Former Dallas-Lincoln All-American basketball player Carlton Dixon left his life as a local high school athletic director to start his own business.
Currently, Reveal Suits is one of the growing brands in the fashion industry. Dixon has equipped Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh and many other Hall of Famers.
How Carlton Dixon became the founder and CEO of 'Reveal Suit'
Ten years ago, a fashion vision struck South Dallas native Carlton Dixon. He was watching the draft and noticed that when players showed off their custom apparel, no company was offering custom linings for the inside of their suit jackets.
“I kind of wondered, 'Can there be a brand on the market that allows you to represent your school in a suit and not just go to a draft night or a game?' And you know, from there. The vision has begun.”
Dixon didn't even know how to take measurements.
“I didn't know anything about it, but I knew I had to learn because it was game time,” he said.
Dixon, an athletic director and coach at North Dallas High School, aspired to become an entrepreneur.
“I was an AD by day and a fashion student by night, learning about the industry and learning about fabrics, fashion, supply chain, measurements and all the things that were foreign to me,” Dixon said.
Dixon went to work. His first big break was when he signed a contract to make reveal suits for the Florida State University and Baylor University football teams.
Carlton Dixon uses a solid mindset to achieve success
He branched out into creating a women's line, but learned a humbling lesson when the apparel he made for LSU taught him about gender sizing.
“I'll tell you, that suit was a disaster because I didn't take into account or learn that it was a different pattern-making scheme and a set of measurements that were required. It's on the hip, but it's worn on the lower hip, upper hip, usually higher on the hip,'' Dixon said. “I didn't take any of that into account, but it was a very humbling, very humbling experience.”
Dixon approached setbacks with a steady mindset. “Turnover. Dunk-on. Next play,” he said.
“Reveal Suit” worn by college athletes and Hall of Famers
In 2024, that dream is fully realized, and the Reveal Suit founder and CEO is a successful fashion designer at his alma mater, the University of Texas.
Dixon currently licenses 80 universities and generates more than $1 million annually.
His brand is designed to reveal something about a person, such as their alma mater, favorite team, or even family.
His company has won apparel contracts to outfit members of the College Football Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, and Basketball Hall of Fame with his custom blazers.
“Did you know that the first person to wear my jacket and the first person to wear my Hall of Fame jacket was Bill Russell? Right? “I'm like, 'Are you serious?' I still have that feeling, that unreal feeling.”
From South Dallas to the red carpet
Dixon's mindset comes from his experience growing up in Dallas. In his teens, he was a high school All-American in basketball. He helped lead Lincoln High School to the state championship in 1993.
“For us coming from South Dallas, it was kind of a chip on our shoulders, right? People don't expect good things to come out of South Dallas. Well, we're going to show you. .”
After receiving offers from all over the country, Dixon decided to move down I-35 and play in college.
“Ultimately, Tom Penders at the University of Texas showed me what I wanted to see. It was close to home and I liked the style of play. So I ended up attending the University of Texas. Ta.”
Although the Texas native did not play in the NBA, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He worked with the Hall of Fame to create jackets for inductees.
Last summer, Dixon collaborated with Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki to design the orange Reveal Jacket.
Chris Bosh is an 11-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA Champion, Olympic gold medalist and, like Dixon, a former state champion at Dallas-Lincoln High School.
Dixon has known Bosch since he was a teenager, and the two shared a dream experience in 2021.
“That's when I ended up making his jacket that year and we shared a moment on the red carpet and we hugged and were like, 'Yay, we did it, we're both in the Hall of Fame.' “Here are some of the most special moments and parts of Reveal Suits. You know, the only two kids to ever graduate from Lincoln High School.”
What's next for “Reveal Suit”?
Next is the reveal suit, the world of golf. Dixon is a recipient of the PGA of America Community Impact Award and has already begun work on a blazer for his PGA Headquarters' small tournament in Frisco last year.
