GANT started with shirts and has on innovating them.  This garment, born in 1949, has a long history. The combination of their founder Bernard Gantmacher’s quality and his sons Marty and Elliot’s style and commercial knowledge was successful. The button-down shirt was first used by English polo players, but by the late 1940s, every well-dressed guy needed one. It began as a 1920s Brooks Brothers design in America, but GANT made it their own.

This happened for numerous reasons. Quality is one, but the shirt’s structure included several distinctive and difficult-to-copy features. The buttoned collar front edges formed one of these. Bernard’s technical prowess and Marty and Elliot’s fashion sense made it the perfect roll. The flawless roll wasn’t GANT’s only signature detail. Other tiny features that buyers liked included the locker loop on the back of the shirt to hang it to keep it wrinkle-free in the locker room. The Ivy League dating culture even required guys to remove their loops when dating a girl, who would wear his scarf in return.

The rear boxpleat of the garment allowed more movement. And the back collar button that held the tie and prevented the collar from rising. The button tab earned an Esquire award in 1963. Elliot created the button tab to complement the tie and shirt. With the correct roll, the tie knot merges into the shirt for the classic Ivy League look. While developing the men’s shirt, GANT found that women also wanted their clothes. Inspired by the number of women borrowing their partners’ and husbands’ clothes, they found that both sexes valued fine clothing. GANT developed women’s shirts with the motto “For women GANT makes shirts, not blouses”.

A new chapter and name for the company began. The company was now called GANT Shirtmakers, reflecting the quality and cultural significance of its hallmark item.