The Active Jacket Turns 50 This Year: Carhartt WIP Anniversary Edition

To mark 50 years of the iconic Active Jacket, Carhartt WIP has created four special edition designs. A symbol of memory and materiality, identity and adaptation, each new style honors the original.

Introduced in the US to serve a more casual consumer, the Active Jacket’s shape was based on the already popular Hooded Zip Sweatshirt, rebuilt with a tougher, reinforced exterior and insulated lining for warmth. In 1975, the style first appeared in denim – then considered an off-duty work fabric – with a bold red flannel lining. It was released in duck canvas shortly after, giving us the recognizable style we know today.

In 1997, Carhartt WIP introduced its own interpretation of this style, which would now be recognized as the OG Active Jacket, thanks to its loose, oversized silhouette. The item stayed true to its roots with a hooded bomber-style shape, triple stitching, and gold-tone hardware.

This year, Carhartt WIP will release four limited-edition, anniversary pieces: block color and camouflage canvas, as well as denim and leather. Retaining the classic details of the original silhouette, each edition is also fully reversible and bears a unique, commemorative Square Label.

Two styles are constructed in our signature Dearborn Canvas – a black iteration with a red reverse, referencing the first ever Active Jacket, and a Hamilton Brown version, which pairs with a new ‘camo trebark’ motif.

There is also a denim version, which features a stone-bleached finish on one side, offering an intentionally worn-in appearance. On the reverse, the original bold red lining is reimagined in diamond-quilted sateen, detailed with anniversary labeling, graphic patches, and embroidery.

A leather edition, meanwhile, offers an elevated interpretation of this foundational style. Bridging past and present, its reverse stays rooted in the familiar with Dearborn Canvas in Hamilton Brown.

The history of the Active Jacket mirrors that of Carhartt WIP – a brand that creates products rooted in functional workwear, worn by an audience that defies categorization.

Today, 50 years on, the Active Jacket remains omnipresent within culture, rarely feeling out of place in the context of music, skateboarding, cinema, or subculture. Regardless of setting, this artefact remains largely unchanged, even as new meanings and memories continue to be woven into its story. A distillation of authenticity and versatility, the Active Jacket continues to make its presence felt, as the years and decades roll on.

The Anniversary Edition OG Active Jackets will release on October 30 at select global retailers and Carhartt WIP stores, as well as at carhartt-wip.com and via the Carhartt WIP App.

To accompany the release, Carhartt WIP has collaborated with ILL-STUDIO on a small-format book titled Sedimental Works, exploring 50 years of flux through the lens of the Active Jacket.