Cynthia Rowley on Balancing Business Longevity With Whimsical Experimentation
It’s not easy to maintain relevance in an industry that always seeks the next shiny thing, but Cynthia Rowley has enviable longevity. This year alone the energetic fashion designer wrapped her 101st runway show at New York Fashion Week, collaborated with everyone from State Bags to Pottery Barn to Airbnb Experiences, and will receive the CFDA’s Founder’s Award in honor of Eleanor Lambert in November. And you can still find her catching a wave in Montauk on a printed Cynthia Rowley designer surfboard and matching wetsuit.
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Cynthia Rowley
Her youthful attitude and wild experimentation haven’t just kept Rowley’s creative juices flowing, they’ve also helped the brand resonate with a younger audience.
“People ask me, ‘Oh, is there a new designer at your company? Are your daughters helping you?’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s me!’ They can’t believe that we would be this excited, experimental, curious and interested after all this time,” Rowley said to Ian Fredericks, chief executive officer of Hilco Global Capital Solutions and the executive director of Hilco Global’s retail and consumer platform. “But why do it otherwise? I always want to be pushing boundaries, and a little bit scared all the time, which I think is a good thing.”
Rowley admits that one reason she’s so fortunate to have her own company is that she can take an idea and run with it, be it whimsical pickleball paddles, cornhole boards, printed surfboards or the hollow “flask bangles” she made and patented over a decade ago. “Those aren’t, what do they say, my ticket out of here, but it keeps me entertained in my job and hopefully entertains and excites our audience.”
