Trad Icon: Peter Kaplan

It’s been a while since I put the spotlight on an individual, but this guy deserves it. He not only knew trad like the back of his hand, but unlike a lot of people that know trad he knew how to look cool wearing it. He had a preference for tortoise shell glasses, khakis, and blue OCBDs (my kind of guy!). From the earliest pic I have seen of him (skateboard, striped tee, wallabees) until his untimely death in 2013 at the age of 59 he was cool.

If you don’t know Peter Kaplan here is a little background. At heart he was an old school journalist, but he is also known for moving journalism into the digital era. His father was the owner and president of clothing manufacturer Complex Industries Corp. This may have been where his interest in clothes began. He is a Harvard grad so there’s that too (his roommate was RFK JR. btw). He went on to become editor-in chief of the New York Observer for 15 years. This is where he hired freelance writer Candace Bushnell who wrote the column, “Sex and the City.” After that he was editorial director of Fairchild Fashion Group where he oversaw the relaunch of M magazine. If you are reading this blog you may recognize his name from his epitaph on The Trad by John Tinseth which you can read here.