Robbie Rogers, Playing the Field

Since coming out in 2013, soccer player Robbie Rogers has become a bit of a fashion darling, modeling for various menswear publications and serving as a co-owner of Halsey, a pants-and-shorts brand. This fall, however, he'll unveil his first design: a sports bag he created in collaboration with Proper Assembly, a New York-based label co-founded by his friend, Nate Poekert.

"We've been friends for almost five years now," Rogers says, "and when he launched Proper Assembly, I obviously followed everything he was doing." The athlete used his time off the field to create a gunmetal-gray cinch complete with black leather trim. "It's a really clean design, and the color matched my aesthetic," says Rogers, who cites Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Tom Ford's A Single Man as his style inspirations. "I thought it worked perfectly."

Rogers was enrolled in a design technology course at the London College of Fashion but put his studies on hold when he received an offer to join the LA Galaxy. "What changed my mind was when I realized that, by going back to soccer, I could help millions of kids around the world who feel the way I did as a child," he explains. Next up: his own sports apparel collection.

Shop the bag at ProperAssembly.com

Photography by Grant Legan