Hasta La Ideas

After hearing Jonathan Cheung give an insightful speech on the future of branding and retail at WGSN’s Futures conference, we were inspired to speak with him in depth about his career history and current role at 164 year old denim company, Levi’s. 

Image Credit: Matt Edge

How would you describe your current occupation?

An orchestrator of ideas, a joiner of dots. I have the honor to work on the most iconic designs and in one of the most iconic companies in the history of clothing. The job of the design team here is to design better, beautiful clothes that are culturally relevant and that push this grand old company further—into the future. For that to happen, we need great people, so I’m lucky to work with wonderful talent. My job is to make sure we work with the best.

What was your first design job?

I spent most of my holidays from Fashion School working for different companies, and during my 3rd year of school I had a freelance job designing motorcycle jeans for a company called Frank Thomas. But after graduating, my first real, full-time job was at Moschino in Milan—working for Franco Moschino. The dream job. Moschino was the Vetements of its day.

What projects are you currently working on at Levi’s?

So many! The main part of the Levi’s line is my ‘day-job’, and we’re just starting prototype development for Spring 2019. And then there’s lots of side projects—from launching a new workwear line to the collaborations we do. I remember when we started working with Vetements and Off White in 2015, they were relatively unknown. It’s been immensely satisfying to see them really become cultural icons. They are so talented and nice people too!

What projects are you most proud of from your time at Levi’s so far?

Any time I get to work on our icons like the 501 and Trucker jacket is a proud moment, but I think what I’m most proud of so far is how Levi’s has become relevant and cool again.

What is the best part of your job? Worst part?

The best part? Where do I start? I get to do the profession I chose, the one I love in a company that really has meaning—deep cultural significance—and it’s based in San Francisco, California! There are things going on around this city—in tech and biotech—that are from the future!

The best part is when you get those eureka moments, the epiphanies that literally cause you to jump up and down. That and the opportunity to meet and work with very talented people.

The worst? Not that much really—like with any big company, we can be slow. I generally get frustrated when people look backwards too much, are too risk adverse and can’t see that the future isn’t just a linear projection of the past. But I don’t see that as a Levi’s thing—more of a human cognitive bias thing. 

What is your favorite productivity tip or trick? 

Get up early and be in the office (or just start working) around 7.45. That gives at least an hour of quiet, productive work before the meetings start. The trick I’ve found that really helps productivity is fasting 14-16 hours a day, which means basically skipping breakfast. I think there’s some evolutionary evidence for this. As Nassim Taleb says, “does a lion hunt to eat or eat to hunt?”. I’ve found it really helps focus in the morning, as well as making a positive difference to my general health. 

That and make lists. 

What is the most important quality of a designer? 

Curiosity. Because that drives learning, which is the key that unlocks so many things. My definition of creativity is imagination + knowledge + action, and curiosity stimulates all of those things. Curiosity should drive to change, to try new things, to not settle for the status quo—to go out and taste all that life has to offer and bring those experiences back with insights that help you design better things. 

Any advice for young designers trying to make it? 

1. Go for it. Just doing something will get you very far in life. Don’t wait for life to come to you, but be proactive and throw the first punch. As Amazon call it, ‘a bias for action’. 

2. Understand what makes a strong business and a strong brand versus a weak one. Answer: A strong identity, differentiation and control over pricing. 

3. Understand what creates value. Answer: It’s innovation and marketing! Value isn’t just the tangible ingredients—the physical product—it’s also social value. 

4. Understand what drives desire—from the psychology to the neuroscience. Do some research into: Likability, Peer Recognition, Scarcity—Dopamine and Oxytocin. 

5. Look for people more clever and talented than yourself, and spend time with them. 

<i5. Look for the things where you’ll learn the most—they are usually uncomfortable because the learning curve will be steeper. That’s a good thing—it means most of your competition will also find it uncomfortable and give up. </i

<i6. Apply this formula to yourself, your design, presentation or pitch: </i

<iWhat problem do you/your design/your service solve? </i

<iWhy is it better than the current solution? </i

<iWhat makes it different? </i

<iWhy should anyone care? </i

<iIf you can answer those questions, then you have something of value. </i

<iHow do you procrastinate? </i

<iThat’s a good question. I think people are just realizing that procrastination can be productive—it’s time when the brain processes data subconsciously. So instead of fighting it, it’s about how to make that time more creative. </i

<iApart from surfing the web, just walking the floors in the office is good creative procrastination. You don’t often get good ideas sitting at your desk, so help increase the chance of bumping into the next idea by walking the floors. </i

<iThat, and read a lot. </i

A few of Jonathan’s summer reading choices.

