Welcome to The Strategy Journal, a resource for aspiring creatives to get real advice from the most unique and experienced voices in the industry.
Solène Roure is a French design consultant based in London. She specialises in footwear and accessory creation and has over 15 years of experience working with some of the world’s leading sports and fashion brands, including Louis Vuitton, Nike, Puma, Alexander McQueen and Lululemon.
After securing a range of internships in cities like Paris, Tokyo and Amsterdam during and after her degree, Solène went on to work in-house for brands like Nike and Puma before starting SOLÈNE ROURE design studio in 2011. Working with Louis Vuitton and Chalayan as her first clients, she now consults a wide range of premium and luxury brands.
Since 2014, Solène has been a partner and design director for Primury, a contemporary and environmentally-conscious unisex footwear brand stocked in stores like Dover Street Market, Goodhood, and Matches Fashion. What’s more is that in 2020, she joined Circle Sportswear - a Parisian sustainable sportswear performance brand - as consulting creative director.
With a clear passion for environmentalism, Solène continually tries to innovate her designs to keep up with contemporary concerns of climate change. I met her when she gave a talk at The Brooklyn Brothers’ Night School scheme last year and she was very eager to offer advice and mentorship to help make the creative sphere a more diverse place. As is clear by her career history, she is a go-getter and encourages everyone to keep creating regardless of the quality of the final outcome. I guess it is true that you’ll always be your worst and most-feared critic.
Seeing the need for varied ideas and experiences in the creative world, Solène contributes to conceptkicks.com and is a co-founder of FreshMakers, a platform promoting diversity and positive change for the makers in the creative industry.
This lockdown, Solène recommends the Business of HYPE podcast by Jeff Staple (vital listening for entrepreneurship in streetwear), the documentary 13th by Ava DuVernay on Netflix and music-wise, she’s been revisiting Daft Punk’s 2007 album Alive for when she runs. She tells me she loves the ‘slight apocalyptic/ robot world takeover vibe that I find appropriate during these strange times’.
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In terms of thinking, learning and doing, what has lockdown allowed you to do?
Lockdown is not over yet! It's been a rollercoaster and I have felt both very creative and very depressed at times. I’ve lost a lot of work, but the work I still had was exactly what I loved: creative and responsible projects with great people, and I feel that I’ve gained a lot of experience from that. Lockdown’s also allowed me to slow down, to focus on myself a little. Not having FOMO really helped, but it got difficult when I really wanted to go out and see people!
Lockdown's allowed a wealth of new content to be created - how do you keep up with feeling inspired and why?
Lockdown has cemented the fact that I am only happy when making and creating things. I started to watercolour, I did a tie dye, I started a baking course, I organised photoshoots. I feel inspired when I’m learning new skills. It also reminded me that not everything you create has to be for work or for sale, it can also be for you, as a hobby. With access to online courses there is so much more to learn, but I guess it’s reminded me to be myself.
What advice would you give to young creatives looking to crack into the industry post lockdown?
It's a tough time. You’ve got to be bold and you’ve got to be out there. Make a website, make a LinkedIn, make an Instagram. Show your work, and contact people you want to work with in a professional way with a short personal message. Make it easy for them to see what you do and who you are, so if they have an opportunity they can respond.
Now for the hard part: don't get offended or down if they don't reply. Keep contacting more people. Resilience is very important when you enter the creative workforce, this mindset is not just for breaking in, it's also for staying in the industry!
Which brands do you think are doing the most right now?
In my world of footwear and sports, the Allbirds x Adidas announcement on making technical sportswear more sustainable is very exciting.
Most importantly, I see start up and individuals taking risks to challenge the status-quo led by the big brands. I'm waiting for the big brands to put their money where their mouth is and invest in diverse talent to truly make choices in protecting the planet and treating workers fairly.
I am inspired by lots of the small companies and independents trying to survive the crisis while sticking to their strong ethics. It's not about just chasing money, it's about balance; it's about finding projects that make you excited to wake up in the morning and working with people that treat you well. This is why people choose these types of careers, to make a difference.
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You can follow Soléne on Instagram today.
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