New Carhartt For Women Workwear To Provide Durability And Comfort In A Women's Fit

Dearborn, MI - Carhartt, Inc.'s famously durable and comfortable workwear is now available in fits and sizes designed especially for women. The new Carhartt for Women line of clothes and accessories was tested nationwide in fall 2006 at a selected group of 150 retailers, and has begun shipping to Carhartt's North American retailers this month, according to the company.

The new clothes and accessories have been perfected after more than a year and a half of interviews with working women, design testing in real-world environments and feedback from product testers. Initially, the Carhartt for Women line will consist of jeans, dungarees, knit shirts, sweatshirts, outerwear and accessories, including the iconic Carhartt Detroit Jacket and Sandstone Work Dungarees.

More than 25 percent of Carhartt's existing customers are women, who resign themselves to the imperfect fit of clothes designed for men in order to get the famous Carhartt durability and quality. The new clothes and accessories take into account much more than just size differences.

"This isn't about Carhartt clothing in feminine colors, it's about creating tough workwear that actually fits women," explained Jill Makinen, Carhartt's Women's Category Product Manager. "We've done things like design our Carhartt for Women pants with a contoured waistband that sits slightly lower in the front and higher in the back, which eliminates gapping in the back when bending over. Women's hands have different proportions than men's hands, so our Carhartt for Women gloves use the same materials and quality as our men's gloves, but are designed for a woman's hand width and length. However, even though we changed a number of proportions to make them fit better, we didn't make a single concession to quality for our women's clothes when compared to our existing lines."

Initial feedback from Carhartt retailers and customers during the test launch of Carhartt for Women has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Our experience with the test launch was extremely positive, and all items in the line are selling well," said Frank Marcovis, co-owner of G&L Clothing of Des Moines, Iowa. G&L sells Carhartt for Women both at its Des Moines store and through its www.gandlclothing.com Web site. "We and our customers are very supportive of the line, and we're looking forward to having more products, sizes and colors to sell in Fall 2007."

G&L held a "Women's Night Out" event during which it stayed open late to introduce its customers to Carhartt for Women. In an hour and a half, the store sold more than 100 units of the new line.

To ensure that Carhartt for Women clothing and accessories meet the same demanding standards as Carhartt's existing workwear, Carhartt sought out women in a variety of fields to give real-world torture tests to the new products, then interviewed the testers and examined their test garments for potential issues.

Kathleen Dobson was a weartester during the design and testing phase of the Carhartt for Women line. As a regional safety manager for Alberici Constructors, vice president of the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and owner of a small working farm, Dobson knows what makes good workwear – and has a full wardrobe of men's Carhartt gear that she has worn all her professional life to prove it.

"I wore my Carhartt for Women jeans to an auto plant shutdown. I was twisting around and getting myself into dirty, awkward situations. It didn't matter what I did, I was comfortable," she said. "I never wore women's jeans before, because the inseam length never made sense, the hips and waist weren't proportioned right and they rarely fit over work boots. My Carhartt jeans, though, were meant for me."

Dobson, who regularly wore men's Carhartt apparel before testing the women's line, appreciates that her Carhartt for Women jeans and dungarees are appropriate for a variety of work environments.

"When I'm assigned to a project, I spend 80 to 90 percent of my time in the field, but I still want to look like a manager," she explained. "My job involves building trust and relationships with our workers, and giving them the confidence that I know what I'm talking about. I need to look professional, but still wear clothes that stand up to job site conditions."

SOURCE: Carhartt, Inc.