J.Crew's Olympia Gayot Draws Inspiration From Extensive Book Collection

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Olympia Gayot, the Creative Director and Head of Women's and Kids' Design at J, finds constant creative inspiration in a vast book collection she shares with her husband, curator Matt Black. Gayot, originally from Toronto and now based in New York, has built her career on translating design and typography principles into clothing.

The couple's collection, accumulated since the 1990s, heavily features photographer Juergen Teller; Gayot stated she owns every photography book he has released. Notable volumes include a copy of Fashion: Photography in the Nineties, edited by Camilla Nickerson and Neville Wakefield, and stylist Alexandra Carl's Collecting Fashion, a Rizzoli publication that profiles prominent fashion collectors such as an Alaïa completist, Michèle Lamy with her Comme des Garçons archive, and the late architect Zaha Hadid.

A small Charlotte Perriand side table in their home holds Teller's Go-sees and Robert Mapplethorpe's Early Works: 1970-1974. These two books from different eras share a similar design hierarchy and color palette, offering a glimpse into the visual cues Gayot uses for her mood boards. Gayot also collects items such as rare T-shirts and Murano ashtrays, which she said were passed down from her aunts and are now used for jewelry, incense, or as decorative vessels.

Gayot discussed how collecting is a form of memory-making, citing bookshop visits in cities like Paris, Copenhagen, and Hydra, and a recent trip to Japan's Cow Books. She also integrates art into her professional work at J.Crew, having collaborated with artists Nicole Wittenberg, Ann Craven, and Katherine Bernhardt. For a collaboration with Bernhardt, the artist created original paintings for J.Crew that incorporated New York themes like pizza slices and the Statue of Liberty.

Source: Cultured Magazine

MENAFN09092026005694012507ID1111643044