The Tamesis
J. Press is ready to take back its turf. The American Ivy prepster brand, founded in 1902 in New Haven, Connecticut, has fallen silent in the United States, despite the growing popularity of the aesthetic it founded and significant growth in Japan. With the arrival of new creative director Jack Carlson, who founded and sold modern prep brand Rowing Blazers and earned a spot on the New York Fashion Week calendar, the comeback is about to take center stage.
Carlson joined the company six months ago and sees today’s New York Fashion Week show as an opportunity to make a statement. “J. Press is the last brand of its kind standing. I think it should really take on that role and take on that responsibility,” he said. One of his first moves after joining was to hold a fashion show at New York Fashion Week in September. This season, it’s one of the few menswear brands on the calendar. The brand prioritizes cut and fit. Most of its products are still made in the United States by American factories and manufacturers. “If you want to be the standard bearer for American men’s wear, you should be the standard bearer for American men’s wear during New York Fashion Week,” Carlson said.
Carlson was hired by Japanese owner Onward Holdings, which also owns British brand Joseph, to modernize the preppy sleeper brand. Carlson was chosen in part for his ability to appeal to younger consumers to this unique aesthetic. Carlson founded collegiate-inspired Rowing Blazers in 2017, built it into a well-known and sometimes viral brand (remember Princess Diana’s cardigans?), and sold it to Burch Creative Capital in 2024 for an undisclosed amount. He exited the label in 2025 and joined J. Press later that year. At Rowing Blazers, Carlson helped spearhead a renaissance of Ivy League style among younger shoppers. Now, he’s tasked with getting J. Press to adapt to the change.
Fortunately for him, consumers are gravitating toward American sportswear and Ivy style. “As consumers become more educated and this look becomes more mainstream, the reach and appeal of J. Press will be a game changer,” he said. “It’s the embodiment of 2026 Ivy style, but it doesn’t feel stuffy, it doesn’t feel like cosplay, and it doesn’t feel like it’s something that’s just been recycled.”
Carlson’s second series was inspired by the book Take ivy as an examplea 1965 Japanese book that chronicles preppy, college fashion on American Ivy League campuses throughout the 1960s. It was a fitting muse for Carlson, who joined a brand known for American preppy style — founded by J. Press at Yale University in 1902 — that has been owned by Japanese clothing company Onward Holdings since 1986.
