By Patricia Caletrio
Patricia is a contributing writer for Ivy Style. You can read more of her articles on Substack.
After a hot summer, it’s time to go back to campus, and what better way to do so than with GANT’s new collection in collaboration with Yale University.
Because if there is one thing I have learned from my obsession with Ivy style, it is that sometimes the best way forward is to look backwards, and this collaboration with Yale University is perhaps the perfect example.
Before we get into the collection itself, we need to go back to where it all began.
A little GANT history
In 1927, the company relocated to New Haven, Connecticut. Just over two decades later, in 1949, Gantmacher and his sons Marty and Elliot launched the GANT label under their own name.
And this is where Yale enters the story.
The Yale Cooperative Corporation, the university’s campus store, was among the first retailers to stock GANT’s button-down shirts. Yale undergraduates quickly embraced them, helping establish many of the details that would become synonymous with the classic American Ivy look: soft-roll collars, locker loops and box pleats.
By the 1960s, GANT was even producing the Yale Co-op shirt exclusively for the store.
So, technically, this isn’t a new relationship.
It’s a reunion.
Back to the roots
And, ironically, that’s precisely what makes it feel relevant.
Fashion has a tendency to chase novelty. Every season brings a new silhouette, a new microtrend, a new “must-have” piece. Sometimes, in the pursuit of looking forward, brands can forget that some of the most compelling ideas have already existed for decades.
GANT does the opposite here.
The collection revisits the brand’s own history and the heritage of Ivy League dressing, taking familiar pieces and making them feel desirable all over again.
A good collection doesn’t always need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, it just needs to remind us why we loved the wheel in the first place.
The Oxford shirt. The rugby shirt. The collegiate sweater. The baseball cap. The tweed blazer.
None of these are particularly revolutionary pieces. And that’s exactly the point.
They are timeless.
The GANT x Yale collection understands that heritage can be a design tool. Instead of treating the past as something that belongs in an archive, it uses it as a starting point for creating clothes that can actually be worn now, and, ideally, for years to come.
Because isn’t that what good fashion should do?
An Ivy style for everyone
I think that’s part of what makes Ivy style so enduring. It isn’t particularly concerned with being strictly masculine or feminine. It’s more about the clothes themselves, how they fit together and how you choose to wear them. And looking through this collection, I can already imagine the same pieces working just as well in both wardrobes.
My Ivy wishlist
If I were back on campus this autumn, there are a few pieces from the collection that would absolutely be making their way into my wardrobe.
The Oxford shirts
The Oxford shirt is arguably one of the ultimate Ivy wardrobe staples, so it feels particularly fitting that it is at the centre of a collection rooted in GANT’s relationship with Yale.
I’m particularly obsessed with the pink Oxford. It’s classic enough to feel timeless, but has just enough personality to make it more interesting than your standard white button-down.
These shirts are also perfect for this awkward in-between period at the start of autumn: worn on their own during those still-warm days in early September, or layered underneath a sweater for a subtle pop of colour once the temperature starts to drop.
I’d pair it with straight-leg jeans and loafers, with a brown boot and a brown blazer as shown in the picture, or layer it underneath a crew-neck sweater when it gets a little chillier.
The Washed Cotton Twill Cap
There is something about a baseball cap that makes an outfit feel instantly more relaxed.
The washed cotton twill cap is one of those pieces that looks effortless while still contributing to the whole collegiate aesthetic. I especially love it for those unpredictable autumn days, particularly when it’s raining and your hair has officially decided it wants nothing to do with you.
It’s also the kind of piece that can take a more formal look and give it a slightly sportier, more relaxed feel, without making the outfit feel any less put-together.
The Bar Stripe Heavy Rugger
If there is one piece I’d want for layering, it’s this.
The heavyweight rugby shirt has that perfect combination of sporty and preppy, and the heavier fabric makes it ideal for autumn. I’d wear it over a simple T-shirt for a more relaxed look, over the shoulders or layer it over a collared shirt when I want to lean further into the Ivy aesthetic.
The Yale Crew Neck Sweater
Of course, we need the Yale sweater.
Made primarily from cotton, the crew-neck is probably one of the easiest pieces in the collection to incorporate into an everyday wardrobe. I particularly love the colour palette: cream and navy are not only quintessentially Yale, but also two of the easiest colours to work with. They pair effortlessly with brown, beige, denim or even more navy, making the sweater surprisingly versatile.
And that’s what makes it such a good layering piece. You can wear it on its own with jeans, throw it over an Oxford shirt, layer it underneath a blazer, or add a trench coat on top. Dress it up, dress it down; it really does one of those things that makes getting dressed slightly easier.
The Yale Car Coat
Finally, the piece I didn’t know I needed: the Yale car coat.
Originally designed for automobile drivers and passengers, the car coat was made to provide warmth and coverage while travelling, eventually evolving into the shorter mid-thigh silhouette we know today.
Made from 100% cotton, it’s lightweight enough for layering without feeling flimsy, which makes it particularly useful for those transitional autumn days when you leave the house in the morning and have absolutely no idea what the weather is going to do by 5 p.m.
I love pieces like this because they make practical dressing feel elegant.
I absolutely love the way is styled in the picture. Over an oxford shirt with a wool sweater draped over the shoulders to add not only an extra layer of warmth but also a pop of colour to the entire outfit.
The appeal of timelessness
Perhaps that’s ultimately what makes this collection so appealing to me.
It isn’t really about dressing like a Yale student.
It’s about understanding why certain clothes have remained relevant for so long.
The GANT x Yale collection takes pieces that have existed within American collegiate wardrobes for generations and reminds us that good design doesn’t necessarily have an expiration date.
The logos might say, Yale. The campaign might have been shot on campus. The inspiration might come from decades of Ivy League history.
But the clothes don’t need to stay there.
And maybe that’s the best thing about heritage: when it is done well, it doesn’t make you want to live in the past.
It makes you want to bring the past with you.
If you bought a Hilfiger sweater, a Polo sweater and one of these Gant sweaters, you could have varsity letters from all of the Ivy’s Big Three. Strikes me as a bit bogus.