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Jack Carlson (rowing)

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Jack Carlson
FRSA
BornMay 22, 1987 (1987-05-22) (age 37)
EducationGeorgetown (BSFS)
Oxford University (MPhil, DPhil)
Alma materBrasenose College, Oxford
Occupations
Labels
Title
Sport
Country United States
SportRowing
College teamOxford University Boat Club
Georgetown Hoyas
ClubOxford Brookes
New York Athletic Club
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing the  United States
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Aiguebelette LM8+

Jack Carlson FRSA (born May 22, 1987) is an American designer, author, archaeologist, and former U.S. national team rowing coxswain. He is the founder of the New York-based apparel brand Rowing Blazers,[1] and has led the revival of several British and American heritage brands, including Warm & Wonderful, Gyles & George, and Arthur Ashe.[2][3][4] In 2024, he sold his company to Tory Burch co-founder Christopher Burch's firm, Burch Creative Capital.[5]

Carlson represented the United States at three World Championships, and won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France.[6] An archaeologist by training, he is the author of several books and articles.[7]

Early life and education

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Carlson grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and Hampstead, England.[8][9] He graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he studied Chinese and Classics.[10] At Georgetown, he was captain of the rowing team. Upon graduating, he was awarded an Allbritton Scholarship for graduate study at Brasenose College, Oxford.[11]

At Oxford, he used his background in Chinese and Classics to study Ancient Rome and early Imperial China in a comparative context. After completing a master's degree, he was awarded a Clarendon Scholarship for doctoral studies, and his dissertation, supervised by Dame Jessica Rawson and R.R.R. Smith, is a comparative work on symbols, images, and imperial power in the Roman Empire and contemporaneous Qin-Han China.[12][13][14] At Oxford, he was a member of both the Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club and its heavyweight counterpart, Oxford University Boat Club.

Writing and archaeology

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Carlson worked as a field archaeologist in Italy at the Etruscan site Poggio Colla, in the Mugello Valley.[15] He is the author of a wide range of academic articles, and his work has appeared in Antiquity, the New England Classical Journal, and Foreign Policy.[16][17][18]

He is the author and illustrator of the books A Humorous Guide to Heraldry[19] and Rowing Blazers, an illustrated book about the jackets traditionally worn by rowers on such occasions as Henley Royal Regatta and their history and traditions.[20][21]

Carlson is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Numismatic Society, the Royal Asiatic Society, and The Explorers Club, and a life member of the Archaeological Institute of America.[22][23][24]

Design and fashion

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Ralph Lauren discovered Carlson through a pre-publication copy of his book Rowing Blazers and hosted a series of launch events and parties for the project.[25] This served as Carlson's entrée into the fashion community, and inspired him to start his own brand and design studio, which he also named Rowing Blazers.[26][27]

He began by designing blazers for rowing clubs and other teams and organizations, but the brand quickly expanded beyond blazers and beyond the world of rowing. Today, the brand is known for its celebrity clientele, including Timothée Chalamet, Pete Davidson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Russell Westbrook, Justin and Hailey Bieber, BTS, and Mindy Kaling.[28][29][30][31]

Carlson is known for combining elements from the worlds of tailoring, sportswear, and streetwear in unusual ways, and the brand has been featured in Vogue, Esquire, The New York Times, and other publications.[32][33][34] GQ described it as "the brand that's saving prep by kicking down its walls,"[35] and Men's Journal as "classic British and Ivy League iconography with a post-modern, punk twist."[36]

Carlson has been tapped for frequent and eclectic design collaborations, most notably his watch designs for Tudor, Seiko, TAG Heuer, and Zodiac.[37][38][39][40][41] He has also designed footwear collections in partnership with Sperry Top-Sider, Hunter, and K-Swiss,[42][43][44] and capsules with J. Crew, the NBA, Barbour, Umbro, and FILA.[35][45][46][47] In 2022, American handbag brand LeSportsac tapped Carlson to create its premium Arc En Ciel line.[48][49][50]

Carlson collaborated with Gucci in 2023, designing a colorful Oxbridge-inspired collection that ranged from a formal white tie tailcoat to a pair of mesh gym shorts.[51][52] The campaign was shot at Lake Como.

