Tracksmith, one of running’s most influential independent brands, announced Tuesday that founder and longtime chief executive Matt Taylor is stepping aside from day-to-day leadership, appointing former Converse CEO Jared Carver to lead the company.
The move marks the first leadership change in Tracksmith’s more than decade-long history. Founded in 2014, the privately held company helped establish a modern playbook for independent running brands by pairing a premium price point with a distinctly New England, old-world aesthetic. In its early years, Tracksmith stood apart from the loud colors and aggressive styles that dominated running apparel at the time.
Tracksmith’s look was deliberately muted and restrained, closer to a modern reinterpretation of mid-century track style than contemporary performance wear. Combined with high-end technical fabrics, the aesthetic offered an alternative to the prevailing design language of the sport, which was then largely shaped by global sporting-goods companies such as Nike and Adidas.
From the outset, the company also leaned heavily into storytelling as a core strategy. Tracksmith published Meter, a quarterly print journal, and built limited-edition collections around major races, particularly the World Marathon Majors. Signature items such as the BQ Singlet helped reinforce the brand’s appeal to deeply engaged amateur runners and sub-elite athletes, rather than casual participants or lifestyle consumers.
That approach, combined with pop-up retail experiences around major races, helped Tracksmith gain traction and visibility without relying on traditional endorsement deals with top professional athletes. The brand emerged alongside the rapid growth of direct-to-consumer e-commerce, allowing it to reach a global audience without depending heavily on wholesale distribution.
The leadership change comes as many founder-led running brands face the more difficult phase of growth, with increased competition and greater operational demands. According to the company, the search for Taylor’s successor took just under a year and included interviews with multiple candidates.
Taylor, who founded Tracksmith along the Boston Marathon route in Wellesley, Mass., will remain with the company as chief creative officer, a newly created role, and retain his seat on Tracksmith’s board of directors. Tracksmith said Taylor will continue to oversee the brand’s creative direction and aesthetic, while Carver assumes responsibility for day-to-day operations and long-term business strategy.
“Over the last few years, I’ve strategically turned over parts of the day-to-day management and broader business direction to trusted members of my senior leadership team who have been pivotal to our most recent phase of growth,” Taylor said in a statement. “The last piece was bringing in a CEO who could help us achieve the brand’s full potential and allow me to focus on the areas where I thrive.”
Carver joins Tracksmith after more than two decades in senior leadership roles across consumer brands and brings deep ties to the Boston area, where he has lived for more than 30 years. Most recently, he served as the CEO of Converse, the Nike-owned footwear and apparel brand with more than 5,000 employees and annual revenue hovering around $2 billion. Carver worked in various leadership positions at Converse for 15 years, before becoming CEO in 2023. He stepped down from the slumping brand last July, but was praised for his leadership by Nike CEO Elliott Hill.
Carver will now move to considerably smaller, yet much more nimble company.
“I’m honored to join a brand so deeply rooted in running heritage,” Carver said. “As a Bostonian and a runner who draws inspiration from New England’s rich beauty, joining Tracksmith presents an opportunity to work alongside a talented team and build on what Matt has created.”
Carver regularly runs races in New England, including the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Vermont, which he participates in annually. In 2025, he finished in 2:07:43, according to the event’s results page.
As Tracksmith matured, it expanded beyond pop-ups and e-commerce into permanent retail, opening a flagship store on Newbury Street in Boston in 2017, followed by locations in Brooklyn and London. At the same time, the broader market evolved. The rise of athleisure blurred the lines between performance and everyday wear, and competitors—from newer independent labels to established athletic brands—became increasingly adept at producing running apparel designed to be worn as comfortably after a run as during a hard workout.
Product expansion has also reshaped Tracksmith in recent years. Long known primarily for apparel, the company moved into footwear with the launch of the Eliot Runner, followed by the Eliot Racer, its first carbon-plated racing shoe, introduced in 2025.
Entering the performance racing shoe category required significant investment in research and development, along with advanced manufacturing relationships in Southeast Asia. The Eliot Racer has since developed a following among runners and received generally favorable reviews.
Tracksmith is expected to continue that push this spring with the release of the Eliot Ryder, a max-cushioned trainer aimed at broadening the brand’s appeal beyond racing. The leadership transition is not expected to disrupt existing product plans or brand initiatives, including the Amateur Support program, Project Stamata (a women’s U.S. Olympic trials qualification program), current retail operations and the brand’s recent controversial expansion into trail running.
