Jack Carlson is a designer, author, archaeologist, and former coxswain on the U.S. rowing team. He is the founder of Rowing Blazers and led the revival of heritage brands Warm & Wonderful, Arthur Ashe, and Gyles & George.
As a designer, Jack has collaborated with a wide range of other brands, including Gucci, Target, Seiko, Barbour, Umbro, FILA, Sperry, Noah, Tudor, J. Press, La Martina, Spalding, Globe-Trotter, Harry’s Bar, Lands’ End, Zodiac, Eric Emanuel, Babar, Hunter, Tracksmith, New Era, ’47, J. Crew, SEGA, LeSportsac, Puma Hoops, K-Swiss, Beams Plus, Ralph Lauren, The Grateful Dead, and the NBA. His approach combines obsessive historical research with a slightly subversive take on “the classics.”
Jack has received industry praise for his design work across apparel, watches, footwear, luggage, and accessories, and he and his work have been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New Yorker, The London Times, Vanity Fair, Foreign Policy, Monocle, Antiquity, The New England Classical Journal, Hypebeast, and GQ.
Jack has designed pieces that have been worn by Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keith Richards, Dwyane Wade, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Mindy Kaling, Chloë Sevigny, Russell Westbrook, BTS, Tan France, B.J. Novak, Carmelo Anthony, Ashley Graham, Lukas Gage, Maude Apatow, Randall Park, Wayne Diamond, Henry Eikenberry, Millie Bobby Brown, Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Seth Curry, Ziwe Fumudoh, Jordan Clarkson, Will Ferrell, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Charles Melton, Chris Eubanks, Sebastian Croft, Christian Pulisic, Blanca Miro, Russell Tovey, Donovan Mitchell, Whitney Peak, Tom Daley, Madelaine Petsch, Toro y Moi, Ronny Chieng, Romeo Beckham, Tracy Morgan, Joey King, Cam Norrie, Bara Strycova, Devin Booker, Vampire Weekend, Glass Animals, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Adam Scott, David Byrne, Dax Shepard, Daya, Hart Denton, Vic Mensa, Jules LeBlanc, Asa Butterfield, Mario Carbone, Thundercat, A$AP Nast, Suki Waterhouse, Macklemore, Pete Davidson, and Emily Ratajkowski, among many other luminaries. He has also designed uniforms and apparel for a wide variety of organizations, including Harvard University, Cambridge University, the U.S. rugby team, and the New Zealand and El Salvador Olympic teams.
A three-time member of the U.S. national rowing team, Jack won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships and won both the Head of the Charles and Henley Royal Regatta in 2013. In 2023, Jack trekked to the South Pole with his seventy-two year old dad.
Jack has a doctorate in archaeology from Oxford and an undergraduate degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. He worked as a field archaeologist in Italy and has written on a variety of topics, from iron age weapons to the Arch of Constantine. His interests include the visual and sartorial trappings of status and power; the art and archaeology of the ancient world, especially the Roman and Chinese empires; heraldry (the study of coats of arms); vexillology (the study of flags); and the modern history of men’s clothing, from tailoring to sportswear and streetwear.
Jack is a Fellow of The Explorers Club, the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Asiatic Society, and the Royal Numismatic Society; and a Life Member of the Archaeological Institute of America, Oxford University Boat Club, and the I.B.F. at Harry’s Bar in Paris. Jack also serves on the board of Row New York, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young people through the sport of rowing regardless of background or ability.