Skip to content

Simon Doonan’s Guide to Bad Taste

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

I don’t think of myself as a taste maker.  I think of myself more as a bad taste maker.  I’m very pro-bad taste.  Bad taste is very important.  It’s like a little dash of paprika, you know, you need it.


Good taste doesn’t really exist. It’s like a subjective concept. So I’m very pro bad taste and that’s essentially how I’ve made my career, always doing something that was counter-intuitive, always doing something that was naughty.  When I got involved in window display in the 70s, I used to think what do people never ever do in windows and how can I do that?  And the goal was to just keep myself interested and creatively stimulated, but it also led to a career that’s lasted quite a long time in window display.  

And then from there I went into corporate retail in the 80s and 90s and had a very interesting career dealing with advertising, marketing, all aspects of retail and communication.  So I wouldn’t say I was a fashion wiz, I’m more of a retail wiz, I love selling things.

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur in sem nisi. Donec at convallis felis. Curabitur id mattis libero. Nunc maximus dolor eget iaculis lobortis. Mauris eros mi, mattis […]
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean volutpat ultricies nibh, ac placerat urna. Vivamus augue arcu, consectetur vitae est mollis, laoreet congue ante. Quisque a aliquet eros, ac […]
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla finibus bibendum ligula, malesuada placerat libero vehicula vestibulum. Nulla ut tincidunt arcu, quis scelerisque dolor. Nunc pretium justo tristique nunc eleifend, […]

Up Next
I don’t know that I have any ideas. I have notions maybe. I have curiosity. I have a deep appreciation for serendipity. I have a way of living my life, […]