Chaos and direction are not opposites, but exist in relation to each other. Creative direction, in a way, is the act of navigating chaos: selecting, shaping, and giving form to something that initially has no clear structure.
This became clearer to me after attending a talk by Florine Bonaventure, a creative director who has worked across different brands, including Phoebe Philo, a London-based fashion label led by one of the most influential fashion designers of recent years. Before this talk, I had heard of the brand but never really payed attention to it. It made me realise that creative directors do more than just produce visual outcomes. Through their work, they also introduce audiences to new references and brands they might not have encountered otherwise.
In this sense, creative directors don’t just shape how something looks, but how it is perceived and understood. By working with different brands, they become closely connected to them, influencing how people encounter and remember them. They act as mediators between the brand and the audience.
What I found especially interesting was hearing how Florine’s work exists across different disciplines. She mentioned that she teaches in various study programs, including architecture and fashion. This was surprisingly reassuring to hear. Having studied architecture before, I often felt like I had abandoned that path. But hearing that creative direction exists across multiple fields reminded me that creative practice does not have to be limited to one discipline. It made me see creative direction as a space that allows movement between fields. It involves connecting ideas, people and contexts.
Another thing that stayed with me was how creative direction involves making decisions within uncertainty. There is no fixed formula. Each project begins with open possibilities, and the role of the creative director is to navigate these possibilities and give them coherence.
This connects directly to my interest in chaos. Chaos is often understood as something negative and something that needs to be controlled or eliminated. But through this talk, I began to see chaos differently. Chaos can also be understood as potential. It contains multiple directions, and creative direction becomes the process of selecting and shaping one of them. This perspective helps me understand creative direction not as a purely technical skill but as a way of thinking.
Every time I collect references, organise ideas, or connect different influences I am already practicing forms of creative direction. This talk reinforced my interest in exploring creative direction further.
Links:
https://thegentlewoman.co.uk/names/florine-bonaventure