<iWho is your design hero? </i

<iI have many! The engineers Colin Chapman of Lotus and Soichiro Honda—I love the way they think—often brilliantly contrarian. The industrial designers Naoto Fukasawa and Jony Ive for simple beauty and raising the game. Shigero Miyamoto, whose creativity is breathtaking and makes me smile just thinking about it.

In fashion, I’ve been lucky to work with amazing collaborators like Virgil Abloh, Vetements and Gosha Rubchinskiy. Outside of Levi’s, My old boss Franco Moschino will always be a hero, and there’s a designer who I’ve admired for many years, Phoebe Philo. </i

<iWhat is the most widespread misunderstanding about design or designers?</i

<iThat designers, and especially all fashion designers, don’t understand business. That, to use an elegant English term, is utter shite. (tongue out emoji!)</i

<iTwo of the fashion designers I’ve worked for had a profound knowledge of business. Franco Moschino taught me The fractal, Pareto Principal. He explained that the wildest pieces in his collection were absolutely necessary for the business of selling simple suits and dresses. And Giorgio Armani’s influence on the fashion business—pioneering lifestyle and diffusing aspiration into tiered sub brands, including restaurants and hotels—is as immense as his contribution to style. </i

<iIf anything, it’s way easier for designers to pick up business acumen than the other way around.</i

<i*******</i

<iThis is the latest installment of our Core77 Questionnaire. Previously, we talked to Mika Piirainen. </i

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In this movie, designer Alice Lund explains the concept behind The Ned, a club, hotel and dining venue in a converted London bank, which was named hotel of the year at the AHEAD Europe awards last night.

Private members club Soho House was behind the huge project, which takes over the former headquarters of Midlands Bank in the City of London.

It opened earlier this year, and has just picked up the Hotel of the Year prize at the AHEAD Europe awards, which celebrate the best hospitality architecture and interiors from across the continent. It was also a winner in the Spa and Wellness, Restaurant, and Events Spaces categories.

The Grade-I-listed building was designed in 1924 by celebrated British architect Edwin Lutyens, and completed in 1939.

According to Lund, one of Soho House’s in-house designers, the aim was to create an interior that felt historic rather than new.

“The brief was to create a beautiful old hotel as if it had been around since the inception of the building itself,” says Lund in the movie, which was filmed by Dezeen for AHEAD. “So very opulent, very beautiful, but also slightly faded around the edges.”

“We drew a lot of inspiration from the building,” she continues. “You could come here hundreds of times and still be finding new beautiful details.”

Soho House worked with partner Sydell Group on the project. Its location, in London’s financial centre, was an unusual move for a brand whose target market had previously been creative professionals.

With 252 rooms, it is by far the brand’s largest project to date – followed by Soho House in Berlin, which has just 100 bedrooms.

The ground floor of the hotel is the former banking hall, and plays host to nine restaurants. “The ground floor looks fairly similar to how it looked when it was a vacant building,” claims Lund. “It was listed, so all the columns, all the banking hall counters, they had to stay in place, so that’s what defined the layout of the ground floor itself.”

The event spaces on the sixth floor are housed in former luncheon rooms for the director and chairman of the Midlands Bank.

“The sense of scale on that floor is incredible,” says Lund. “It has this incredible mahogany panelling, and then higher up it has this beautiful tapestry that runs around the perimeter of the room.”

The Ned’s 252 guestrooms were designed by Lund’s New York-based colleagues at Soho House, Adam Greco and Rebecca King.

“On the fifth floor there are some particularly beautiful rooms,” claims Lund. “They were managers’ offices originally. They’re now called the heritage suites. You have all the existing panelling, and cornicing and details from when it was a bank as well.”

The Ned’s subterranean spa revolves around a marble-clad pool inspired by Victorian baths.

“We have a lovely pink hammam, it’s very opulent and oversized” says Lund. “There are also a number of Cowshed treatment rooms where you can get a massage. They were designed to be very comfortable but also very in keeping with the period.”

The award-nominated bar in the basement of the building is situated in what used to be the main vault of the bank, and retains many unusual features from its original use.

“You enter through a huge circular door with the biggest hinges I’ve ever seen in my life,” says Lund.

Two rooms of the bar occupy a space that once housed the bank’s safety deposit boxes. “There are about 3,600 boxes lining the two spaces. You can pull out the little trays – in fact, we use those as cocktail poseur tables.”

