This week, Joe Ando -- fashion designer, content creator and actor -- joins us to talk about transforming what began as a hobby into a full-fledged career in fashion. From going viral on TikTok to starting his own label, Ando opens up about the importance of collaboration in his creative process, honing his craft and reveals the one person he'd love to design a dress for. Below, you can watch the full episode, read highlights from our conversation and shop the products Ando uses to fuel his success.
On What Propelled Him To Start Designing Clothes
"It was probably my dad. It was both of my parents. They were creative people. My mom was a chef, and my dad was a photographer and textile designer in India, which is where I was born. We were living there because he was pursuing this textile design [career] and trying to sell Indian-style clothing to America. In the end, it didn't really work out too well, but it was pretty cool to be around. That kind of gave me the gateway to be like, okay, my family has had little ties in pursuing this thing; maybe it's not too far-fetched for me to step in and see if I can be not [just] successful at it but enjoy it."
On Turning His Hobby Into A Career
"I think the point where I noticed a real shift in it being a hobby and then becoming an actual job that I could pursue was probably when I moved out of my parents' house. I graduated from school during COVID; I had a job lined up somewhere, but I lost it. And I moved back home and was making things in my parents' garage. At first, I was just doing it for people around me, like my friends and family. And then once I was able to actually start selling dresses, that’s kind of how it started.
“When I moved out [of my parents' home], selling clothes was able to get me out of a really tough position. I started thinking about this thing I really want to do, finding a way to enjoy it, get more creative and not take myself too seriously when marketing it on the Internet. If I can make this little baby step -- which honestly isn’t a baby step; moving out of my parents’ place was huge at the time -- [it] made me realize if I can maintain a sense of humor around this while trying to take it more seriously, I could see it becoming maybe something I’m doing when I’m 40].”
On His Collaborative Design Process
“I love that I get to interact with someone. There are some things that I’ve made that I’m really proud of. There are a lot of things I made that I’m not proud of, but there are things I’ve made that I love that were the result of me and someone else putting [our] ideas together. Ultimately, I like doing it because I get to work with people. I like communicating and learning about how people operate and what makes them feel comfortable. The side of fashion where it’s like a dude with sunglasses on all the time and you feel a degree separated from them, that’s not really exciting to me.”
On Simplifying His Personal Style
“I feel like I dress so simply. I love these jeans from a brand called ATS, so I bought the same jeans in three colors, and I’ll wear them for the next 10 years...I really love menswear because I don’t like overthinking what I wear. In fashion school, you’re so inspired by how crazy everyone’s going with their fashion. So at the time I was wearing huge parachute pants and all these interesting knits, and I really cared about it a lot at the time, but I kind of just like absorbing it these days.
“It’s a stereotype that when you start working in fashion, you don’t have the energy to think about yourself too much because I have all this stuff I’m thinking about for other people that I want to be good. I don’t want to waste time thinking about what I’m wearing.”
On His Dream Client
“I would really love to make something for Martha Stewart. I don’t know if that will ever happen, but I grew up watching her with my mom. My mom was a chef, and we had her cookbooks in my house. I like the idea of working with people who aren’t so centrally in a world [going] to events all the time. It’d be really interesting to see Martha Stewart pop out because it means it’s important...I’m sure she would have a really interesting perspective,and,to be honest,I would really love to work with someone who has a strong sense of who they are and a vision for everything they’ve done and built.Making something for someone like that and seeing how they operate and how they think,I’d probably learn a lot.”
Joe Ando's Tools For Success
- A Skincare Staple: "I use this moisturizer every morning called Aestura. My girlfriend recommended it to me, and I've been using it every day for the last year. Now my mom's on it."
- A Savior For Cracked, Dry Hands: "I don't know what it is about the basic Jergens Ultra Healing Moisturizer. I have it in my apartment. I've been using that on my hands to deal with the cracking [of skin] from working with fabrics for the last six years."
- A Go-To Pair Of Running Shoes: "I've started running, which is very unlike me...I've been using On running shoes, and they're great. In Japan, On is huge right now, and I go to see my grandma [there] all the time. When you're in Tokyo and you walk by the On running store there's a line. It's always down the block; I was so thrown off by [it]. I didn't realize On became this thing but that made me look into it more."