Today we’d like to introduce you to Cohen Swift.
Hi Cohen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Cohen Swift, and I’m a 20-year-old creative producer. My journey began in 2020 when I launched my own clothing brand, Swift Threads. For five years it was my creative outlet, I designed every piece on my iPad using Procreate, managed orders through Google Forms, and collected payments on Venmo. It wasn’t wildly successful, but it taught me how much I loved creating.
Over time, my focus shifted from fashion to creative production. That change began when I developed my motto, Hidden In Plain Sight (HIPS), a phrase that tied perfectly with my chameleon logo and my desire to reveal God’s presence in all creation through excellent art.
Out of that came HIPS SETS, a Tiny Desk-inspired live music series that brought my artist friends together to perform original music. Producing those sessions made me realize how much I loved bringing teams and ideas to life and it gave me the sense of collaboration I’d been missing with clothing design.
Since then, I’ve launched HIPS Productions to create art with and for creatives who love Jesus. I’ve helped organize a fashion show at New York Fashion Week for Perspective Saints, produced my best HIPS SET yet, and executed a photoshoot for my upcoming creative magazine, which I plan to release in January. I’m excited to see where God leads me from here.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While this is technically my first year pursuing a producer role, I have already faced a few challenges. The show I helped run at NYFW proved to have lots of challenges, which all took place in the 12 hours leading up to the actual event. There were a lot of things that still needed to get done the night before, and the day of was full of stress from things like neighbors of the venue almost shutting down the entire thing, footholds for runway models proving to be safety hazards, and cords for the speakers not coming with the rental. However, through perseverance from the entire team and God’s provision, the event was able to go through, and from the guests’ perspective, you’d never know what went wrong behind the scenes.
For personal projects like HIPS SETS and my upcoming magazine, the biggest challenge has been communication across different teams — stylists, photographers, models, and creative directors all needed to be in sync. Thankfully, I had great people around me who helped keep things organized.
Right now, my biggest challenge is balancing all of this with being a full-time student-athlete pursuing a Business Marketing Degree, but I see it as a way to learn time management and discipline for the future because I know it’s going to get even more crazy then this.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in bringing creative visions to life from concept to execution. My work spans fashion shows, live music sessions, magazine shoots, and album listening events. I’m also beginning to develop live experiences like concerts and community art showcases.
My next step is hosting a release party for my magazine in January to celebrate the project and sharpen my event production skills. My long-term goal is to build a career producing excellent events and experiences for others.
I’m most proud of how the magazine shoot came together, not only because of the photos, but because of the community it created. It brought together people from different parts of my life, and watching everyone connect and collaborate was super dope.
What sets me apart is my commitment to producing excellent art that glorifies God. There aren’t many people merging faith and creativity at this level of intentionality, and I want to help lead that movement. I am very optimistic and excited to see where we can go as Christians, because up to now, so much of the art has been sub-par. And we claim to serve the Creator of Creation! We’ve gotta step up don’t you think?
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is glorifying God in everything I do. I never want my ambition to outrun His purpose for my life. I believe He’s given me this passion for creativity — but it’s easy to lose focus. My goal is to stay grounded in Him, using my gifts to serve others and reflect Jesus through everything I create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hipsproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hips.productions/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cohen-swift-046996350/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6F7W03-Rhz84tsaKWjxCoA
Image Credits
Luke Bove, Elliott Swift, Grace Olivia
