The latest addition to Rowing Blazers’ roster of independent designers is STAN, a brand by Los Angeles-based artist and surfer Tristan Detwiler. As fashion brands adapt to an uncertain future, Tristan’s inherently sustainable mission is to breathe life into vintage or antique textiles, upscaling them into eccentric, one-of-a-kind jackets hand-made in LA. The result is a sort of material legacy, a wabi-sabi reworking of otherwise forgotten remnants. Did we mention that each jacket is outrageously fun, too?
Tristan Detweiler in one of his jackets; a STAN jacket in waxed cotton canvas with vintage Japanese kimono patches ($750). Tristan Detweiler, Rowing Blazers
“It’s humbling to work with Rowing Blazers,” Detwiler tells Robb Report, “being supported by a brand that shares our view on classic clothing construction obviously means a lot.” Once Detwiler is inspired by a unique fabric or garment he’s come across, his team puts in hours of work using vintage mending, quilting, and appliqué techniques to create STAN’s singular jackets. Wearing one is likely to invite admiring looks, although you’ll have to disappoint when someone asks where they can cop their own. As Detwiler says: “Once the jacket is gone, there is no other like it.”
Behind each piece lies a broader, more artful mission: “We try to marry sustainability and storytelling.” Generally, the two aren’t frequent bedfellows but STAN aims to make clothes that are as interesting as they are conscientious. To do this, Detwiler seeks out textiles with a surprising or noteworthy provenance. Take the Crazy Quilt piece, constructed using an all but forgotten 140-year-old technique—the very same quilting featured in an American textiles exhibition once held at the Smithsonian. Another, the Pineapple Quilt, is sewn using a 1930’s variant of the “log cabin” style, which has a striking, Native American undertone. Moreover, these are the kind of fabrics textile collectors spend years searching for, which makes a STAN jacket all the more satisfying to own.
A jacket featuring pineapple quilting ($1,350), as worn by Detweiler. Rowing Blazers, Tristan Detweiler
“Each fabric bears the mark of the past. Some have been gifted, tattered and passed down over generations,” Detwiler says. “Now I’m creating this piece that allows another person to continue and share this story, but in a different form.”
While each item is different, the general aesthetic of STAN’s wares is a boho-luxe surfer vibe, making them perfect additions to your casual wardrobe. True to character, one jacket is constructed from five different vintage surf trunks discovered in five different parts of the United States. “I grew up in San Diego, where waking up to a breakfast burrito and surfing were commonplace,” Detwiler notes. “So obviously, I wear STAN to the beach to hang out with friends.”
A jacket constructed from vintage surf trunks ($1,298); Detweiler in a jacket emblazoned with antique tobacciana ($2,500). Rowing Blazers, Tristan Detweiler
Although, the level of craftsmanship employed classifies each jacket as an artisanal luxury garment, too, with Detwiler suggesting that they work just as well for more formal events and nights out on the town—perhaps owing to a trend in upcycled, patchwork couture. Either way, the beauty of STAN’s creations is how they adapt to your life—whatever small stain or slight mend the jacket gets before you pass it on is like a terrazzo on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, a symbol of staying power and a very stylish rejection of throwaway fast fashion.