“When I walk into the building I still get a huge sense of awe that hasn’t dissipated over time,” Lund adds. “The scale is spectacular, the architecture is phenomenal, and when you’re in here you do feel like you’re almost in a different time.”

“It’s a real hideaway from real life, and I think there’s a really nice sense of escapism that you get here.”

This movie was filmed by Dezeen for AHEAD in London. Photography is courtesy of The Ned.

The post The Ned is “a hideaway from real life” says designer Alice Lund appeared first on Dezeen.

In this week’s comments update, we recap the sexism row that was sparked after a survey by Dezeen discovered that only three of the world’s 100 biggest architecture firms are led by women.

Mind the gap: Dezeen’s survey, which found a “shocking” lack of gender diversity at senior positions within architecture, sparked a debate about maternity leave in the comments section.

“No woman who works in this industry is surprised by this,” wrote a frustrated Yethica.

But Henry felt that the findings were indicative of previous mistakes: “When it comes to management positions today in architecture, these are all people have been in the profession for around 20-30 years.”

“30 years ago there can be no dispute that there was a massive gender inequality in the profession and the result is these statistics.”

“Many really good architects like tiny practices or being a sole trader, even working from home. This situation suits many very good women architects,” added Colin MacGillivray

However, Yethica wasn’t having any of it: “Not all women are mothers. And even if we are, I only know one woman who has taken ‘years off’. It’s hard to recognise your own bias, but both of your comments are perfect examples of the built-in misogyny and bias in this profession.”

“The ‘one powerful woman’ is usually an individual who has chosen to focus on her career by possibly sacrificing the prospect of a family. And for the record, it is no longer maternity leave, it is parental leave,” continued Anna L.

One reader called-out other commenters who denied the imbalance:

Are you surprised by the findings in Dezeen’s gender survey? Have your say in our comments section ›

Barbie world: a new Barbie doll based on hijab-wearing Olympic athlete Ibtihaj Muhammad was met with both praise and criticism this week.

Lst 212 seemed convinced. “It seems like a nice idea to introduce possible role models for kids from a diverse range of backgrounds, ethnicities or professions. I believe there is a good intention, along with some possible marketing opportunities for the Middle East.”

But JayJay appeared to be totally outraged: “Encouraging young children to wear hijabs is sexualising them. A child of four years is not a sexual object who needs to be covered up.”

“So inspiring a somewhat unachievable body shape in miniskirts and bikinis is right for 4-year-olds?” hit back Martin Lew, referencing past arguments against the toys.

“This doll is modelled after a specific public figure who wears a hijab. No four-year-old girl is going to start seriously wearing a hijab just because of a doll,” wrote Rthko.

Yethica debunked JayJay’s claim:

Read the comments on this story ›

Waste of time: readers responded enthusiastically to IKEA’s new sustainable recycled wood and plastic chair by Form Us With Love, but questions lingered over the validity of the product.

“Very nice chair and assembly system, but the material itself is clearly not recyclable and therefore not really sustainable,” said Soho Dolo.

“The chair contradicts the widely respected ‘cradle-to-cradle’ principles of avoiding the mixing of ‘biological nutrients’ (the wood) and ‘technical nutrients’ (the plastic) in a single material,” explained Alexis Harrison.

Summusen took the criticism one step further: “IKEA is to furniture what H&M is to fashion: cheap expendable design for the masses.”

“An ethically sourced and recycled biocomposite chair can be totally ‘unsustainable’ if it is bought en mass and chucked out after a year,” argued Eddie Dafydd Hamilton.

VC also felt the commentary was misplaced: “The ‘green bashing’ is ridiculous. I’d love anyone to tell me ONE TIME they have recycled furniture!”

This reader had a clear message for the Swedish furniture company:

Read the comments on this story ›

Rocky territory: Ole Scheeren’s plans to build a 333-metre-high skyscraper featuring a “mountain-shaped” podium in Ho Chi Minh City was largely panned by Dezeen readers.

“These free-form ‘contour-and-extrude’ buildings are getting tiresome. Doesn’t anyone compose a facade anymore?” huffed John Delaney, who felt he had seen this style of design before.

“Ma Yansong called; he wants his design language back,” sniped Martin Lang.

“He can have it as long as he promises not to use it,” joked HeywoodFloyd.

Danny Dobson wasn’t a fan either: “Horror story.”

One reader felt he had seen the shape before.

Read the comments on this story ›

The post “No woman who works in this industry is surprised” appeared first on Dezeen.