I had a friend end a friendship over this. Brands can be very personal - again, it's the whole meaning thing. Isn't it funny how today a brand like Carhartt, a working class, blue collar, practical brand of work clothes can mean authenticity to one consumer, let's say an oil rig worker in Alaska, and a completely differenet thing to a skater punk in Berlin? Smart brands know this, and even smarter brands are able to exploit it, or maximize it. I think it's fascinating how far some brands can stretch, but not surprising in a world where identity is more easily defined by the brands one chooses, than by originality.
Still the wholesome brand of the working class, construction workers in the US now have to share thier 'non-brand' attitude with fashionable youth who are adopting thier garb, but with a different statement to make. Should anyone be angry?
A Flickr Photo of the Alaska State fair's crusty Carhartt contest
A Carhart retail store in Berlin, Germany, catering to a street/punk/skater culture, where the brand allows customization across all of its retail stores.
