Today’s post is dedicated to what I consider to be one of the coolest lines of clothing out there for men: Rogues Gallery. Started by Alex Carleton, a former senior designer for L.L. Bean, the clothing line is inspired by New England maritime culture.  We’re not talking standard-fare yaughting prepster wear, this line has hipster edge that goes far beyond the boat shoe. 

During its early seasons, Rogues Gallery became the purveyor of what was cool, innovative and fresh in the mens graphic tee world. It has since explanded to become an entire line of clothing including pants and outerwear. Carleton runs the entire clothing line out of his headquarters in Portland- they even hand screen print all of the tees there. Most pieces have a distressed vintage, worn-in feel and seriously cool labels. Carleton pays attention to the details and makes the details important.

On the origin of his business:

“Winters are long here—and dark—and I definitely had a lot more free time on my hands. I started getting back into making stuff, and using my interest in history and collecting junk, and put that together with some apparel design concepts, and that pretty much was the origin of Rogues Gallery.”

Carleton on his graphic tees:

“Every season I ask myself and the small team here, ‘What is new about the T-shirt?’ We start by developing a color palette that relates to whatever story we’re interested in talking about, whether it’s a huntsman or a whaling story. And then we’ll start incorporating new ways of labeling or marking the T-shirts, and then of course the graphics.”

Carleton on inspiration:

“I’m a huge collector, and I’m trucking around the NE all the time. Rummaging, going to flea markets—I’m totally into old shit. So I’ll collect something, especially old textiles, and we’ll say ‘Ok, we’re gonna do a limited-edition of, like, 200 vintage Americana blanket bags.’ I’m interested in the origins of clothing, whether it’s a Jersey sweater, an Aran Isles sweater, but then how do we make that modern, how do we make that cool, how does it become Rogues Gallery?”

Carleton

Look from the Spring/Summer 2010 look book

The Portland, ME showroom