On October 22, 2018, Michael Thorsby, a modern Renaissance man guest lectured the MAFS second-year class Fashion Branding and Communication, taught by Justin Morin. Thorsby’s projects include art direction and graphic design within the fashion, architecture, and art worlds, among others. Throughout his career, Thorsby has worked in product design, pattern design, brand identity creation, bookmaking, collaborations with fashion brands, advertising, and everything in between.

Thorsby is Swedish and currently based in Paris, after living in Tokoyo, Copenhagen, and London. He has worked with notable fashion houses such as Uniqlo, Adidas, Diesel, and most recently, he collaborated on a perfume campaign for Chanel. To learn more about his work, we encourage you to visit his website, https://www.michaelthorsby.com.

In a semeseter-long project, the students of this course are working with the French brand Koché to develop ideas for a retail space. In the next step of the project, the students are creating visuals that represent their idea for the new space. During his visit, the students presented Thorsby with their ideas and he offered thoughtful and helpful critiques in response. His experience provided valuable insight for the creation of the individual projects. To help students further understand the process of visual creation, Thorsby explained his typical work schedule and content. He displayed a preliminary mood board that he pitched to a developing skincare company, and walked us through the timeline of a project after its pitch is accepted.

The students of Fashion Branding and Communication are fortunate to have the experience to work with such a seasoned professional and are grateful to Michael Thorsby for his time and feedback.

Written by Clarabeth Smith, MA Fashion Studies

Photo by Olivia Johnston, MA Fashion Studies