Gant: the menswear label that's taking over the fashion world by stealth

Looking for understated, elegant menswear? Look no further...  
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Richard Gray12 October 2017

We’ve all seen that well-dressed man in the street; he’s got the perfect pair of chinos, a classic jumper, crew neck (not too tight in smart navy blue) and a bag casually slung across his chest. He looks great and effortless and you think: where the hell do I buy that stuff? How does he do it? The answer, invariably, is Gant.

‘Gant just gets what a man wants from his outfit,’ says Luke Day, editor of GQ Style. ‘It’s so easy to shop and sits on the right side of fashion. Not too in your face, not too look-at-me. It’s reliable, smart fashion. It’s modular.’ Front row members like Day and smart celebrities such as Ryan Gosling, Ashton Kutcher, Ben Affleck and Ryan Reynolds all rely on Gant’s easy look.

By ‘modular’, Day means that just like, say, an Ikea kitchen slots together with everything else with relative ease, Gant’s menswear slots together too. Those trousers with that shirt; that cardigan with those dark blue jeans. It’s cool, organised and dead simple.

Everything works with everything else over and over again for so many different occasions, which has been the secret weapon for best-dressed men since Gant first appeared 60-odd years ago.

Ryan Reynolds
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And it has been reinventing and honing the formula ever since. It’s this lot who created that little loop on the back of your shirt — they call it the ‘locker loop’ — to stop your shirt creasing when you hang it in the locker. And it’s the locker loop Oxford cotton shirts, specifically, that Gant fans buy every single season. All colours, all occasions. For more of that smart casual thing, wear your Oxford loop back shirt with a knitted tie (use a school knot — it sits more neatly) plus camel cotton trousers (again). Roll back the sleeves of your shirt and wear with jeans and New Balance 373s in grey, navy or red and you’ll never shop another weekend shirt again.

Also bear in mind that Gant was the choice of American students in the 1950s, so there will always be a preppy sort of look in everything it does. This was a time when men were, arguably, never as well-dressed, and ‘smart casual’ was pretty much everything.

orange jumper, £95

What else is there to like? Well, you could try the jeans (I like the ‘regular straight fit’). And you don’t need to wash them every day either. As long you’re not going out paintballing, raving or rolling in manure, denim experts will tell you: if you can get away with it, spray them with Febreze and let them air. The colour is so good you don’t want to lose it by banging them on ‘fast coloureds’ cycle. After a few weeks Gant denim develops a shine and looks even better.

Need a new knit? Remember those half-zip jumpers we used to wear in the 1990s? Well, they’re back. So back, in fact, they’re not in the shops yet and due out next spring. But Gant, clued-up as usual, has them in stock now. Pull these beauties on for when it’s too warm to wear a coat but ‘that bit nippy’, and for those who don’t live in London (poor loves) everything’s online. (gant.co.uk)

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