A little less than three months after selling a majority stake to Burch Creative Capital and partners Tom Vellios, cofounder of Five Below, and Jason Epstein, partner at Stonecourt Capital, Rowing Blazers has named a new chief executive officer.
The popular preppy-inspired brand is bringing Laura Willensky on board to helm the business, which was founded in 2017 by Jack Carlson, who has a Ph.D. in archaeology from Oxford University, was a coxswain on the U.S. national rowing team and is the author of “A Humorous Guide to Heraldry” and “Rowing Blazers,” a coffee-table book about the “authentic striped, piped, trimmed and badged” jackets worn by oarsman around the world.
Willensky, who has worked at J.Crew, Victoria’s Secret Beauty, Talbots and Away, is credited with helping lead Madewell, a division of J.Crew, and children’s brand Janie and Jack from launch to profitability. Carlson will continue to serve as creative director and his cofounder, David Rosenzweig, continues as director of strategy.
“I am incredibly inspired by everything that Jack and the Rowing Blazers team have achieved, and I see a clear opportunity to grow the business through amazing products and an unmatched experience for our customers,” Willensky said. “I am eager to lead the brand through such an exciting period of growth and expansion — both into new product categories and new markets.”
When the acquisition was announced at the end of February, Burch Capital said plans including significantly expanding its women’s line, opening a new flagship in New York and hiring additional employees.
At the time, Grant Simm, the former chief financial officer of Aimé Leon Dore, joined Rowing Blazers as CFO.
It plans to maintain Rowing Blazers’ irreverent fashion sensibility as well as its strong collaboration partners, which have ranged from Target, Tudor, Seika and Tag Heuer to Gucci.
Burch Creative Capital, an investment firm whose portfolio includes Staud, Solid & Striped, Danielle Guizio, BaubleBar and Tory Burch, was founded by Chris Burch, who cofounded Tory Burch as well as Eagle’s Eye, a novelty sweater brand.
“We are so excited to have Laura join Rowing Blazers as our CEO,” says Chris Burch, founder of Burch Creative Capital. “I am confident that her track record in apparel and deep experience as a merchant will have an incredible impact on our customers, our community and our business.”
