Rowing Blazers x Babar

We've released our second collaboration with Babar: a unisex summer capsule for Babar's 90th anniversary. The capsule includes polos, hats, a t-shirt, a sweater, a crewneck, and a Babar the Elephant plush toy. The collection uses illustrations from the original Babar books by Jean de Brunhoff and his son, Laurent de Brunhoff, including an illustration of Babar riding a bicycle with a baguette in his bag and an iconic image of Babar with his family at a stylish 1960s pool party.

"Babar has always been one of my favorite characters in all of literature," says our founder Jack Carlson. "He's stylish, kind, worldly -- all the things I aspired to be when I was growing up. When we launched our collaboration with Babar this past winter, it was one of my favorite things Rowing Blazers has ever done, and I was so thrilled to see how well it resonated with our community. But the world of Babar is so rich, and we only scratched the surface." says Jack.

"The pool party illustration, from Laurent de Brunhoff's Babar Comes to America is one of my all-time favorites from the Babar canon. It looks like a Slim Aarons photograph. It looks like a scene from Mad Men (the episode where Don goes to Palm Springs). It's perfect," says Jack. "One of the greatest moments I've experienced since starting the brand was receiving a photograph of Laurent de Brunhoff himself wearing one of our Babar sweaters. He's 95 years old. His wife sent the photo, along with a signed book. That was a really special moment."