Gant was founded in New Haven in the US in 1949 and became the preppy college brand in the 60s – primarily for its shirts.
Its young male following helped the family owned company to become the second-largest shirt maker in the world during that decade. The Gant family sold the business in 1967 and it has changed hands a number of times since. In 1995, it was bought by Phillips-Van Heusen. In 1999, it was bought by Pyramid Sportswear of Sweden. In 2006, it was bought by Swiss holding company, Maus-Freres, that still owns it.
Its fashion collections were divided into three – the main line G.N.H. (Gant New Haven), the younger Rugger sportswear line and the trendy Gant By Michael Bastian collection.
Life is tough in fashion right now and Gant has been working with BETC to reposition itself. The brand has returned to its roots as the Ivy League campus brand, spearhead by the button-down shirt.
The worldwide campaign includes a film and a gallery of five outdoor visuals that will be featured in the press, outdoor, in cinemas, in stores and on social media throughout the autumn and right through to 2016.
The film is a retrospective of life on prestigious Ivy League university campuses, with the Gant shirt as the constant in the stories of future politicians, creative artists, civil rights fighters as well as college parties, sport and romances.
The accompanying print campaign celebrates five former Ivy League students with remarkable careers, each of whom has changed the world in his/her own way – all five united in their attachment to the iconic GANT shirt:
- Tracy K. Smith, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Poet and educator. (Harvard, 1990–1997)
- Jennifer Staple-Clark, founder of Unite for Sight. Supporting eye clinics in the developing world. (Yale, 1998–2003)
- Natvar Bhavsar, painter. Pioneer of colourfield painting. (University of Pennsylvania, 1961–1965)
- Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and president of The Amazon Conservation Team, a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving South American rainforests. (Yale, 1979–1981)
- George Weiner, founder and chief executive officer of Whole Whale, a digital agency that uses data and technology to increase the impact of non-profits. (University of Pennsylvania, 2001–2005)
Creative credits:
Agency: BETC Paris
TV:
Creative directors: Rémi Babinet Filip Nilsson & Rosie Bardales
Art director: Alphons Conzens
Copywriter: Adrian Skenderovic
TV producers: Laure Denizot & Fabrice Brovelli
Production company: Bandits
Director: Stuart McIntyre
Sound: GUM
PRINT:
Executive creative director: Rémi Babinet
Creative directors: Filip Nilsson & Rosie Bardales
Art director: Agnès Cavard
Copywriter: Valérie Chidlovsky
Photographer: Willy Vanderperre
Production: Floriane Desperier @ 4Oktober
