Robert Childs from West Lock Island, Florida, USA, rashly pressed the Thom button The doorbell in Browne's office. He had just graduated from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and interned at the studio of another designer Adam Kimmel for a while. This man who has loved football and surfing since he was a child originally majored in business in college, but dropped out after a short time and switched to studying menswear design. When he was just starting out, he dressed casually and didn't even have a suit in his wardrobe. He himself admitted that his original intention of entering the fashion industry was that he didn't want to wear a suit - but he wanted to work for Thom Browne.
The offices of Adam Kimmel and Thom Browne were in the same building. Robert Childs did not make an appointment. He took his resume and rang the doorbell directly. The person who received him was the brand's CFO at the time: "He asked me what I did for a living, and I said I was upstairs Adam. I work at Kimmel and am looking for a new job. I hope I can give my resume to Thom. After hearing this, he said it was no problem and would forward my information to the people in the design department - the moment I walked in, I saw everyone was wearing suits.
The next day, Thom Browne called Robert Childs and asked him for an interview. “I hurried home and made a set of mini-series proposal designs, with a total of 12 to 15 looks! I didn't know what to wear, I didn't have a suit, so I borrowed one from Kimmel. I met Thom the next day and we chatted for a long time. I thought I performed poorly in that interview, but I guess Thom liked me quite a bit. The next day he called me and told me he could give me a job. I was shocked."
The 30-year-old Robert Childs has worked at Thom Browne for four years, from the initial entry level to the design director. His job is to help Thom Browne turn the ideas in his mind into real scenes on the runway, and finally present the fashion and accessories on the shelves. Subsequently, he returned to Adam Kimmel's studio - in 2012, Adam Kimmel canceled the design and production of its men's clothing line, and Robert Childs moved to Opening Ceremony as the chief men's clothing designer. Now, under the guidance of former colleague and former Thom Browne marketing and communications manager Matthew With the help of Foley, he founded his own eponymous brand "Childs" and completed its maiden launch at the beginning of the year. At the just-concluded 2017 Spring and Summer New York Men's Wear Week, the brand launched a new 2017 Spring and Summer series: "I don't want to do those tight or oversized designs." Is this a reference to the weird and exaggerated styles on the Thom Browne show? But his former boss didn't see it that way: "Robert is a very independent person and I'm proud of him," Thom Browne said. Robert Childs also said that one of the characteristics of his work at Thom Browne was to inject his own non-Browne elements into the brand.
“Childs is neither a vintage brand nor about the future. It is not that fashionable, but whether you use it to match those weird designs or classic styles, it will not look out of place,”, Robert Childs told WWD. But what he learned from Thom Browne was not to rely too much on external forces: "Thom doesn't like to refer to so-called inspiration photos, he never looks at them." We don’t use color cards either, the color is decided when we design the fabric. At Thom Browne, we redesign more than 90% of our fabrics." The men's clothing sold by Childs ranges in price from $200 to $2,000 and is manufactured in factories in the United States and Japan. The first 2016 autumn and winter series has been sold to boutique retailers such as Totokaelo, Neighbor, Contraband, etc. The brand is also currently preparing to launch an online sales store on the official website.
Like Thom Browne, Robert Childs hopes that the brand will not develop too fast - "I respect Thom Browne very much, for everything he does." In addition to this former boss, Robert Childs also personally admires designers Junya Wantnabe and Patrik Ervell. From Childs's works, we can also see traces of similar styles to these two designers: "When I was in school, I learned very well in sewing and cutting classes, and I also loved learning new knowledge about craftsmanship from pattern makers and seamstresses."
