Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnathan Hayden.
Hi Johnathan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started working in fashion in Dallas, Texas. The city has a significant, influential non-profit community. The galas and fundraising events often include fashion brands, requiring interns to volunteer. I learned a great deal working in event production, but my favorite memories are the intimate time preparing for the shows: organizing the clothes and fitting the models. It was so inspiring to handle the garments of the greats, luxurious materials, beautiful details, and really instructional on how the runways evolve into retail facing opportunities with high-net worth clients. I had the privilege of working on shows for Barneys New York and Highland Park Village working with brands from Dries van Noten and Haider Ackermann to McQueen, Dior, and Oscar de la Renta.
That bounty of experience was during my studies for my BFA in Dallas at The Art Institute and MFA studies in Savannah, Georgia at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I interned for mass brands, private label, contemporary designer brands, and worked in commission retail to supplement my course studies. I got a full 360 of the industry from manufacturing to design to wholesale, boutique, and ecommerce retail. I uncovered so many insights that have instilled, challenged, and shaped my values as a designer today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Fashion is not a smooth industry – for anyone. School only exposes you to so much and takes you so far, before you have dive into the industry and learn on the ground. It’s humbling, requires grit, and not for the faint of heart.
From negotiation (juggling vendors) and diplomacy (competing interests amongst vast networks of meaningful relationships) I still find it to be the most challenging aspects to the industry.
Sure, we are creating product and controlling a narrative to provide a positive customer experience, but none of this can be done without the relationships of the people you work with. I could link all my wins and fails to these complex interpersonal relationships with financial and business stakes on the table.
It’s a tough industry. Ultimately, you are trying to contribute to a rising tide that lifts all boats to ride the waves of success and weather the storms of challenge – together.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am Johnathan Hayden. I am a fashion designer and the creative director and of my namesake womenswear brand in NYC. The brand exists at the intersection of fashion and technology using fashion as a vehicle to yes, provide a ready-to-wear and eveningwear to women we call “Solivagants”, modern intellects who navigate the world brain before body; Women who have a love for the natural world and its translation into the brand’s contemporary, print-driven, balanced wardrobe. But I also explore how emerging technologies can expand and inform that experience of fashion. I am asking if fashion goes beyond the clothes. Can fashion go beyond the physical products of finite natural and labor resources and speak to something more ephemeral in storytelling and experiences.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I view risk-taking as essential to a strong output. Creation and analysis are two different processes, and I often see creatives attempt to do both at the same time. Through experience you can absolutely make calculated risks, but as it pertains to creative risk taking, stay curious. If you’re not sure, can you, in methodology, create low-stakes, rigorous iteration that promotes trying something new and invites conversation?
I trust myself and my intuition, so even if a situation didn’t ultimately turn out the way I had hoped, I will sit back, reflect, ask myself if there was anything within my control I could learn from or do differently. Often, I have no regrets for taking the risk. At least I know what happened when I took the shot.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.johnathanhayden.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnathan.hayden/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnathanhayden/
