We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative John Les ("JL").

I'm an American fashion designer born in the Philippines. Conscious of our planet and a strong advocate for going green. My relevance in the fashion industry stems from my beliefs. Many fast fashion retailers are conscious of becoming more sustainable and as a young designer that is pro towards this direction, this will help me guide and steer the fashion industry in the right direction towards greener solutions in the future.

John Les Designs

We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by John Les.

Designer Interview of John Les:

DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?

JL : I’ve actually always had an interest towards the study of life, how our cells work, and that being biology. Growing up I’m positive I received my artistic talents from my dad for sure because I saw him sketch out his concepts for buildings, and homes. I believe in that moment that is when I started to involve myself in observational drawing by getting in touch with my creative side.

DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

JL : John Les is the designer name I go by which is my middle name (John) and part of my first name (Lester). By branding my name it made sense to go by John Les because menswear is known as simplistic and expected. “Less is more” is the attitude that I held onto with creating my menswear designs.

DI: When do you feel the most creative?

JL : It honestly depends on the time of the day. But I honestly believe that keeping in touch with what works for ourselves is very important because it’s easy for us to lose touch in what we’re really good because I view creativity like a sport, and treat creativity the same way athlete’s treat their skills. Finding creative activities in my spare time is very important for me to stay creative and keep my creative flow going because when athletes perform, it takes them dedication and practice daily to become good at what they do. I view this same philosophy towards staying creative.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

JL : It’s different every time when designing because many designs are different and different designs will compel us to design from different angles of view points and emotions.

DI: What makes a design successful?

JL : Fashion is an industry that is always changing so I don’t think there is a notion of know when a design is successful. If it boils down to creating designs that will make you wealthy, you have to follow trends.

DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?

JL : A guy like me coming from an island in the Philippines, environmental issues and responsibilities is something that I am passionate about when it comes to discarding textiles and using the majority of remnants as possible in the designs of garments because the fashion industry is the second most polluting contributor to our environment. Even if the progress is as little as me being the 1% in this world that sees all the signs around us of climate change, I know that things must be done differently taking into account of sustainability as a designer.

DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

JL : Massively known businesses are integrating to sustainable business practices and this is absolutely great for our environment and industry. This shows us that we are heading into the right direction and cleaning up our mess that we’ve created for years.

DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

JL : When I started fashion school, designing red carpet dresses for celebrities is what got me into enrolling into The Art Institute and then I later learned that menswear is a bit more behind than womenswear so my 2nd year is when I decided to focus my designs in menswear. I’ve started to notice that my inspirations come from women’s clothing.

DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?

JL : My design style is futuristic and bold with prominent curve lines conveyed by neutral colors. I initially wanted to dwell in womenswear by creating dresses and gowns. I think a lot of my influential styles comes from women’s clothing when designing menswear.

DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?

JL : I live in San Diego, California. California is so diverse so a lot of the diverse groups have influenced me in some way, absolutely.

DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?

JL : This is a tough and tricky one because it’s very difficult to find a good match between a company and a designer, especially when it comes to both that see eye to eye in similar styles. These pairings are rare to find the shoe that fits for every designer. It’s just luck and faith in my book.

DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?

JL : I usually start from a mood board by pulling certain images that evoke certain emotions to keep my brain activity active. Then I pull inspirations from architectural objects and images. The choices of textiles are chosen next in order to decide what will work best with the designs created and what textiles are trending.

DI: Can you describe a day in your life?

JL : I wake up and make coffee before I leave the house. I grab my gym bag and head to my destination of errands that must be done. Once I’m done with that I head to a vegan friendly food spot to give myself some fuel for the gym. Then I head back home and relax watching YouTube reaction videos or sewing things up.

DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?

JL : I would say to stay true to yourself and never conform to what society wants you to be. That’s that hardest and worst that can happen to a designer is losing themselves in the mix. So stay true to yourself, beliefs, and values. We don’t need cookie cutter pleasers.

DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?

JL : When you’re designing for yourself, don’t follow trends because it allows you to tap into your creative zone where there are no limits. When designing for a company or client, follow their guidelines because that will make your designs profitable.

DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?

JL : I have a big brown traveling rolling bag where all my tools are in to see using industrial sewing machines, tools for patterning, and books that refresh my knowledge in the basics of patterning and construction.

DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?

JL : I always have to do the designing in between by busy schedule whether it’s driving in the car or grocery shopping. I’m always designing, taking mental notes, and jotting ideas down on a cellular notepad.

DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?

JL : It all depends. When I design and come up with a great idea, I tend to design from that idea and repeat the process until a new collection has been created.

DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?

JL : My short term goals is to work for a company in order to learn things that I don’t know in what makes a company successful. My long term goal is to become a well known name label like Marc Jacobs, and Calvin Klein but a label that practices sustainability within the process of production.

DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?

JL : I am fresh out of school graduated with a bachelors so I develop my designs for myself, but my goal is to work for a company and learn the working parts of a business so I can implement and mirror that into my own business.

DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?

JL : I am currently working on a repurpose collection using remnants of fabrics and a collection created along Reformation which was a sub theme from the Reformation mood board. The repurpose collections is a womenswear collection of gowns, dresses, and jump suits and the sub theme tied to Reformation’s mood board is a menswear collection that consist of avant garde formal wear inspired from a religious tone of the mood board.

DI: How can people contact you?

JL : I can be contacted through social media outlets where my contacts are openly posted or on my portfolio website.Instagram: JohnlesdesignsWebsite: lesterjdeguzman.wixsite.com/johnles