Rowing Blazers and Noah have teamed up to create a capsule collection that benefits Row New York - an NYC non-profit and after-school rowing and academic program for middle and high-school students, regardless of their background or ability. The program serves over 4,000 kids from all five boroughs, mostly from the city's under-resourced communities.
When Brendon (Babenzien, founder of Noah) and Jack (Carlson, founder of Rowing Blazers) met over a year ago, Row New York came up in conversation, and working together on a capsule to benefit the non-profit seemed like a natural fit for both.
Jack has been involved with supporting the program since he was a member of the US national rowing team, and for the past couple of years, Rowing Blazers has presented every high school senior at Row New York with a blazer hand-tailored just for them and with a symbol of their New York borough embroidered on the chest pocket. This seemed to be the perfect place to start building a small collection.
The collaboration includes five of each of the following (one for each borough): blazers, rugby shirts, hoodies, sweats, and tote bags. Each is emblazoned with an emblem adapted from the seals of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The hoodies feature the Latin proverb and RB motto, "Destitutus Ventis Remos Adhibe," "If the wind will not serve, take to the oars." The blazers and rugbies come in a navy, red, yellow and blue stripe designed for the collection; and the hoodies, sweats, and bags come in NYC borough colors.
Both Rowing Blazers and Noah are NYC-based brands, and it means a lot to both to be able to partner with a program that has a direct impact on the community in which they create. 100% of kids at Row New York graduate high school and 99% go on to college; 100% exceed the CDC's recommended daily activity levels. Needless to say, these are much higher than city averages. 84% of participants row for free, and 53% come from families with a household income under $30,000. Over half will become first generation college students.
15% of all sales from this collection will go directly to Row New York. The capsule launches Thursday October 18th at the NOAH and Rowing Blazers shops in New York, and online at noahny.com and rowingblazers.com.