Carlson also designed a collection for Target in 2023. The collection, released under the motto "A Club for Everyone," spanned men's, women's, and children's clothing, pet accessories, games, and home furnishings. The apparel included extended sizing and adaptive styles. The collection debuted at New York Fashion Week, and launched in over a thousand Target locations across the United States, with many styles selling out within the first several hours.[53][54]

Carlson has also led the revival of several heritage apparel and accessories brands, including two British knitwear brands famously favored by Diana, Princess of Wales, Warm & Wonderful and Gyles & George; and American tennis and lifestyle brand Arthur Ashe.[3][2]

In 2024, Carlson sold a majority stake in Rowing Blazers to Tory Burch LLC co-founder Christopher Burch's investment firm, Burch Creative Capital.[55]

Rowing

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Carlson represented the United States in rowing as a coxswain for the U.S. team at the 2011, 2014, and 2015 World Championships. His highest finish came in 2015 with a bronze medal in the lightweight men's eight.[56]

He won both the Head of the Charles and Henley Royal Regatta in 2013.[57][58] At Henley, his crew won the Britannia Challenge Cup, equalling the record time to the Barrier, which had stood since 1993.[59]

At Oxford, Carlson raced in the winning Lightweight Blue Boat at the 2011 Henley Boat Races and the losing Isis crew at the 2010 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, before switching allegiances to Oxford Brookes University Boat Club, where he coxed from 2011 to 2014. Carlson also served as head coach of Oriel College Boat Club in 2011-2012 and 2013–2014, winning the Summer Eights Headship in both seasons.[60] Prior to Oxford, Carlson rowed and coxed at Georgetown, where he served as team captain in 2009, and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his rowing career began on the Charles River.

