carhartt in 1889 to serve customers like Carter. After talking with a railroad engineer, Carhartt realized there was a need for high-quality workwear. His first product was a heavy-duty bib overall for railroad workers, according to the Detroit Historical Society.

His timing coincided with the industrial revolution, but the company, like many others, was hit hard during the Great Depression, the historical society said. At that point, Carhartt developed the “Back to the Land” campaign, targeting farm and ranch workers.

The company's customer base further expanded during the 1980s and 1990s with hip-hop artists like Tupac, Nas and Eminem wearing the brand.

Its oversized cuts and rugged fabrics matched the hyper-masculine ideals of hip-hop, a 2018 story in Another Man magazine said, and on a more practical front, the clothing's deep pockets aided graffiti artists.

"Those folks wore Carhartt gear as a way to signify or to express or to protect their identity as being tough and hardcore," Collins said.

Interest in the brand expanded to Europe, leading to the creation of the Carhartt Work In Progress label in 1989, which comes at a higher price point and with designs inspired by Carhartt’s brand DNA.

A 1992 story in the New York Times about the Carhartt jacket said: "In recent years, Carhartt has kept its traditional public — hunters, construction workers, farmers and coal miners — while becoming a fashion accessory for rappers, club kids, preppie hangers-on and the otherwise chronically cool."

From railroads to primetime TV

And more recently, the brand is prominently featured on the hugely popular show “Yellowstone,” which follows the Dutton family as they protect their massive ranch, points out Jeff Stoltman, a professor of marketing at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University. The rise of  the show’s popularity is concurrent with a movement of younger people out to the western U.S. 

"They're yearning for that simplicity," Stoltman said. "There's a lot of forces that are converging on: 'What do you wear when you're an outdoorsy person?' "

It's another example of Carhartt subtlety shifting its messaging to keep up with consumer trends and changes in the labor force. The U.S. has lost more than 5 million manufacturing jobs within the past 25 years, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, as the number of service jobs have soared.

At the same time though, it's consistent in its ideology and what it signals, said Collins: serving people who work hard, whether that's with their hands or not.

Rachel Pollock, a costume production professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said scenic production professionals of all genders have been dedicated wearers of Carhartt gear for decades. Tasks include carpentry, welding, electrics and furniture building, among others.

"This is true in our own scenic department and at every professional theater I've worked for," Pollock said via email.

Kasey Ring, owner of Upward Personal Finance, said her husband Tom Butz has worked in Utah's ski industry for 25 years and has been wearing Carhartt ever since he started making snow at Park City Mountain Resort back in 1995.

Ring said her husband wears the Carhartt pants with fleece lining, which are "great for mountain men working late at night in below-freezing temperatures," she said. She said the double-thick knees keep them in use longer, and the side pockets hold his cell phone.

"All his coworkers in the ski industry love the brand, too," Ring said. "Carhartt is seen everywhere there are working men and women on the ski hill."

Beholden to hipsters or living their values?

So when Carhartt's vaccine mandate became public in January, Collins wasn't surprised because the brand is all about supporting people who do hard work, he said, adding that Carhartt pivoted to producing medical gowns and masks for health care workers facing a shortage of critical supplies in the early days of the pandemic. 

Similarly, Carhartt opened a workshop at its flagship store in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood that offers access to free tools and landscaping equipment.

But for people like Phillip Kane, CEO of the business advisory firm Grace Ocean in Akron, Ohio, Carhartt's vaccine mandate didn't ring true. 

"Carhartt is beholden to the hipsters," Kane said. "Their continued vaccine mandate is an appeal to them, not folks like me."

Kane, who has been wearing Carhartt clothing for 47 years, said he chose to buy the brand because of the quality of its clothes and its commitment to the tough Americans who wore their products.

"For the last decade, we’ve shared the brand with not-so-tough people from here and from across the globe who wear Carhartt because it somehow became cool to do so," he said. 

Stoltman said he has a hard time believing it was an intentional decision to mandate the vaccine to appeal to a certain customer base. But he did say it's likely the company anticipated backlash.

"We're in an environment where public health has become politicized and where people's nerves are frayed," he said. "But they're living their values."

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.