Carson Street Clothiers

Early sunrise on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Sat, 18 May 2013 05:05:10 -0400

Early sunrise on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Hard Bottoms: Loake 1880.

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:54:31 -0400

Hard Bottoms: Loake 1880.

New accessories from Daines and Hathaway. iPad cases, valet tray...

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:00:07 -0400

New accessories from Daines and Hathaway. iPad cases, valet tray and iPhone cases now available. 🙌

Meet the Designer: Adam Brown

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:25:00 -0400

About a year ago today, we reached out to style icon and friend of CSC, Nick Wooster, to introduce us to Adam Brown, founder of sportswear label Orlebar Brown, to discuss our plans to launch CSC and the possibility of carrying his label. Back to the present, we are entering our third season’s buy with Orlebar Brown and are extremely proud to be stockists of the label.

Adam was kind enough to answer some questions we had about his past, present and future at Orlebar. We promise to follow up with some Instagram and other social media when the trade show and fashion week circuits kick in next month. Promise.

Carson Street Clothiers: Last year you celebrated Orlebar Brown’s 5th anniversary. You’ve really taken luxury menswear by storm over that time. How did this all start?

Adam Brown: That is very kind of you to say; it has been a great few years. I am sure part of it is smoke and mirrors but obviously I am really pleased with the way things have gone. My background was not in fashion. I was a photographer and although the original idea came from a particular holiday, it really was essentially about spotting a gap in the market and going with a gut feeling. In 2005 I came up with the idea for a more tailored approach to swim shorts; the short you could wear on and off the beach. I spent 18 months sourcing fabric and trims, finding factories, designing logos, creating branding, packaging, the website etc. The main problem was finding a good factory (you should have seen some of the samples we got back). But once that was done, then it was nothing more sophisticated then getting 1000 units made, putting them into my spare room and starting to sell. We launched online but currently have three stores in London and 250 stockists around the world. Including great stores such as Carson Street Clothiers of course.

CSC: What is your first memory regarding men’s clothing? Did you always want to be a designer?

AB: My first real moment was walking down the Kings Road in London during the late 1970′s with my mother and staring in awe at all the punks. Coming from quite a middle class background outside London, I was completely bowled over by the bravery, colour and life they seemed to exude. Completely fabulous and very different to anything I had seen in home counties England. And no, OB was never really about wanting to be a designer but more about wanting to make something that reflected a way of life, a life I wanted to live.

CSC: Orlebar Brown will always be associated with luxury swimwear. However, your entire product range has done very well at Carson Street. How did you get into designing full collections?

AB: The OB classic shorts are still a big part of the business and I think we will always be known for the Bulldog (mid-length) and Setter (shorter) shorts. In 2010 we took OB off the beach, out of the pool and into the resort with our first tees, polos and other shirts. The range has since expanded into a whole holiday, resort and travel lifestyle offering. I love the way these other products are bringing the whole brand to life. In just a couple of years, the tees and polos already account for a large proportion of sales and I think this is showing the real direction that we are going. The Tommy tees and Bobby v-necks are my favourite T-shirts.

CSC: Are there any particular difficulties in designing a collection around resort wear? For instance, how do you draw inspiration for your fall/winter collections?

AB: Sure, seasonality is sometimes a challenge but not as much as you would think. The OB customer travels all year and OB follows the sun around the world. Also the anchor for Orlebar Brown is that idea of transition. As the shorts are to be worn on and off the beach, the shirts, jackets and chinos should see you from home to holiday, work to play, day to night, sun lounger to sun downer and into the more autumn months. The collection now includes sweats, jackets and even our first light weight jackets. Although all based around the theme of travelling in style, they are also ideal for layering up and keeping warm.

CSC: Can you give us a sneak peak as to what you have in store for spring/summer ’14?

AB: Might be a bit far in advance to give too many secrets away so you will have to watch this space. But just to give you a bit of a teaser, think Monaco. Spring 14 will be taking OB further into new fabric bases, silhouettes and colours.

CSC: You are one of the very first designers we met with before we launched CSC. Be honest, what was going through your head while we first spoke?

AB: We knew that anyone introduced to us by Nick Wooster would do a great job.

CSC: How do you see Orlebar Brown evolving over the next 5 years?

AB: Although we have come so far in such a short (!?!) space of time, I think we have barely scratched the surface of what we could be doing. So much of the story is left to tell, but I don’t see why OB won’t expand the lifestyle brand further with sunglasses, footwear, more accessories and skin care; the whole “way of life.” We can but dream, which I suppose is where the whole OB story began.

MISMO: Scandinavian Minimalists.

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:21:03 -0400

MISMO: Scandinavian Minimalists.

Who wore it best? Charlie Brown, Michael Bastian FW 12 or Monty,...

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:47:09 -0400

Who wore it best? Charlie Brown, Michael Bastian FW 12 or Monty, one of the neighborhood pups.

details: In Brief: Target x Philip Lim, Ottavio Missoni’s...

Fri, 10 May 2013 20:55:53 -0400

details:

In Brief: Target x Philip Lim, Ottavio Missoni’s Incredible Past, Frieze New York Art Fair. Check it out on our blog.

Yanko at Carson Street.

Guncheck, a personal favorite! - MB

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:18:42 -0400

Guncheck, a personal favorite! - MB

New drop of summer blazers. Get some color for the warmer...

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:16:53 -0400

New drop of summer blazers. Get some color for the warmer weather.

Pre-Memorial Day white denim from Ian Velardi, silk cotton crew...

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:17:56 -0400

Pre-Memorial Day white denim from Ian Velardi, silk cotton crew from Inis Meain, CSC college stripe OCBD, McNairy blue suede longwings and grey suede belt from Cuisse de Grenouille. Killer.

Pitti Uomo luncheon at Il Cantinori

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:31:14 -0400

Pitti Uomo luncheon at Il Cantinori

The Most Important Woman in Your Life: Mother’s Day...

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:46:15 -0400

The Most Important Woman in Your Life: Mother’s Day Recommendations.

No Structure, All Class: L.B.M. 1911 now available at CSC.

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:32:08 -0400

No Structure, All Class: L.B.M. 1911 now available at CSC.

Santa Maria Novella: Four Hundred Years of Bottled Perfection

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:20:28 -0400

Santa Maria Novella: Four Hundred Years of Bottled Perfection

We’ve all seen King James’ MVP acceptance...

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:43:49 -0400

We’ve all seen King James’ MVP acceptance look…now cop it! @ovadiaandsons Bedford paisley shirt now available at CSC!

New CSC patch pocket chinos now available in Coy, Navy, Stone,...

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:05:38 -0400

New CSC patch pocket chinos now available in Coy, Navy, Stone, Sahara and Lovat. Get some!

Your weekend window display at CSC: new Carson Street patch...

Sat, 04 May 2013 09:12:16 -0400

Your weekend window display at CSC: new Carson Street patch pocket chinos in Coy and pink plaid blazer by Southwick leading the way.

A beautiful day in Central Park.

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:03:59 -0400

A beautiful day in Central Park.

vurton: Estudio 41 Inspiration for Goldeneye 007?

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:27:37 -0400

vurton:

Estudio 41

Inspiration for Goldeneye 007?

WANT les Essentiels de la Vie accessories will keep you...

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:36:45 -0400

WANT les Essentiels de la Vie accessories will keep you ffffresh: Trudeau briefcase, Kimpo card case, Kennedy wallet clip and Narita iPad case now available at CSC!