bernard gantmacher headquarters stockholm sweden number of locations 583 2016 key people patrik nilsson ceo brian grevy cmo patrik s derstr m global sales director 1 products accessories clothing footwear housewares glasses watches parent maus fr res website www.gant.com gant stylized as gant is an international clothing brand headquartered in stockholm sweden . the company was founded in 1949 by bernard gantmacher and was originally based in new haven connecticut . 2 gant is recognized as the brand that brought button down shirts to the mass market . the company also introduced an award winning button tab and the locker loop to the back of its shirts . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 1981 2000 1.3 2001 current 2 operations 3 references 4 external links history edit early history edit bernard gantmacher arrived in new york city in 1914 a jewish immigrant from ukraine . gantmacher was employed at a garment factory sewing shirt collars while he studied to be a pharmacist . a few years later he met his future wife rebecca rose a button and buttonhole specialist who worked for the same company . after gantmacher s return from military service during world war i the couple married and founded the par ex shirt company with business partner morris shapiro . the company made shirts for brands including brooks brothers j. press and manhattan . 4 5 in 1927 the company was relocated to new haven connecticut . 3 the couple had two children marty and elliot born in 1921 and 1926 who upon completing their studies at the university of connecticut returned to the family business and convinced their father to make shirts for his own brand . in april 1949 the gant label was launched . 6 following their father s death in 1955 the gant brothers took over the company s operations . 3 gant dress shirts were popular among american male students in the early and mid 1960s . citation needed the shirts were known for their back collar button locker loop and box pleat . 6 3 in the 1960s gant made the yale co op shirt exclusively for the store on the yale university campus . 7 in 1968 the gant brothers sold the company to consolidated foods but remained with the company . 3 8 in 1971 the company launched its first sportswear line and in 1974 launched its rugger brand . 8 9 in 1979 gant became a subsidiary of apparel manufacturer the palm beach company and ceased operations in new haven . 4 1981 2000 edit in 1980 1981 gant entered the international market when pyramid sportswear of sweden was given the right to design and market gant outside the u.s. initially pyramid only offered the gant label in sweden but quickly expanded internationally . in 1995 phillips van heusen acquired the gant brand in the u.s. from bankrupt sportswear manufacturer crystal brands inc. 10 11 in 1997 gant opened its first store in the united states . 12 phillips van heusen sold its gant operations in 1999 to pyramid sportswear of sweden for 71 million . 13 2001 current edit with the purchase by pyramid sportswear which became gant pyramid aktiebolag gant became a global brand . in the spring of 2006 gant became a public company and was listed on the stockholm stock exchange s o list 14 until it was delisted march 20 2008 15 when it was acquired by the swiss retail group maus fr res . 16 17 in november 2010 gant returned to new haven where it opened a retail store . 4 operations edit gant operates in 70 countries and its products are available at 4 000 selected retailers and 583 gant stores worldwide . 18 the house of gant fashion collections are subdivided into three lines gant gant diamond g and gant rugger . 4 19 references edit bischoff medya march 15 2016 . recruitments gant to strengthen its management . sportswear international . retrieved may 11 2016 . born in 1949 . gant . retrieved june 12 2016 . a b c d e roberts sam march 18 2016 . elliot gant marketer of the button down shirt dies at 89 . the new york times . retrieved june 12 2016 . a b c d baruzzi cara 16 october 2010 . gant returns to new haven ; downtown retail store to open this fall . new haven register . retrieved 17 june 2016 . the start of a long journey . gant . retrieved 17 june 2016 . a b kamen paddy 14 november 2012 . gant the hip and historical brand . envision magazine . retrieved 17 june 2016 . crawford sarah . the gant yale co op shirt . the man has style . retrieved 17 june 2016 . a b gropler melanie 18 march 2016 . co founder of gant elliot gant has died . sportswear international . retrieved 17 june 2016 . anyanwu obi 17 march 2016 . gant co founder elliot gant passes away at 89 . fashionmag . retrieved 17 june 2016 . crystal brands inc. history . funding universe . retrieved 17 june 2016 . phillips van heusen corporation history . funding universe . retrieved 17 june 2016 . foderaro lisa 19 november 1997 . metro business ; for american chain its first u.s. store . the new york times . retrieved 17 june 2016 . pyramid partners collar grant phillips van heusen corp. . . . the chicago tribune . 24 february 1999 . retrieved 17 june 2016 . omx gant ready for listing on the nordic exchange in stockholm . finanz nachrichten . 28 march 2006 . retrieved 17 june 2016 . delisting of gant . marketwired . 25 february 2008 . retrieved 17 june 2016 . shields amy 1 february 2008 . maus fr res acquires gant . retail week . retrieved 17 june 2016 . ibison david 30 january 2008 . maus fr res acquires gant . financial times . retrieved 17 june 2016 . gant stores . retrieved 17 june 2016 . gropler melanie 23 september 2015 . gant ceo we are born and known as shirtmakers . sportswear international . retrieved 17 june 2016 . external links edit gant.com official us site gant.co.uk official uk site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title gant retailer & oldid 737736102 categories clothing brands1949 establishments in the united states1999 establishments in swedenclothing brands of the united stateshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from june 2007 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran aisitalianonederlandssuomisvenska edit links this page was last modified on 4 september 2016 at 18 54 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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