Fashion is their passion....and these gents prove that personality is the secrete to all that panache.
The Rowing Blazers founder is a three-time member of the U.S. rowing team and World Championships medalist. Trained as an archaeologist, we asked the stylish scholar for his brief.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SENSE OF STYLE? Eclectic. Classic. Thoughtful. Omnivorous. Informed. Somewhere between ’80s movie prep school jock and ’80s movie prep school nerd. Tintin meets Pablo Escobar. Steve Harrington. Rob Lowe in Class. Chariots of Fire meets White Men Can’t Jump. Princess Diana but for guys. Colorful. Timeless. Anti-fashion.
“We are opening a new NYC store soon,” Carlson says of his line Rowing Blazers.
WHAT’S NOW AND NEXT FOR YOU? I’m working on a lot right now. We have a three-way collaboration with Babar the Elephant and Fila tennis coming out around the Open. There are some amazing, idyllic illustrations of Babar and his family playing tennis. Halcyon days. It’s a great vibe. It’s fun channeling that energy into a collection. Later this year, a second project with the NBA, and a couple of skithemed capsules. We will also be launching a custom blazer and suit program, which I’ve been working on for about two years. I’m also working on a new edition of my book, Rowing Blazers, featuring a whole slate of rowing clubs that weren’t in the original book, from Japan to the Bahamas to Argentina.
“My favorite shoe is the Rowing Blazers FILA Expeditioner and Stüssy Air Zoom Spiridon Cage.”
FASHION MANTRA? Dress for yourself, not for anyone else.
![“My signature scent is Monocle Scent One: Hinoki,” Carlson says; “For my favorite watch, it’s a three-way tie: Rowing Blazers x Seiko Rally Bezel, Rolex Domino’s Air King and my Heuer Yacht Timer [pictured],” he says. “Someone recently gave me a USPS government-issue watch from the ’90s for mailmen. That’s pretty cool too.” PRODUCT PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRANDS.](/get/files/image/galleries/bt_XHP68DU0W0ZPNIUS8LO28LERP5B3H.jpg)
“My signature scent is Monocle Scent One: Hinoki,” Carlson says; “For my favorite watch, it’s a three-way tie: Rowing Blazers x Seiko Rally Bezel, Rolex Domino’s Air King and my Heuer Yacht Timer [pictured],” he says. “Someone recently gave me a USPS government-issue watch from the ’90s for mailmen. That’s pretty cool too.”
FOR ME, FASHION IS ALWAYS ABOUT... Actually I can’t bear ‘fashion.’ What I’m interested in are clothes. Their meaning. Their history.
Photography by: PORTRAIT BY YUMI MATSUO; PRODUCT PHOTO COURTESY OF BRANDS
