For more than 135 years, Carhartt has built tough, dependable gear for hardworking people who rely on it day in and day out. From job sites and farms to ranches and loading docks, Carhartt’s rugged workwear—its iconic duck jackets, heavyweight hoodies, work pants, and overalls—has earned a place in the American work ethic. Built on a foundation of durability, dependability, and respect for the people who wear it, Carhartt has long understood that quality starts long before a product hits a shelf. It starts with the materials.
In 2024, Carhartt took an important step forward by joining the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, reinforcing its commitment to sourcing cotton that is grown responsibly, transparently, and with the long-term health of the land in mind. For a brand whose identity is inseparable from cotton, this membership is more than a sustainability milestone—it is a natural extension of who Carhartt is and what it stands for.
A Commitment Rooted in Heritage: Why Carhartt Joined the Trust Protocol
Carhartt’s decision to join the Trust Protocol in 2024 reflects a broader strategic commitment to responsible sourcing and supply chain transparency. As the brand continues to examine how its products are made, pushing for lower-impact materials, more energy-efficient manufacturing, and ethical supply-chain practices, membership in the Trust Protocol provides a credible, data-driven framework that matches Carhartt’s standards for quality and accountability.
Through the Trust Protocol’s advanced traceability platform, Carhartt gains verified visibility into the U.S.-grown cotton used in its products, offering real transparency into where its raw materials come from and how they are produced. For a brand built on trust, this kind of supply chain integrity matters.
Participation in the Trust Protocol also aligns with Carhartt’s broader goal of supporting farmers as they adopt improved agricultural practices—practices that benefit soil health, water conservation, and long-term land stewardship. These are values that resonate deeply with Carhartt’s core customer base: the farmers, ranchers, construction workers, and tradespeople who depend on the land every day.
“At Carhartt, we’ve always believed that how our products are made matters just as much as how they perform,” said Gretchen Valade, Director of Sustainability. “Joining the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is an important step in strengthening transparency across our supply chain and ensuring the materials we rely on are sourced responsibly. As we look to the future, the Trust Protocol helps us better trace the cotton we rely on, a fiber that is essential to the durability and quality our customers expect.”
From Field to Finished Garment: Building Transparency into Every Thread
Cotton is not incidental to Carhartt—it is foundational. The brand’s most iconic products are built from heavy-duty cotton fabrics engineered to withstand abrasion, weather, and years of hard use. Ensuring that cotton is grown responsibly is therefore central to delivering on Carhartt’s promise of quality and durability.
Through its Trust Protocol membership, Carhartt now has access to field-level data that goes beyond conventional sourcing. The Trust Protocol’s measurement and verification system tracks six key sustainability metrics—greenhouse gas emissions, soil carbon, water use, soil loss, land use efficiency, and energy efficiency—giving Carhartt meaningful insight into the environmental footprint of its raw materials. This data-backed approach allows Carhartt to move beyond broad sustainability claims and toward measurable, continuous improvement.
For Carhartt, this also means being able to tell a more complete story to its customers—people who value authenticity and want to know that the gear they depend on reflects their own values.
Investing in Better Materials, Honoring a Legacy
Carhartt’s longstanding philosophy of making gear that holds up through years of hard work reduces the need for replacement, lessens waste, and delivers long-term value to the wearer. By sourcing cotton grown with greater care for the land, Carhartt is extending that same philosophy upstream and building responsibility into the product from the very first step.
The brand’s membership in the Trust Protocol is part of a wider sustainability strategy that includes a focus on responsible fiber sourcing, reduced environmental impact in manufacturing, and transparent supply chains. Together, these efforts reflect Carhartt’s long-term goal: building a more sustainable future without compromising the toughness, quality, and authenticity that hardworking people have relied on for generations.
As Carhartt continues to explore new ways to incorporate responsibly sourced materials across its product lines, its Trust Protocol membership signals to customers, supply chain partners, and the broader industry that the brand is serious about progress, and that it holds its materials to the same high standard it holds its finished products.
