June arrived with a letter of introduction in my inbox from Logan Szidik, a young style entrepreneur looking to corner the market on preppy dog collars. No kidding: Szidik, a 23-year-old who graduated last year from the University of Vermont, has launched a collection called Logan Richard featuring collars for canines and belts for humans. I asked him to tell us more. — CC
* * *
IS: How did Logan Richard come about?
LS: I began making belts the summer of my freshman year in college while living on Cape Cod. I was working at the Hyannisport Gold Club, and became inspired by some of the older golfers who dressed unapologetically preppy on the course. I had a few of my old ties from boarding school sewn onto belts by a leather-worker in West Yarmouth, and realized that I might be on to something.
IS: And the dog angle?
LS: I’m a huge dog person, and the dog accessories became the main focus of the project when I realized there was nothing quite like them available on the market. The idea is to be able to match your furry best friend, while showing that you and your pooch both appreciate the timeless aesthetic of New England. I chose silk, because there just seems to be something about the unmistakable quality and sheen of the fiber not seen in any other fabric. Pair a material as beautiful as silk with the traditional Ivy League-inspired stripes and tartans and you have a product that will set your dog away from the rest of the pack. A gentleman should have the option to equip his dog with the same high-quality products that he himself wears.
IS: Where do you get the materials?
LS: The leather I source is genuine American, vegetable tanned leather of equestrian quality. The silk is sourced from a 17th-century mill in England, and is hand-sewn onto each product right here in Vermont.
IS: What’s next for you?
LS: A selection of fall designs will be released in October. Look out for a tweed and some fun motif fabrics. Down the road I will slowly continue to release limited collections on the website, as well as through select retailers. College and boarding school prints may be available in the future as well, although no time frame has been determined. I am currently working to identify and reach out to a handful of schools.
I run the business entirely on my own. I still have a long way to go, but this is my passion and I plan to pursue it as long as I am able.
My dogs have plaid collars right now, but in nylon. I like the blackwatch, but these don’t look durable enough, especially for the price. My dogs, non preppy terriers, are very rough on collars and leashes, what with wrestling, etc.
What a fuddy-duddy jerk you sound like! First off he’s 23 and fit (you’re neither), second this is about his entrepreneurship and you felt motivated to leave a comment nit-picking his trouser rise? Seriously?
“Low-rise trousers are most certainly not “classic New England”.” I’d expect nothing less from the circle-jerk of purists that dot the landscape of the Ivy/Trad world.
Having said that, the leashes look quite well made and are appealing. I’m sure the leather only gets better with age.
His products look very nice. My only criticism would be to be more descriptive on his product pages. It’s good he mentions the quality of the materials, but I’d like to know the widths and color of the leather, images can be deceiving. What he is doing he is doing well, good luck to him.
He is not alone, many times I probably would purchase ties online, but the seller doesn’t give tie widths.
Do high rise have something to do with New England in 2015? I prefer a high rise as well, but not because I have a MA driver’s license. I think they look better.
Good for this kid, not something I’d buy for myself, but a really bright spot of young entrepreneurship in this age of extended adolescence.
Brooks Brothers sells a wool, signature tartan dog leash. They also sell a matching dog vest. Perfect for a light-colored Scottish terrier on a rainy day.
@ Dutch Uncle: Christian responded perfectly. That statement doesn’t deserve a response.
Anyway, I have been looking at similar leashes and collars for my Scottish Terrier on Etsy for some time now. Nylon leashes are fine since he is still a pup, but I would prefer something a little nicer for him when he is grown. If nothing else, a leather and silk leash would look better on top of my mantel between dog walks than that ratty old nylon one.
I’m happy that this young guy is building his own business. However these dog products are totally unusable for any working or hunting dogs. My pointer would ruin this *silk* collar in about a day. I couldn’t even imagine the comments I would get sitting in a duck blind or walking into an upland field with my dog wearing a preppy tartan collar!!!
Our Jack Russells would shred these in very short order, but they’re much more destructive than the big dogs we had when I was a kid. If we had more suitable dogs I might seriously consider buying something like these.
Living in California, our JRs aren’t fond of extremes of weather and actually refuse to go for walks if the temperature varies from 72F by more than about 10 degrees. I personally think their Barbour dog jackets (my wife’s idea) are a bit ridiculous, but the dogs seem to disagree. Ditto for their dog sweaters. It’s California, for goodness sake!
Well done young man – it is so nice to see young people with some flair and ideas who put them in to reality. It is tough out there but never give up and please pay not attention to the rather rude comments.
What did raise my curiosity was your mention of ‘became inspired by some of the older golfers who dressed unapologetically preppy on the course’. Being British i immediately thought – now those images i would like to see. How about getting some of the more stylish preppy men to be props for you in some of your selling images? And how about a book – unless of course Christian’s golf book covers this?
Christian – any images going from your golf book which i am sure i read you wrote? If full of good images i may just purchase it.
