ROWING BLAZERS X BABAR SKI

We’re excited to announce the release of another installment in our ongoing collaboration with everyone’s favorite fictional elephant, Babar. The new ski-themed winter capsule builds off of last year’s popular Babar Ski collection, and is largely inspired by the 1966 book Babar Fait du Ski.

The predominantly black, white, red and yellow collection features new designs along with favorites from last year’s popular collaboration, including heavyweight rugby jerseys knit on vintage looms; a crewneck sweatshirt, a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of joggers in reverse-woven French terry; snapover polar fleeces; lambswool beanies; cotton twill caps; a graphic cotton tee shirt; and a heavy duty canvas tote bag; highlights include a polar fleece cap with earflaps and a lambswool sweater and mittens based on an outfit worn by Babar in Babar Fait du Ski, and a quilted poly fill-lined technical ski jacket featuring sleeve gussets, zippered pockets and embroidered patches.

Babar the Elephant first appeared in the 1931 French children’s book Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, inspired by a story his wife Cecile invented for their children. Brunhoff and his son Laurent developed Babar’s rich world in a series of subsequent books, which came to encompass glamorous, mid-century jet-set travel; family dramas and diversions; feasts and parties; and, occasionally, even matters of state. Babar first took to the slopes in 1966’s Babar Fait du Ski.

“I’VE WANTED TO PRODUCE A BABAR SKI CAPSULE FOR A LONG TIME, BOTH CREATING SKI AND APRÈS PIECES EMBLAZONED WITH THE ILLUSTRATIONS, AS WELL AS RECREATING PEICES FROM THE BOOKS THEMSELVES, LIKE BABAR’S GEOMETRIC SKI JUMPER, MATCHING MITTENS, AND HIS RED HAT WITH THE EAR FLAPS — HOW WERE THEY SUPPOSED TO COVER HIS ELEPHANT EARS, ANYWAY?”

“Babar has always been one of my favorite characters in all of literature,” says Rowing Blazers creative director and founder Jack Carlson. “He’s stylish, kind, worldly - all the things I aspired to be when I was growing up. Some of my favorite Babar illustrations are those of Babar skiing. I’ve wanted to produce a Babar ski capsule for a long time, both creating ski and après pieces emblazoned with the illustrations, as well as recreating pieces from the books themselves, like Babar’s geometric ski jumper, matching mittens, and his red hat with the ear flaps (how were they supposed to cover his elephant ears anyway?). That’s what we’ve done in this collection, and it’s one of my favorite collections we’ve ever produced.”