In Conversation with Andrew Staunton

Tell us about your background:

Australian-born, English-raised fashion designer with 20 years in the North American fashion Industry.

I trained at Kingston University, where I earned my bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and where I often visit as it's my hometown. After initially looking to work in Italy after graduation, I came to New York in the spring of 2004. I spent two months cold calling and visiting design studios in the snow, eventually landing my first role with Abercrombie and Fitch in the Spring of 2004, where I started my career designing women's wovens. After an 18-month stint, I found my way to NYC to work for Club Monaco when it was still black, white, and a pop.

After Club Monaco, I worked at Isaac Mizrahi, Gap, Calvin Klein, and DKNY across genders and market levels, exposing me to many different areas of the industry and developing an in-depth understanding of product development with a hands-on point of view. Throughout my career, the main focus has been on women's wear and wovens. Still, as design director at DKNY, I led the men's team in designing the entire collection, giving me an understanding of the needs of all categories for both genders.

My joy in design does come from being involved in the entire process, from concept and ideation to working with cross-functional teams and oversea's partners, to how the product executes through fit, fabric, and construction, and pushing one consistent message that intentionally shows the origin thought at the final presentation.

Outside of the industry itself, I've involved myself in several New York-based and national non-profit LGBT organizations, including Stonewall Foundation and The HRC, as well as playing on several LGBT sports teams. The latter led to an involvement in endurance sports and training for marathons and triathlons over the year, the last of which was the 2019 NYC Marathon. For a change of speed, I undertook a Master of Science in the Business of Fashion at Rutgers Business School, graduating in 2022 at the top of my class. The MSBF was an exciting change of pace, especially as a professional with years of experience, as I learned a great deal about areas of the industry I may not have been exposed to otherwise and was also able to mentor the younger members of the cohort.

My last career adventure took me to Philadelphia, where I headed up Urban Outfitters' structured wovens department as design director with a focus on denim. I left that role at the end of 2022 for several reasons: to take time with family and for a personal reset. Now, I continue learning with a focus on project management and an interest in service design as I look for my next role, living between Gardiner, NY, and Soho with my boyfriend, who serendipitously I met the day I left UO.

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

The number of administrative tasks one does as an assistant and that the industry is less glamorous than one projects as a fashion student.
I remember starting my first job and thinking it would be creativity all day. But as an assistant, I was wholly unprepared on several levels for what was to come, especially where and when I started in the industry, where it was BOMs, trim sheets, PLM, illustrator, photoshop, pinning boards, cutting swatches, things that, at that point, one did not learn at university. No one advised you about it before starting. In regards to the glamour of the industry, again, it very much depended on what level in the industry you entered - high-end, mass, mid, etc., but very much not what one expects to find, especially if you studied in a city-based institution where one may have had some exposure to the customer and client facing side of the industry. In my most recent role, our assistant designers were taken from a pool of interns we had time to train and board so that they could hit the ground running when they joined us after graduation.

Best career advice you've ever received?

"Just Draw" - Steve Coomber. This advice was imparted in college, not during my career, but the intent always stayed with me, similar to the Nike "Just Do It." During a very heavy project, where I was procrastinating, I was told to “just draw” and let the rest follow. As a professional, I keep this in mind when starting any project or to get unstuck during a project. Take the first step, and the rest will follow, mistakes will be made, and that's ok, but one just has to initiate the project or process and you'll get where you need to go.

What leadership qualities are important to you?

For me - communication, collaboration, and accountability, as well as a leader knowing the difference between "managing" and "coaching" their team. Communication has to be number 1 when it comes to leadership, as a two-way stream, with leading the team with a collaborative approach and the entire team feeling a sense of accountability for the project at hand being a guiding light, as one who has led teams for several years now, knowing the difference between managing a team to execute a project and coaching team members to succeed is a critical thing to define and something that not all managers/leaders understand or want to do.

What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far? 

To be transparent, I'd say my current situation. I've been fortunate enough that, except for the time and energy it took to land my first role, where I walked the snowy streets of Manhattan with my portfolio and cold-called design studios whose numbers I found in the back of Vogue, finding a role that I wanted has always been a relatively straightforward process, with the company coming to me. After leaving my last role, for what I still consider the correct reasons for myself, I intentionally took time off and have been looking since April, with a pretty good stream of interviews and conversations happening since then, but no luck thus far. But, I would say its the need to feel that one is still being productive or " producing " and moving forward in one's life that is the most challenging part, and the feeling that the industry at large has moved on and forgotten who I am and what value I can bring. But on the flip side, I've moved other areas of my life forward that otherwise have been neglected.

And for fun, what is your favorite wardrobe staple?

Black Doc Martens Chelsea boots can be worn all year round to some degree, and once broken in are the most comfy shoes I know.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajstaunton/

Website: https://www.ajstaunton.com

Instagram: @andrewjames81