In ELLE.com’s monthly series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke to Olympia Gayot, the women’s creative director at J.Crew and the brains behind its buzzy resurgence. A trained painter, Gayot first joined the retailer in 2010, working as a design director for seven years before leaving for Victoria’s Secret. Then in 2020, she returned, just months after the brand filed for bankruptcy. Since then, Gayot has been credited for ushering J.Crew into its latest era—one that’s distinctly cool and modern, all while respecting its classic heritage. During her tenure, the brand brought back its beloved catalog, collaborated with designers of the moment like Christopher John Rogers and Maryam Nassir Zadeh, and created pieces that feel both like new discoveries and vintage keepsakes. Ahead, the designer discusses the first job that brought her into the fashion world, the hero pieces in her own wardrobe, and her best tips for taking a solid mirror selfie.
My first job
I worked at Club Monaco all throughout high school in Toronto. Then, when I moved to New York for college, I was taking all these odd jobs. My first was at DNA, the modeling agency. At the time, they still had physical [modeling] books for the girls, so I would organize them. I don’t know if they let people do this anymore, but I would take the girls shopping to help them find their look for their first casting. I would hang out with them at the shows to make sure they had water and they were okay. It was this very formative experience; the idea of Bryant Park and the shows was so insane and amazing. The energy was so inspiring. Even when I was a little girl, one of my friends would come over, and I’d bring out my camcorder, and I’d be like, “You’re Claudia Schiffer. You’re Cindy Crawford. We’re at the Ritz.”
My worst job
Oh God, 25 years ago in New York, I feel like I did every kind of job. I can’t say I had any bad experiences, which is great. They were difficult, and I definitely worked crazy hours; I was working with stylists to prep for fashion shows, and I would be working [for] 24 hours straight for days and barely eating. That was probably the hardest, but it was also so fun. You’re like, “I’m doing it, I’m making it.”
I had been in conversation with J.Crew, and I was like, “Am I going to be able to do this?” The job was beyond exciting. It was my dream. I was also like, “I’m pregnant. It’s a pandemic. This is going to be nuts.” But it’s just a great place to work. It’s an iconic American brand; there are great bones.
My process is always storytelling. How do you make people feel like this brand is important? How do we make people feel like this deserves to exist, and this is amazing, and it’s relevant? That’s the trigger. I started to pull imagery and create a project to be able to articulate what the future could look like. That’s when it starts to get really exciting, when you start to pull those ideas together. That’s where you start to really feel like the fire of, this can work.
Why the brand is leaning into nostalgia
I wanted to help bring the brand back to a place of quality and integrity. We had to re-establish that the quality was beautiful and the garments were made well before we could start to get into fashion and, really, the humor and all these other things. The No. 1 goal was re-establish trust. Then, it was a strange thing—we had a lot of stories to tell, and we couldn’t tell them all, because you only have so many shoots. My mom was like, “I love it when you post pictures of yourself. My friends all love it.” Moms are funny like that. But in the back of my head, I was like, “You know what? I have all these pieces that haven’t really been styled. I’m going to start putting them on.” I started doing that and posting on Instagram, and that built interest from customers. Suddenly, I had this place where people were able to talk to me about what they loved.
The thing that resonated the most was this love for the nostalgia of the ’80s and the ’90s. Everybody had this story about their first sweater or ordering from the catalog—this emotional tie I had no idea existed. We started to tap into that, and I realized how important the heritage was. It became something we were feeding into that was really working. It’s a moment in the cultural zeitgeist where people are interested in nostalgia. Everything’s so fast and digital, so people are going back to film, to camcorders, they’re looking through old magazines. There’s a romance about that. For the new catalog, the goal was finding a way to tap into that nostalgia but also make it feel modern. You can’t just look back. You have to bring that idea, that feeling, into the future.
How art influences my designs
Art, for me, is more inspiring than anything else. Sometimes you can exhaust yourself looking at too much fashion, especially as a designer. Art is sort of like going out in nature. It’s calming for me. It makes me feel grounded. Painters work really hard to understand color and proportion and scale and composition in a way that designers do, too. Looking at that, seeing how that works, and how that’s put together is related directly to what I do. Also, culturally, when there are movements in art, it makes me think about fashion—women painting women, women designing for women, the sense of femininity and softness and color. Art’s a reflection of culture, and so is fashion. I’m always putting art up next to images of clothing and product on the concept boards. It’s inspiring just through its sensibility.
What makes me say “yes” to a collaboration
It’s about the person, first and foremost. Of course, it’s about what they do, but you feel this instinct of: This person is great, and they represent culture, and they’re nice and kind and talented. We have to work together for a significant period of time, so it’s about the vibe. Sometimes I’ll reach out through DM. Sometimes people will introduce us, and we’ll have like, a date, a first conversation, and start to feel each other out. It pushes us as a team to work with outside creatives, because it keeps us modern. It keeps us thinking about the future and what other customers like and what other designers can bring to the table.
My tips for a great mirror selfie
I have really good natural light in my office, so that helps a lot. Have a good light source, either a selfie light or natural light, that’s coming at you from the side, so it gives you a bit of a glow. If you have natural light, the morning is too harsh; it’s always best in the afternoon and evening, depending on the time of year. Leaning your mirror against the floor and putting it on a slant, versus putting it on the wall, gives you more height and length. Then, always, your body angle—just shifting your body slightly to the side, pushing one leg forward. I learned how to do this myself; it wasn’t something I knew before. There are days where I’m like, “I don’t want to show my face. I’m tired, but I like my outfit.” Then I’ll put the camera in front of my face. Also, what’s interesting is sometimes taking a photo can affirm whether your outfit is good or not. If you’re not sure about what you’re wearing, take a photo of yourself and look at the photo versus looking at yourself in the mirror.
The hero pieces in my closet
A white shirt, but not by itself necessarily. There’s this thing with the combination of darks and lights: If you have a dark sweater and then you have a white shirt underneath, it just adds a crispness to your look; socks also add that extra element. I always pile up the gold jewelry, because I feel like it really helps with a simple outfit. If the jewelry is the centerpiece, then you need to let the other pieces lay low. I have this amazing J.Crew chain necklace that we call the bike lock, because one of the customers wrote in the reviews: “What is this thing? It’s as heavy as a bike lock.” But it’s amazing. You can make it really tight, so it’s like a choker. I wore it the other night with one of our Spring Street cashmere charcoal gray bodycon dresses, something subtle but chic.
My power outfit
A suit, always. I like things that are looser and more relaxed. I’ll wear a belt, a low tank top or a T-shirt, and I’ll put on a bunch of jewelry. [I] just try to make it feel a little more chill and fashion-forward in the way that I like. If it’s not a suit, it’s jeans and a blazer. Sometimes, for a party or a meeting, I’ll put on a heel to feel taller and more commanding. But also a great loafer or a flat can actually ground you and make you feel confident, because you can move around quickly and easily.
