This week, gallery intern Sarah Willoughby ’25 had the opportunity to interview Davidson College alum Jamie Knowles ’10.
Jamie received a B.A. in studio art at Davidson College. After graduating, he moved to New York and worked for several prominent brands, from Sotheby’s Auction House to Vogue. He currently continues to work in the fashion industry and works in consulting through his brand JK&Co. In this interview, Knowles discusses everything from his experience at Davidson College as a studio art major to his own personal dog-travel ware brand Roverlund. Here are a few highlights.
Learn about Jamie’s career path after Davidson and his experience making the jump to New York City after graduation:
Sarah Willoughby: “How was your experience in the art program at Davidson? Where there any particular classes that you particularly loved or that guided you to your career path?”
Jamie Knowles: “I initially started taking a bunch of independent studies classes in architectural history with Dr. Ligo, who I think retired last year, which was really interesting. And then a friend of mine, who ended up being a biology major, suggested I take a sculpture class with Cort (Professor Cort Savage) the fall of my sophomore year, and then I kind of fell in love with the sculpture program and studio and Cort’s teaching style and enthusiasm. So I ended up kind of trying to fill up on 50% art history and lots of studio, and then transitioned from independent study with Dr. Ligo to more independent study work with Cort after I had finished the 3 sculpture classes offered at the time…
…I was definitely graduating on a track that was like thinking I would get an MFA in sculpture and potentially pursue a career as a working artist. I know the junior and senior seminars were a little bit different back then, but when Herb Jackson was still at this college he taught the junior seminar in the spring… But a really interesting part of the class was the weekly seminars where he would provide a bit more guidance about the business side of art and like how as an artist, you are also a business and certain practical things you need to know.”
Sarah: “Being a studio art major or a creative person, you often have a different view or lens of the world. How did this effect and help your more corporate jobs?”
Jamie: “It is really interesting, I think that maybe this has changed with how the world has changed over the past 5 or 10 years, but it has definitely given me more liberty. As I have gotten older, especially as your career progresses, you tend get put on a track. So technically my current work doesn’t really oversee creative decision making, but because of my background and because I think there is an ability to speak to creatives and with creatives, I think there is a certain degree of trust in taste level that is nuanced and is something that people with a background in the arts or visual world or creative world have a sensitivity to. Having a creative angle definitely helped, early on, I think a lot of my early career success is dogged determination to move, but I definitely find it empowering. Actually the work I have done currently, this publication in the UK, has an in-house kind-of creative add agency, so I work really closely with the creative team on a lot of interesting projects and I probably chime in more than I should, but I think, generally speaking, they appreciate when I do that.”
Sarah: “You also have your own dog travel ware brand, Roverlund. I didn’t know if you wanted to talk a little about your business, and how your background in art and the corporate world helped you to branch out and make your own company?”
Jamie: “For me, it is creative problem solving, and I think that is what business is at the end of the day. Especially if you are an entrepreneur, it is like coming up with creative ideas, whether they work out or don’t work out, is like figuring new things and throwing things at the wall and seeing what works. […] I think there are a lot of similar neuropathways that are being used between making art and figuring out how to own and operate a business. Maybe there is some design sensibility that can be pulled from, but yeah it has been exciting, we definitely benefited from the puppy pandemic so its been wild and great the past couple of years.”
Learn more about Jamie’s business:
Sarah: “You have already touched on this a bit, but could you go into some more detail about your experience in the fashion world, Vogue, and how you made the transition from art to fashion?”
Jamie: “So a couple things, first is that having an art background is particularly helpful on like two sides of the fashion space. One is more marketing, in terms of how to develop interesting marketing campaigns or activations within different markets around the country or around the world that resonate among an art-interested audience. Particularly with luxury fashion, like a lot of stuff with Vogue was like are we going to partner with the Aspen art museum to, I don’t know, do something with Vogue and Valentino or something like that. So that was a big part of it, but I think, in general, the sensibility and understanding an art person’s mindset informs so much of the decisions made in fashion, whether that is developing the actual clothing or accessories on one side or more the marketing facing how people live, breathe, and act with the brand…
…At Vogue, I wasn’t actually on the editorial side, mostly I have been more on the commercial side or marketing, and I would say that, back when I was at Vogue, I focused more on marketing partnerships that supported international fashion. And a lot of that was content development partnerships, some more creative or philanthropic partnerships, would come about through Vogue as a dealmaker. More recently, my roles have transitioned to be a bit more focused, less on marketing, still focusing on business develop, but also creative. The past 5 years or so, I have been focused more on the creative talents that make fashion images, whether the photographers or stylists, it is a whole different side of the industry and business that is very interesting and not something I was aware of when I was at Davidson or that I was really that keyed into when I first moved to New York. […] I think now I primarily get energized working with creative people.”
Watch Jamie’s advice to current Davidson students interested in pursuing similar careers or making the jump to New York:
Special thanks to Jamie Knowles for taking the time to speak to the Davidson College Van/Every Smith Art Galleries. To those interested, you can reach out to Jamie Knowles through the Davidson Connect. You can also check out all of his projects through these links:
Roverlund: https://www.roverlund.com/
Roverlund Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roverlund/?hl=en
JK&Co: https://www.jkand.co/