For the past 25 years, New York City-based creative director Dan Lori has worked on advertising and brand development for some of the world’s most successful retail, fashion and luxury brands, including Levi’s, DKNY, and Asprey London. He’s also worked on several books and served as the designer for CFDA’s new book American Runway: 75 Years of Fashion and the Front Row (Abrams). Here, Lori tells us about his career, working on American Runway, which is available here, and how fashion has changed.
Dan, tell us how you got into design.
I came from a background in photography and film which led me to move to Milan in the late 1980s. It was a very exciting time to be there, and I remember feeling a sense that something new was happening in design, architecture, photography, and graphic arts. Fashion magazines were just about to cross over into popular culture and the term “supermodel” was about to become a thing. It was there that I first became interested in design. I was surrounded by it so it was hard not to fall in love.
Who were some of the people who guided and inspired you along the way, and how so?
There are so many! I have been very fortunate to have worked with wonderful people, and I am often inspired not only by talent but the people themselves. Donna Karan is definitely one. Her artistry, enthusiasm, kindness, and generosity made a big impression on me. Donna passionately believed in creativity and fostering the best in you. You felt she believed in your success as much as her own. Her chaotic spirit and warm heart will always inspire me.
Other people who have had a great influence on me are Sam Shahid, for his purity in design, fierce courage and deep connection to an internal vision; Emily Woods and her brilliant, methodical process to achieve perfection; Fern Mallis for her unstoppable determination; Jennifer Golub for her steadiness and grace in guiding complicated creative people; Peter Lindbergh for his ability to see raw beauty in the “imperfect”.
Just as important, almost everyone I meet struggling to make it in this business inspires me… the models, photo assistants, makeup artists, stylist, art directors, designers. Most come from a place where they are considered the outsider. The oddball. The other. They arrive in our industry with a desire to use their talent to finally shine, but it often takes years to happen, if ever at all. I am profoundly inspired by their energy and enthusiasm, and I’m thrilled when they are finally celebrated.
You did an amazing job on American Runway. What were you hoping to accomplish?
Thank you! I absolutely love books so the mission with every one I work on is to make it the best it can possibly be. I believe that good design supports the subject. It is in service to the content. American Runway: 75 Years of Fashion and the Front Row is a pretty hefty promise for a title. Booth [Moore, the author] did an amazing job with this book, and I wanted to live up to her work. There was a lot of material to present so it was important to do so without unnecessary design elements interfering. Simply, the mission was to bring the rich history of fashion runways to life in an orderly and visually compelling package.
What did you hope the reader will experience and what were some of the challenges putting it together?
I hope the reader gets a sense of how thrilling a runway show can be and the incredible amount of work that goes into a 10-minute event. There are so many talented people involved in putting on a show, and I hope the reader is able to experience the madness of it all.
The most daunting part of producing American Runway was the photo search and photo editing. Finding meaningful and striking photos was a challenge from day one. I am deeply grateful to our photo editor Liane Radel for her mastery in culling thousands of photos for consideration. The book would not have been possible without her insight and talent. It was the first time we worked together, and I look forward to doing so again.
What did you learn about American fashion in the process?
The most unexpected thing I learned was how drastically the nature of “trend” changed with the advent of the internet. The book takes us through many decades of style and each one reinforced my understanding of that particular time period. What I already inherently knew of the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s is evident in those chapters. Before working on American Runway, I could describe for you what the early 90s were like from a trend and culture point of view, but it inexplicably ended there. I thought I just stopped paying attention around 1996! But now I think maybe it isn’t just me. Flipping through the book, you can see where the change happens. The explosion of the internet and the immediacy of information changed the lifecycle of style trends. Now, everything happens concurrently, and then they are gone in an instant. We no longer have big, slow waves of a trend that go from coast to coast and jump oceans. Those trends once helped define eras. I don’t believe it’s possible to describe the style of recent decades as we were once able to. That fascinates me!
