Born | May 22, 1987 36) | (age||||||||||||||
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Education | Georgetown (BSFS) Oxford University (MPhil, DPhil) | ||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||
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Country | United States | ||||||||||||||
Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||
College team | Oxford University Boat Club Georgetown Hoyas | ||||||||||||||
Club | Oxford Brookes New York Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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]
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.
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]
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]
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.
In 2023, Carlson trekked to the South Pole with his seventy-two-year-old father. [24]
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the three other regattas rowed over approximately the same course, Henley Women's Regatta, Henley Masters Regatta, and Henley Town and Visitors' Regatta, each of which is an entirely separate event.
Daniel "Dan" Topolski was a British author, rower, rowing coach and commentator on BBC television. He studied at the University of Oxford where he represented the Blue boat twice, in 1967 and 1968. In 1977, he won a gold medal at the World Rowing Championships. He coached the Oxford University Boat Club crew on fifteen occasions, leading them to victory twelve times, including a ten-win streak. He also coached British squads at two separate Olympic Games. After retiring from coaching he commentated on rowing at the Olympic Games and Boat Races.
Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club (CULRC) was the University rowing club for lightweight male oarsmen at the University of Cambridge, principally to race against Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club (OULRC) annually in the Lightweight Men's Boat Race.
The history of rowing as a sport has prevailed it as one of the oldest traditions in the world. What began as a method of transport and warfare eventually became a sport with a wide following, and a part of the cultural identity of the English speaking world. Rowing in its modern form developed in England in the 1700s.
Durham University Boat Club (DUBC) is the rowing club of Durham University. In recent years, DUBC has cemented itself as one of the strongest university boat clubs in Great Britain. Under the leadership of former British Olympian Wade Hall-Craggs, DUBC notably won the BUCS Victor Ludorum for ten consecutive years (2004-2013), and has produced a number of athletes that have competed internationally at European and World Championship level.
The Stewards' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may combine to make an entry.
Marlow Rowing Club is a rowing club on the River Thames in England, on the southern bank of the Thames at Bisham in Berkshire, opposite the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire just beside Marlow Bridge and on the reach above Marlow Lock. Founded in 1871, it is one of the main rowing and sculling centres in England. Members of the club have represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games and World Championships.
Balliol College Boat Club (BCBC) is the rowing club for members of Balliol College, Oxford, England. It is one of the college boat clubs at the University of Oxford.
Exeter College Boat Club (ECBC) is the boat club of Exeter College, Oxford, England. The club trains on the Thames on the Isis stretch in Oxford and at Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Seán Joseph Drea is a former Olympic rower from Ireland, specialising in the single scull. He won the Henley Royal Regatta's Diamond Sculls three years in a row, and was the first Irish rower to win a World Championship medal securing silver in the 1975 World Championships.
Gillin Boat Club is the rowing program for St. Joseph's University Rowing and St. Joseph's Prep Rowing. It is situated at the 1,000-meter mark of the Schuylkill River race course in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gillin Boat Club was admitted to the Schuylkill Navy in 2004, by a unanimous vote of the Navy's members.
Wadham College Boat Club (WCBC) is the rowing club of Wadham College, Oxford, in Oxford, United Kingdom. The club's members are students and staff from Wadham College and Harris Manchester College. Founded circa. 1837, Wadham has had success both within Oxford and externally in regattas such as Henley Royal Regatta.
Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club (OULRC) was the university rowing club for lightweight men at the University of Oxford which selected crews to race against Cambridge University Boat Club in the Lightweight Boat Races at the end of Hilary term. These races are usually held in late March each year.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club is the rowing club of Oxford Brookes University, England. Its large base is on the longest reach of the non-tidal parts of the Thames, at Wallingford, in Oxfordshire – about 6 miles (10 km) of easily rowable, little-congested river. The club has been very successful at pre-training and co-training many Olympic competitors including those for Great Britain who won 6 golds at Olympics spread across three consecutive games, starting with the games of 2000.
Abingdon School Boat Club is the rowing club for Abingdon School. The club has a strong tradition of providing rowers for the Oxford University Boat Club, Cambridge University Boat Club and international teams.
Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club (LMHBC) is a rowing club for members and staff of Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), Oxford. The club was founded in 1885, but it was not until 1976 that it could race in Oxoford inter-colligate racing, when a women’s division was finally established. As the senior women’s college, LMH were placed at 1st on the river for the inaugural women’s bumps races and obtained Headship in 1977. The first men’s crew was established in 1980 following the admission of male students into the previously all-women’s college.
Rowing Blazers is an American clothing and accessories brand founded by Jack Carlson. The brand is known for its blazers, rugby shirts, and other apparel, as well as its colorful, slightly subversive take on "preppy" style, its celebrity clientele, and high-profile collaborations.
Sholto Carnegie is a British representative rower. He is an Olympian and a two-time world champion in the Great Britain men's eight.
David Bewicke-Copley is a British representative rower. He was a 2022 world champion and has twice won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley.
David Ambler is a British rower.