In the search for elite creative talent, you often encounter people with a chip on their shoulder, people who posture with over-confidence, people who are strong in a specific area but have glaring blind spots.
Jess McKie is none of those things.
Jess is an artisan, a mom, a leader, a holistically creative thinker and problem solver. Her energy is upbeat and funny. She’s nonchalantly confident and impossibly well balanced.
She’s also the newly appointed Design Director for Puma’s Ambassador program — the division that creates Fenty apparel, among other things.
Below is a conversation with Jess about building a dream life as a designer.
MICHAEL: I know people who can design, and people who can Ted Talk about design. But you strike a nice balance. How do you do that?
JESS: Wow, what a compliment. I would attribute this to good old DNA (my parents).
My dad has hands-on building skills, but is also a really logical thinker and a business leader. He always taught me to push myself, and the importance of communication.
My mum, the stereotypical 90s movie stay-at-home kind, is a maker, and super creative. A common catch phrase of hers was “I’m not buying that, I can make it myself.” I love that about her, and I adopted that thinking.
MA: You owned your own brand, and Rihanna wore it, and now a decade later you lead the Puma team that designs her apparel. What’s your secret to making Rihanna love you?
JM: Love is the goal, sure… but my main goal is to always make product our ambassadors can vibe with and feels innovative but also resonates with them personally and embodies who they are. I think that’s what I do well.
MA: Which would you rather do: come up with a hot new moisture wicking innovation, or sit in 7 consecutive hours of underwear fittings?
JM: Innovate with me all day every day! Even if it’s moisture wicking adjacent.
I love innovation and what working at Calvin really taught me was my love for quiet innovation. Not everything needs to have bells and whistles and look like a robot to be innovative.
I often reference the iconic Calvin innovation of “having your underwear be seen”. This was what made CK an icon, that branded waist band popping out through your jeans. It’s literally just styling, but it’s revolutionary and iconic and still stands over 40 years later. I don’t think that was done in a lab, right? I’m sure it was organic and came with creative play. My favorite part of the design process.
MA: Did you enjoy the transition from designer to managing designers? Has it ever been hard to entrust someone else with a responsibility that you felt ownership of?
JM: As much as I love management, it wasn’t always easy for me. I love a challenge and a growth opportunity and [managing others] definitely offers both.
Management is not linear because people need different things and have different strengths. Anyone can be a manager, but being an impactful manager takes learning and accountability. At some point, you have to trust the talent that’s there and I believe that’s how other people’s strengths grow stronger also. It’s a team effort.
MA: How do you assess talent? For example, if you have 5 designers in front of you with 5 equally impressive portfolios, what criteria do you use to make a choice?
JM: Talent comes in all shapes and sizes, and it all depends on the job, right? The culture of the company, what skills are needed most. At the end of the day a lot of things can be taught (pretty sure I read that in one of your newsletters and it’s true!).
What can’t be taught is taste and attitude. Yes, technical knowledge is important and necessary but taste and attitude is not always easy to find so that’s what I always look for.
MA: Can you think of a pivotal moment or epiphany that shaped your professional existence?
JM: When I owned my brand and lived in Brooklyn, I was whittling away on my sewing machine in my home studio and my instagram just started blowing up. It was the first time a ‘big talent’ was spotted in Sködia, and it was Rihanna.
It wasn’t that she was a celebrity, although at the time I really valued her style and music and who she was, it was the fact that it showed me there were no limits.
I don’t design clothing and footwear in the hopes a celebrity wears them — I design to embody emotion and feeling for all people. I think when you get into the ambassador world it’s important to not forget that.
MA: What’s your advice for an up-and-comer who wants to build a big life in your industry?
1. Don’t let rejection bring you down, use it as ammo to prove to yourself that you can do it.
2. Work on your craft. There’s absolutely no fast track to being a supreme maker, it just takes time. So enjoy it, do it often and one day you will realize all those hours accumulated to your success.
3. Don’t just be creative with your design work, be a creative thinker and have a problem solving mentality.
4. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not. You will always be more successful at being your authentic self and sticking to your own brand.
MA: What’s your advice for a veteran who has become jaded?
JM: I would ask them what they value and why those values aren’t being [addressed] in their work.
If it’s the company environment, move companies. If there’s not enough creativity, search for jobs that foster the creative process. If you want structure, find the place that allows you to stay in your lane and follow a militant calendar.
MA: Reminds me of an old saying from Jim Rohn: “You are not a tree. If you don’t like where you are, move.” But you can also love a place, and still want to move on from it. Talk about transitioning from NYC to LA.
JM: I just love the electric energy of NY. That “anything can happen, the sky is the limit” thinking, and then actually happening.
This really helped me earlier on in my career — one day you’re sewing samples in your tiny studio for your little independent brand, shooting look books with friends and the next Rihanna’s wearing a pair of pants you made whilst signing on with Puma (2014).
Anything is possible and community is imperative to artistic success.
Now in LA, I can breathe easy here. My kids can run free, be in nature. It has a beautiful balance for me at this point in my life.
I love that I can have a fulfilling work day being creative and doing what I love, and end the day with my kids having a swim or a hike or sitting in a friend’s yard.
