Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Fernandez.
Luis, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
So, to make sense of my career, I like to say I am a hybrid-creative at heart. I’ve worked in several different disciplines and industries, all linked by a need to find meaningful experiences enriched through DESIGN. My career has spanned a history as CREATIVE DIRECTOR, an ARCHITECT and as a FASHION DESIGNER. Ultimately, I have always been fascinated by building brands, spaces and products: focusing on the changing needs of consumer behavior in the world of the future: a 360 oversight on image, space, innovation, content and experience.
I started off my career as an architect in New York City, after graduating from Cornell University. I worked on a variety of projects from sleek glass skyscrapers in Asia and Europe to small designer retail stores domestically. At the design firm, Jeffrey Hutchison + Associates, I was the Project Architect for the Barneys New York flagship stores in San Francisco and Las Vegas. That experience opened up my eyes and transitioned me into the fashion design world in 2007: co-founding NUMBER:Lab, a menswear brand that proposed a TECH+TAILORED design sensibility, blending athletic performance with tailored sportswear. It was one of the pioneers of what has become the ‘ATHLEISURE’ mainstream. Later as the Creative Director of CRAFT ATLANTIC, a contemporary menswear brand, I further pushed that concept of TECH+TAILORED in the luxury space across multiple categories, visioning the brand’s ethos, products and also designing its’ concept store in New York City. In 2011, I was inducted as a member of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America).
Fast-Forward to today, through my multi-disciplinary CREATIVE DESIGN AGENCY @LUISFERN5 in Los Angeles, I lend creative direction, strategy and design services; working on various global design projects that include all things DESIGN brought together by a forward-thinking vision, strategy and focus on innovation.
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think many creatives know what a ‘smooth road’ is. Design is inherently a bumpy, dark, and winding road, but somehow you are driven by knowing that there is light at the end of that road. For me, changing careers mid-point wasn’t very easy, even though both disciplines were in design, I had to learn different tools, different ways of communicating and a completely new network. Luckily, us creatives are driven by this desire to create great things, things that can make an impact for other people, and that is well worth it.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
@LUISFERN5 CREATIVE DESIGN AGENCY is a multi-disciplinary design agency in Los Angeles. Through it, we work on multiple projects that need design, branding or strategy. Given my history as both an Architect and a Fashion Designer, the agency treats design, creative direction and business strategy as a full-360 package, each complimenting each other. Ultimately it is about the image and the impact that any project creates.
Recently, our projects have been fairly diverse: just finished a Mid-Century Modern house architecture and interiors renovation/addition in Los Angeles, worked on the Creative and Design for a 23,000 sf National Sporting Event experiential space, collaborated on a cycling collection with Assos of Switzerland and developed two performance men’s sportswear brands. We’re also working on concepts for a Store of the Future for a global fashion brand retailer.
What sets the agency apart is a forward-thinking vision and focus on innovation, whether it is product, space or experience; or all of them at the same time.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is the perfect place for hybrid-creatives, especially now more than ever. There is a less-structured business agenda here which always leads to better design and creativity (and that, ironically, leads to better business). Coming from New York City two years ago, I feel like Los Angeles offers a certain kind of ‘freshness’ that is creatively refreshing… the palm trees and the always-blue sky don’t hurt either.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luisfern5.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luisfern5/
Image Credit:
Dario Calmese, Adrian Wilson
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