American Giant was founded in February 2012 by Bayard Winthrop, former head of Chrome Industries,[1] to address what he saw as a lack of affordably priced, high-quality, American-made products.

[1][6] The company decided to base much of its supply chain in North Carolina in part because it is an anti-union “right to work law” state, and therefore has very low labor rates.

After a viral video[8] and favorable publicity (a review in Slate called it "the greatest hoodie ever made"),[9] demand outstripped the factory's capacity, and unable to find other sites that satisfied his standards, Winthrop chose to let orders back up rather than compromise on quality.

[10] American Giant launched with its Classic Full Zip hooded sweatshirt, which was created by Philipe Manoux, a former industrial engineer at Apple.

[2] Using cotton grown in North Carolina,[3] it is constructed of heavyweight fleece and features reinforced elbow pads, a double-lined hood, and custom hardware.