How Carlos Nazario is Redefining Luxury Outerwear with Moose Knuckles

Carlos Nazario has some very stylish friends. When the lauded fashion editor and celebrity stylist joined Canadian outerwear brand Moose Knuckles last year as Global Artistic Director, the luxury brand didn’t just acquire his striking vision. He also brought his talented global network and strong collaborative spirit.

“I’ve been working in fashion since I was 18, and I’ve always been fascinated by what everyone else does in their role,” says Nazario, seated on a couch in the new Moose Knuckles flagship at Royalmount shopping centre, not far from the brand’s Montreal HQ. “Learning from different people excites me, that energy exchange.”

It’s a far cry from the myth of the singular genius or enfant terrible that can plague the fashion world. In fact, it was this craving for collaboration that convinced Nazario to work with Moose Knuckles in the first place—right around the time they launched a line with ultra-coveted bag brand Telfar.

“Telfar is a really good friend of mine, so that’s what sold me on it, that kind of culture” reveals Nazario.

When he kicked off his role with a 2023 marketing campaign, he called on his community, including Mustafa the Poet, whom he’d met in Paris (“I didn’t even realize he was from Toronto at the time, which is surprising because he wears it on his sleeve!” confesses Nazario) alongside icon Alanis Morissette, as well as American multi-hyphenate models like boxer Javon Walton and skateboarder Beatrice Domond. The campaign was shot on the streets of New York, where Nazario grew up. And which, he points out, is a surprisingly perfect place to showcase winter gear that’s both fashionable and functional.

“People don’t think of New York as outdoorsy, but we’re a commuting city, so we’re always outside waiting for the bus, walking,” says Nazario. “Growing up, my coat was all people saw of me five months a year. It had to keep me warm but also make me look cool.”

Most recently, he called on friend Vito Fernicola to shoot the campaign for Moose Lab, the brand’s new platform for creative collaborations. The debut, 12-piece collection comes care of Nazario himself, with key pieces including a military-inspired leather flight suit and candy pink shearling jacket (Kim Kardashian is rumoured to have snagged one already). Nazario says he could trust in the brand’s famed heritage and quality, including luxe materials like Mongolian wool and traceable shearling, and focus on the essence of his first collection. “In one word, glamour.”

A notable detail: It’s all unisex. Not that it was planned that way. Instead, Nazario says he went out in two of the samples—a long black shearling coat and a cropped pink biker jacket—and “Both men and women wanted to know where I got them.”

Nazario has also been a crucial visionary for the brand’s evolving brick-and-mortar stores, infusing them with his globetrotting lifestyle, art collector’s eye, and trailblazing taste. The first Moose Knuckles store was opened in 2016 at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and there are now over 30 worldwide, plus regular pop-up shops.

“I’m from the generation where you had to be there to experience something, to see the trends, to watch a band play,” he muses. “Going to the mall was a rite of passage as a teen. I remember going to Barney’s with my mom for the first time, the salespeople offering her champagne, taking her coat. It’s a human exchange you can’t replicate online.”

Highlights at the Royalmount store include the couch where he’s seated—a patchwork of repurposed Moose Knuckles coats (his idea) – and a “skylight” video installation that shifts with weather patterns. There’s also a custom, locally crafted air hockey table and artwork from Montreal muralist Stikki Peaches. The mood is very Canada meets the world, urban meets outdoors, luxurious meets laid-back.

“I wanted it to feel like a cool friend’s apartment,” says Nazario. It’s safe to say he’s pulled it off, and then some.