J.J. Collier | Designing An Authentic Life

EP. 01

In this episode, I talk to performance apparel design leader and former pro snowboarder JJ Collier. From snowboard to sewing machine to leading design for brands like Salomon, RLX by Ralph Lauren, Spyder and more, JJ and I talk about what it takes to design high end, high performance gear, and how to channel your passions into designing an authentic life.

J.J. and I go into the stories that shaped his performance apparel design career: from pro-snowboarding to designing the first apparel line for Salomon, to having to make the difficult choice to leave behind a great thing to take on his dream job designing for Ralph Lauren’s RLX…

…from Annecy, France, to New York City where he moved his wife and two young children just post 9/11, back to the mountains of Colorado to take a design leadership role at top skiwear brand Spyder, then westward to become CDO of the high-performance made-in-America brand Triple Aught Design.

With his father’s military background and his mother’s unique flair for fashion, a childhood in the mountains and a fascination with the Porsche 911, J.J.’s inspirations drive him to high-quality active luxury and great design steeped in meaning and storytelling.