It’s been precisely 10 years since I last owned a Carhartt garment. As a high school senior, I paid $140 for a blue neoprene/cotton blend Carhartt hoodie and wore it all day, every day for months on end. It earned me the nickname Scuba Steve and I loved it.

Carhartt Work in Progress, which opened its first United States store on Thursday on Crosby Street in SoHo, is a division of the classic work-wear brand most often associated with construction workers and 1990s skaters. There are 40 Work in Progress stores worldwide, but due to licensing agreements there hasn’t been an outlet stateside until now.

Based in Basel, Switzerland, Carhartt Work in Progress shares the same sturdy spirit as its brother brand, but the fabrics are more refined, the collaborations are more high end, and the silhouettes are dramatically slimmer. For example, the company’s famed canvas work pants are in the line, but they come in an Italian duck canvas milled exclusively for Work in Progress. At the SoHo store, an entire wall is dedicated to slim, tapered trousers and the sweaters, once built tooth-and-nail tough, come in a soft, brushed cotton.

The best thing about the shop (besides the roughly hewn wooden floor boards and the meticulous merchandising) is the staff. They are tremendously helpful and their adopted uniform of canvas pants, pocket tees and woolen beanies worn high atop their heads, suggest that the ’90s spirit of Carhartt is still very much alive. I tried on almost everything — including the staff uniform and a Cypress Hill throwback outfit — and found that the pants, tees and jackets fit far better than I remember them doing so back in high school. You still can’t beat the heavy canvas jackets for warmth, and the pants are exceptionally well priced (starting from $110). But “Best in Store” has to go to the lamb’s wool sweaters, which will no doubt fly out the door.

Fans will be pleased to know that the SoHo store will carry all of the brand’s collaborations, too. No word yet on whether it will stock the much-coveted Adam Kimmel for Carhartt blazers anytime soon, but here’s to hoping.

Carhartt Work in Progress, 119 Crosby Street; (212) 219-2934. Go to carhartt-wip.com.