Keep up the excellent work chaps
BV
MAC, it’s a cherished English garden, not a doggie compound. Having waged war on them over the years, I now just sternly admonish them. We even get a dialogue going now and again, accompanied by much frenzied tail-swishing; but Squirrel Nutkin they are not.
“Oh, you think you’re preppy because you have a bulldog? Well, MY bulldog has a blackwatch collar, so take THAT!”
My dogs have plaid collars right now, but in nylon. I like the blackwatch, but these don’t look durable enough, especially for the price. My dogs, non preppy terriers, are very rough on collars and leashes, what with wrestling, etc.
He said equestrian-quality leather. Are your dogs tougher than a horse?
http://www.loganrichard.com/my-story/
Low-rise trousers are most certainly not “classic New England”.
What a fuddy-duddy jerk you sound like! First off he’s 23 and fit (you’re neither), second this is about his entrepreneurship and you felt motivated to leave a comment nit-picking his trouser rise? Seriously?
“Low-rise trousers are most certainly not “classic New England”.” I’d expect nothing less from the circle-jerk of purists that dot the landscape of the Ivy/Trad world.
Having said that, the leashes look quite well made and are appealing. I’m sure the leather only gets better with age.
His products look very nice. My only criticism would be to be more descriptive on his product pages. It’s good he mentions the quality of the materials, but I’d like to know the widths and color of the leather, images can be deceiving. What he is doing he is doing well, good luck to him.
He is not alone, many times I probably would purchase ties online, but the seller doesn’t give tie widths.
I wish that someone had addressed my assertion that low-rise trousers are not classic, and that they have nothing to do with New England.
Do high rise have something to do with New England in 2015? I prefer a high rise as well, but not because I have a MA driver’s license. I think they look better.
Good for this kid, not something I’d buy for myself, but a really bright spot of young entrepreneurship in this age of extended adolescence.
Brooks Brothers sells a wool, signature tartan dog leash. They also sell a matching dog vest. Perfect for a light-colored Scottish terrier on a rainy day.
@ Dutch Uncle: Christian responded perfectly. That statement doesn’t deserve a response.
Anyway, I have been looking at similar leashes and collars for my Scottish Terrier on Etsy for some time now. Nylon leashes are fine since he is still a pup, but I would prefer something a little nicer for him when he is grown. If nothing else, a leather and silk leash would look better on top of my mantel between dog walks than that ratty old nylon one.
I’m happy that this young guy is building his own business. However these dog products are totally unusable for any working or hunting dogs. My pointer would ruin this *silk* collar in about a day. I couldn’t even imagine the comments I would get sitting in a duck blind or walking into an upland field with my dog wearing a preppy tartan collar!!!
Looks quite good so far.
Good luck to the young man. Perhaps he will innovate some new material. I believe tattersall came from a horse blanket.
Am I the only one who’s wondering exactly what the “Men’s Belt And Leash Set” and the “Woman’s Belt And Collar Set” are?
I love the look of that repp tie leash… that would look great as a belt..
best of luck to the young entrepreneur.. I hope the product line takes off!
Robert
Check out the site, he does very good belts.
Our Jack Russells would shred these in very short order, but they’re much more destructive than the big dogs we had when I was a kid. If we had more suitable dogs I might seriously consider buying something like these.
Living in California, our JRs aren’t fond of extremes of weather and actually refuse to go for walks if the temperature varies from 72F by more than about 10 degrees. I personally think their Barbour dog jackets (my wife’s idea) are a bit ridiculous, but the dogs seem to disagree. Ditto for their dog sweaters. It’s California, for goodness sake!
Well done young man – it is so nice to see young people with some flair and ideas who put them in to reality. It is tough out there but never give up and please pay not attention to the rather rude comments.
What did raise my curiosity was your mention of ‘became inspired by some of the older golfers who dressed unapologetically preppy on the course’. Being British i immediately thought – now those images i would like to see. How about getting some of the more stylish preppy men to be props for you in some of your selling images? And how about a book – unless of course Christian’s golf book covers this?
Christian – any images going from your golf book which i am sure i read you wrote? If full of good images i may just purchase it.
Keep up the excellent work chaps
BV
I think my dogs are tougher than a horse. They grab and bite each other’s collars and leashes.
The silk would be savaged by my CKCCS’s peregrinations through briars and brush. Seems to be a rather meretricious offering.
We’ve no dog, nor cat, only a couple of grey tree rats who belt up and down our garden.
These aren’t meant to be field tack.
Bags’
Get a ratting breed and a good fence, sit back and watch.
MAC, it’s a cherished English garden, not a doggie compound. Having waged war on them over the years, I now just sternly admonish them. We even get a dialogue going now and again, accompanied by much frenzied tail-swishing; but Squirrel Nutkin they are not.
Hoping some day to get a golden retriever pup from my neighbor, if they mate their beautiful “girl.” I’ll get one of the leashes, really nice.