Brian Hill started his career in fashion and business at Arizona State University with just a t-shirt line. Now as the Executive Director of Phoenix Fashion Week, over 16 years of experience in the fashion industry and his own female athletics line Femme Athletic, the Sun Devil graduate has become the go-to guy for anything fashion in Arizona. We asked the fashion maverick about Tempe Arizona, the MOXY Tempe Hotel, his favorite fashion designer and how he will judge the MOXY Tempe Creative Invite.
TH: What are you looking for in these Moxy Tempe Hotel visual art submissions?
BH: I am most excited to see how the artists will communicate their individual interpretation of the Moxy brand.
TH: What are the most rewarding parts of being the Executive Director of Phoenix Fashion Week?
BH: The most rewarding part of being Executive Director of Phoenix Fashion Week is helping build successful fashion brands from the ground up through our ‘Emerging Designer Bootcamp’ and launching them to the world!
TH: When did you start Femme Athletic? How did it come together?
BH: I launched Femme Athletic on the campus of Arizona State University in 1998. It was inspired by my college athletic days and filling a gap in the women’s athletic wear industry.
TH: What is your creative process like?
BH: My creative process comes from always keeping my ears and eyes wide open…listening to the marketplace and trying to fill gaps in design categories. When you fill a need, you have a built in customer base already!
TH: What do you like most about Tempe Arizona?
BH: What I love most about Tempe Arizona is what brought me here for college….OPPORTUNITY! Tempe is the city where you can launch an idea and be fully supported at all stages of developing your concept!
TH: As a fashion designer, what is something you know now that you have wished you have known when you were first starting out?
BH: As I look back at my career in the fashion industry, I believe everything happened exactly how it was meant to go for me…but if I had to wish one thing as a do over…I 100% would have bought (vs. rent) my own building/studio facility and added that asset to my brand.
TH: What 3 words would you use to describe the Moxy Tempe Hotel?
BH: Fresh, Smart, Delicious
TH: Favorite fashion designer of all time?
BH: Easy for me, the collective design team at NIKE headed by Tinker Hatfield who as an architect joined Nike in 1981 and in 1985 designed and launched the AIR JORDAN.
Check out the Creative Invite for more details on creating an installation for the new Tempe, Arizona hotel.
Tell us what you think!