Carhartt at Tate Modern

There aren’t many garments that stay relevant for half a century. Most fade, evolve, or get reinterpreted beyond recognition. The Active Jacket didn’t. It became a constant, a canvas for others to project onto.

From Detroit to Berlin, from protest to dancefloor, from construction site to runway, it has travelled through decades of culture without ever losing its essence. Functional, but full of meaning.

Pale jacket on a black hook, its Carhartt Work in Progress label and size M tag showing

Alongside the exhibition, Carhartt released a beautiful book reflecting on those 50 years, how a single jacket absorbed stories of work, culture, and identity, and became part of something much bigger than fashion.

The exhibition, Sedimental Works, explored exactly that: how things endure, erode, and return. How one piece of workwear can turn into a symbol of identity, resistance, belonging.

Giant wall text for Sedimental Works 1975–2025, 50 Years of the Active Jacket, a project by Carhartt WIP and Ill-Studio Guests talk in a hazy concrete hall, backlit by bright white light streaming between slanted columns Crowd mingling between rock-like pillars under hanging speakers, a glowing screen with a golden image behind Two guests seen from behind look across a rock-like stage with a stool, laptop and speaker toward the crowd Guests drink and browse along a long rail of pale jackets in a hazy concrete hall lit by bright spotlights Guests in caps and jackets, one in a dark Carhartt jacket, chat beneath a slanted concrete column Silhouetted guests by a Sedimental Works sign reading Up next: Klein, in a dark hall filled with haze and light Row of faded blue hooded work jackets hanging on S-hooks from a metal rail against a raw concrete wall Long pipe rail of hooded jackets shading from off-white to faded blue in a concrete hall, guests walking behind

Inside Tate Modern, it felt less like fashion and more like an archive of everything this jacket has seen.

A beautiful reminder that real design is not about trends, but about timelessness.

Singer in a beige jacket performs with a drummer beside a rock-like sculpture as guests watch in the dark Open book spread showing two worn Carhartt hooded jackets, one tan and one faded black, frayed at the cuffs Book pages on the Active Jacket’s 1975 debut and its link to Carhartt WIP, beside a photo of spray paint cans Band plays on a rock-like stage bathed in red light, a guitarist in a hooded jacket facing the packed crowd Drummer plays in thick haze under hanging speakers, a large rock-like sculpture in the foreground Black wristband printed with Tate Modern, Sedimental Works 1975–2025 and the Carhartt logo, on a grey cover

Thanks to Carhartt for having me. Carhartt fan for life. Thanks also to Advanced Research.

Carhartt at Tate Modern

Constantly Curious.

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