Brand intelligence
Carhartt WIP
Carhartt Work In Progress, commonly known as Carhartt WIP, is the European workwear label founded in 1989 by Edwin and Salomée Faeh under a licence from the American workwear company Carhartt. It translates Carhartt’s utility heritage into a distinct global streetwear, skate, music and design context through clothing, accessories, collaborations and the Carhartt WIP Radio platform. The directory identifies the Faehs’ founder role at the WIP business and does not collapse it into the separate history of the original American Carhartt company. Public material does not establish a singular house-wide creative-director mandate, so none is invented. Ownership, financial performance and the terms of licensing relationships remain limited to what the companies directly disclose.
- Country
- Germany
- Founded
- 1989
- Founder
- Edwin Faeh
- Ownership
- Work in Progress Textilhandels GmbH under Carhartt licence
- Documented milestones
- 6
- Edwin Faeh — Co-Founder1989–Present · business · current · Carhartt WIP
- Salomée Faeh — Co-Founder1989–Present · business · current · Carhartt WIP
- 1989 — WIP establishedEdwin and Salomée Faeh begin the licensed European operation.
- 1994 — Own distributionThe business expands its European wholesale and retail network.
- 1997 — First WIP collectionProducts developed for the European market form a distinct collection.
- 1998 — London storeCarhartt WIP opens a store in London.
- 2000 — Skate programmeLong-term support for European skateboarding becomes formalised.
- 2011 — Archive collaborationCarhartt WIP and the US parent connect heritage and contemporary product.