Other activities

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In 2023, Carlson trekked to the South Pole with his seventy-two-year-old father.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Beirne, Aodhan (September 12, 2017). "Rower Jack Carlson Updates the Zany Sport Blazer". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Rowing Blazers expands its preppy portfolio with Chipp". Financial Times. March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Palmieri, Jean E. (March 16, 2023). "EXCLUSIVE: Rowing Blazers' Carlson Creates Blazer Group to Acquire, Grow Heritage Brands". WWD. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  4. ^ "The Byzantium Review Issue III". The Byzantium Review. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "Rowing Blazers Acquired By Burch Creative Capital". The Business of Fashion. February 26, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  6. ^ "World Rowing". Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  7. ^ Tauer, Kristen (September 24, 2014). "Toasting 'Rowing Blazers' at Polo Ralph Lauren". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Clark, Murray (October 9, 2020). "Princess Diana Crowned the Realm's Next Big Men's Sweatshirt". Esquire. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  9. ^ "Interview: Rowing Blazer's founder Jack Carlson". Henry Tobias Jones. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "World Medalist Rower Jack Carlson Just Launched a Menswear Brand". Observer. August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "Georgetown Crew Captain Jack Carlson Awarded Allbritton Fellowship". Georgetown University Athletics. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  12. ^ "Clarendon Fund". Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  13. ^ Patterson, Troy (May 16, 2017). "This Startup Is Reinventing a Preppy Cult Classic". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  14. ^ Carlson, Jack (2014). Images, objects and imperial power in the Roman and Qin-Han empires (Ph.D. thesis). University of Oxford.
  15. ^ "The Byzantium Review Issue III". The Byzantium Review. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  16. ^ Carlson, Jack (November 1, 2011). "A symbol — but of what? Iron Age daggers, Alessi corkscrews and anthropoid embellishment reconsidered". Antiquity. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  17. ^ Carlson, Jack (August 1, 2010). "Narrative Reliefs of the Arch of Constantine and the Panegyrici Latini". New England Classical Journal. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  18. ^ Carlson, Jack (November 29, 2011). "China's Copycat Cities". Foreign Policy. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  19. ^ "Andrew Cusack". March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  20. ^ Podolsky, Jeffrey (August 27, 2014). "Rowing Blazers Catalogues the Long and Preppy History of the Crested Jacket". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  21. ^ Heyman, Marshall (September 26, 2014). "Parties: East Dane, 'Rowing Blazers' and Buggy Fatherhood Initiative". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  22. ^ "Jack Carlson". Jack Carlson. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  23. ^ "Find a Fellow - RSA". www.thersa.org. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Just How Much Toilet Paper Do You Need for a Trip to Antarctica". Bloomberg.com. April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  25. ^ Tauer, Kristen (September 24, 2014). "Toasting 'Rowing Blazers' at Polo Ralph Lauren". WWD. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  26. ^ Crompton, Simon (April 4, 2020). "Top of the class: Ivy League style". Financial Times: Europe's Business Newspaper. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  27. ^ "Lands' End, Ripe with History, Welcomes Newness with a Rowing Blazers Collaboration". L'Officiel. September 5, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  28. ^ Kemp-Habib, Alice (June 9, 2019). "Style Barometer". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  29. ^ "Pete Davidson Has Another Crush: Rowing Blazers". Yahoo Finance. March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  30. ^ "Pete Davidson and Ziwe Star in Rowing Blazers' Fall Collection Campaign -- Shop Their Cozy Looks! | Entertainment Tonight". www.etonline.com. October 22, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  31. ^ "These Are the Hats Timothée Chalamet Can't Stop Wearing". GQ. October 21, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  32. ^ Beirne, Aodhan (September 12, 2017). "Rower Jack Carlson Updates the Zany Sport Blazers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  33. ^ Weiss, Zachary (May 3, 2019). "At the New Rowing Blazers Flagship, a Champagne-Fueled House Party Raged". Vogue. ISSN 2497-3165. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  34. ^ Evans, Jonathan (September 18, 2018). "The Rugby Shirt Everyone Is Going to Ask You About". Esquire. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  35. ^ a b Hines, Samuel (November 29, 2018). "Rowing Blazers Is Proving That the Prep Revival Is Just Getting Started". GQ. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  36. ^ "23 Menswear Brands Making the Next Generation of American Classics". Men's Journal. November 20, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  37. ^ "Rowing Blazers and Seiko Are Back and Things Are Looking Bright". Esquire. October 28, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  38. ^ "The Year of Affordable Watches Gets Better With Rowing Blazers and Seiko's New Collab". GQ. October 25, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  39. ^ Marino, Nick (June 17, 2021). "Seiko's New Collab With Rowing Blazers Is A Stroke Of Genius". Hodinkee. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  40. ^ Love, Zen (April 28, 2023). "A Tudor Black Bay 58 Is the Latest in Rowing Blazers' Collab Hot Streak". Gear Patrol. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  41. ^ "Tag Heuer Just Unveiled Its Funnest Watch Collaboration Yet". GQ. October 11, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  42. ^ "Sperry and Rowing Blazers' New Tweed-Filled Collab Arrived Just in Time". Esquire. November 25, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  43. ^ "Givenchy's New Collaboration With Disney Celebrates the Lunar New Year". ELLE. December 30, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  44. ^ "Big, Bold Sneakers and More of This Week's Best Menswear Releases". Esquire. June 24, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  45. ^ Malachosky, Evan (October 16, 2022). "Rowing Blazers' Jack Carlson Doesn't Want to Make Preppy Clothing". Gear Patrol. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  46. ^ Fenner, Justin (March 21, 2018). "J.Crew and Rowing Blazers Team Up for Spring's Coolest Rugby Shirt". Men's Journal. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  47. ^ Valet. "How Does Rowing Blazers Do It?". Valet. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  48. ^ "Rowing Blazers' Jack Carlson And LeSportsac Collab For Retro-Style Bags". Fashion Week Online. March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  49. ^ "LeSportsac is bringing the '70s back with new viral TikTok ad". New York Post. March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  50. ^ Oré, Michella (July 6, 2023). "LeSportsac Bags Ruled the 2000s. Are They Finally Primed for a Comeback?". GQ. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  51. ^ "Rowing Blazers for Gucci Vault Is Everything You Hoped It Would Be". Esquire. May 22, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  52. ^ "Rowing Blazers Presents a Preppy Dodo-Adorned Capsule for Gucci Vault". Hypebeast. May 22, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  53. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Rowing Blazers Is Target's Next Big Collaborator". GQ. August 10, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  54. ^ Smith, Jake (September 7, 2023). "Target's Latest Fashion Collab Is Here to Preppify Your Fall Wardrobe". Glamour. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  55. ^ Jones, John Russel (February 28, 2024). "BURCH CREATIVE CAPITAL TAKES MAJORITY STAKE IN ROWING BLAZERS". MR Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  56. ^ "USRowing". Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  57. ^ "Taurus Boat Club Hall of Fame". Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  58. ^ "Head of the Charles Regatta". Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  59. ^ "Henley Royal Regatta Records". Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  60. ^ "Oriel College Boat Club". Retrieved October 22, 2015.
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