Robert Earl Couture

If you ever need any career advice, look no further than to Robert Earl.

His words? “Just go for it, man.”

The 38-year-old former TV personality recently kicked off his very own clothing line, Robert Earl Couture, based in La Jolla, Calif., under that very motto.

Robert Earl Couture is—now, at least—a line of limited run T-shirts for men and women, featuring funky and fresh designs. To add to the exclusive quality of the line, each shirt is personally signed by Earl himself.

Earl says that the line of clothing was born out of a penchant for fun and eccentric fashion, not for money.

“I’ve always dressed crazy my whole life, so I wanted to do something that was fun and created a great vibe,” he said. “All those big companies are like machines; I want to stick to small business so that our stuff will never be a mass-produced thing.”

The brand — 5 years old in idea, but just over a year old in practice — currently features about 15 men’s shirts and 21 women’s shirts, sporting all kinds of designs from Faux Pockets and Faux Collars, to the substantially popular Poka Poka Dot pattern.
“I want to stick to small business so that our stuff will never be a mass-produced thing,” Earl said. Having already been featured in several publications, including InStyle, 944 and Riviera, Robert Earl Couture is on its way up in the fashion world. Earl credits the recent publicity for his brand’s growing popularity.

"We were really just fooling around here," he said. "We bought a printer and a silk screening machine, and made a few shirts. When InStyle got a hold of some, they put us in the issue, and then they started to sell."

His future plans include adding on several other accessories, as well some new designs.

"Now that we’ve touched on this stuff, I’d really like to do a whole other line of men’s and women’s clothing," said Earl. "I’d like it all to be an eclectic mix of products that I really like."

Earl isn’t necessarily rising to stardom for the first time through his new fashion venture, however; he’s already been a star of some sorts for over 10 years. As the main host of ESPN’s X-Games for its first seven years, Earl broke out into the world of extreme sports broadcasting. After his relatively long run at the X-Games, he experienced a stint as the host of a short-lived extreme sports show on ESPN, Brave New World. Additionally, he hosted Tony Hawk’s Gigantic Skatepark Tour on EXPN, gaining further notoriety as an easy-going, fun-loving TV personality.

Earl brings the same attitude he threw in front of the camera into Robert Earl Couture; each T-shirt possesses some sort of unique, swanky quality, seemingly poking fun at the greater world of serious fashion.

“I’m going to make fun of the fashion world and have fun, so that everyone learns that you should love what you do,” he said. “It’s all about sending a message: do what you want to do.”