Gladwell Clothing founder and creative director Marco Gladwell wanted to bring a line of apparel to the East End market which represents the groove of day-to-day life in the Hamptons. He recently partnered with fashion designer Christina Lehr to launch the “Hamptons Hobby Club” line that includes hooded sweatshirts, with an unmistakeable logo created with Gladwell’s 12-year-old nephew Milano Karnaby. We spoke to Gladwell to learn more about the project.
Tell us a little about your background and what brought you to this point.
After high school, I attended Tulane University and then went on to law school in DC. After completing law school, I went on to work in finance in Manhattan, trading equities, and eventually raising money for large private placement deals. After years of hustle, the city and finance stopped serving a purpose for me and I wanted out. To that end, in 2014 I found an amazing beach cottage at the end of Gerard Drive in the Springs — a truly special place, and I started transitioning my life to the East End. The next few years, I spent summers here and then in 2018, just before Covid, I moved out here full time.
Tell us about your brand and the inspiration behind it.
This property went on to become a massive part of my life — setting me on a spiritual journey that changed my life and set me on track to start the Hobby Club. The skies on Gerard Drive are truly special and in my opinion some of the most beautiful in the world. The colors I’ve seen for years under the Gerard skies served as the inspiration of the colors of the Hobby Club Hoodies. Specifically, the Gerard Drive Hoodie, which is a hand-worked dye technique meant to mimic the skies of Gerard Drive. Each hoodie is truly one of a kind. I worked with a dye house in Long Island City to get a cloud effect on the hoodies which was not easy and took a lot of trial and error. Eventually we hit on the right Pantone that was able to give us the effect that we were looking for. Each hoodie is custom dyed and then color removed by hand to give the rounded cloud look.
How was the Hobby Club born?
The logo of Hamptons Hobby Club was designed by my nephew Milano Karnaby, 12, and I. His handwriting is the writing of the logo! The smiley was designed as way to show that life is a little crazy sometimes, messy. That life isn’t perfect. That the goal is to smile but getting that smile is sometimes tough. This interpretation is represented in the asymmetrical eyes, smile, and writing.
The Hobby Club really came together as a way to represent positive people doing positive things, our motto. Essentially, the club is a state of mind in a way. It is a way of life and I wanted to create a way for people to be a part of something fun but inclusive. So many of the “clubs” on the East End are elitist institutions that exclude and I wanted to do the opposite. I want to create a brand that not only signaled community but actually was founded with community in mind.
You also have a collaboration with Made Out East, creating a special edition sweatshirt inspired by Ghostface from “SCREAM.” Talk a little about this project.
We partnered with local filmmaker Sam Pezz for the Made Out East Hoodie. A collaborative hoodie meant to raise money for “Scream: The Musical, The Movie,” Sam’s film. The collaboration was an enormous success, nearly selling out within the first 24 hours and raising thousands of dollars. Not to mention, from a design perspective the hoodies look amazing! I’m wearing mine right now as I type this. We will continue to collaborate with other local brands, clubs, and businesses.
Where can we find your hooded sweatshirts on the East End?
We have set up a Hobby Club Clubhouse at Sagtown Collective, the retail space joined with Sagtown Coffee. It has a real club house, hang-out vibe. Although the collection of hats and hoodies is on sale and have been flying off the shelves, the best part is that the Hobby Club found its home. It’s in a space of positive people doing positive things and the hats and hoodies are truly loved. There are people everywhere, laughing, enjoying life, making positive change and impacting each others lives. I’ve met some of my favorite people in this space.
It’s summer on the East End. What does your perfect day look like?
My perfect day on the East End would start with a sunrise at home on Gerard Drive. Get out on the water in either a paddle board or kayak when the bay is still quiet. Coffee and a post workout Baja Bowl at the Sagtown Collective for a morning hang out with the Hobby Club. Head over to Atlantic Ave Beach to hang out with a good book or podcast. Grab an afternoon snack just off the beach at Carissa’s, my absolute favorite. Head home slightly sunburned, put on Bob Dylan and drift off into an afternoon nap under a cool late afternoon breeze. Shower and then dinner at Duryea’s with friends. Every great day should end with dinner at Duryea’s. Meals at Duryea’s always bring me a reflective, “life is good” feel, an enormous sense of gratitude for my life, my family, my friends, and an excitement to do it all again.
Follow @hamptonshobbyclub or visit gladwellclothing.com.
