Career (In) Design: A Conversation with Chris Black
On taste, consistency, and why having an opinion still matters
Chris Black has been shaping conversations around fashion, media, and culture for two decades. Through his consultancy Done to Death Projects, sharp writing for legacy publications, and the podcast How Long Gone, he’s built a career by doing something simple and difficult at the same time. He has a point of view, and he sticks with it.
I flew to New York to meet with him at a coffee shop on a beautiful day in September. We talked about criticism in 2025, how to build a career with freedom, why institutions still matter, and what influence really looks like now.
Jabari: Done to Death Projects is your consultancy and Instagram handle. What does the name mean to you?
Chris: Honestly, it’s like my Hoobastank, you know? Just a name I picked in 2006 without much thought. I’m sure I read it in a book somewhere and thought it sounded cool. But now it kind of grew into its meaning. Most ideas have been done to death, right? So the real work is execution. Take something familiar and do it better, sharper, more consistently. Over time the name became a metaphor for what I do.
Jabari: You’ve been consulting and writing for major brands and publications for almost two decades. Why do people trust your perspective?
Chris: I think it comes down to being willing to have a take. A lot of people don’t want to say something is bad. They hedge because it’s easier to stay in the middle. I don’t really do that. For better or worse, I’ll tell you if I think something sucks or if it’s great.
People call me a hater, but I like things as much as I dislike them. It’s just that negativity is more fun to read. Like music reviews, the bad ones were always more entertaining, you know?
And then it’s consistency. Any success I’ve had is just doing the same thing over and over for a very long time. Put in the work. Show up. Keep going. That’s it. I also grew up when things were harder to find. Bands, magazines, clothes. You had to work for it. That curiosity never leaves you.
Jabari: Do you think there’s a lack of real criticism now?
Chris: It looks like there’s more than ever. Everyone has a take on Instagram or Twitter. But most of it is meaningless. It’s not informed, it’s not edited. On the other side, legacy media has to play nice with advertisers. If you’re taking millions from a brand, you can’t exactly tear them apart in print.
So yeah, real criticism feels rare. But it’s not gone. You just have to know where to look for the voices that matter. It’s like vintage. Sure, you can dig at thrift stores, but I’d rather go to the dealer who’s spent years honing their taste. You pay more, but you’re buying expertise.
Jabari: Where is your media diet? Magazines, Substack, short form?
Chris: I still subscribe to magazines because that’s how I learned. I’ll read Substacks, but once something gets too popular it gets noisy. Like with Spotify. You and I could make a song on an iPad today and have it on streaming tomorrow. Does the world need that song? Probably not.
The internet made everyone feel like they should be creative. I don’t think that’s true. Some people are geniuses at spreadsheets. That’s their lane. Not everyone needs to write about a Netflix show or design clothes.
Good work exists everywhere. Substack, Instagram, print. The challenge is choosing where to spend your time and money, you know?
Jabari: Do you still believe in legacy media?
Chris: Yes. They’re adapting the best they can with the costs they carry. I think print is going to come back for younger people. Vinyl made kids care about records again. Print will feel like a novelty, and that’s fine. If it gets people to read, great.
I’m not precious about the format. If it’s good, I’ll read it anywhere. Print doesn’t automatically equal quality anymore. You can find amazing work in a zine, in The New Yorker, or in an Instagram caption.
Jabari: What kind of fashion content do you actually pay attention to?
Chris: Mostly Instagram. Vintage dealers, celebrity outfits, designer news. I like to know what Jacob Elordi is wearing in Venice, or what a designer is debuting at Chanel. That’s my job, but I also enjoy it.
What drew me to fashion is the people. Designers are freaks in the best way. They commit their whole life to one thing. Same as musicians and athletes. I love long designer profiles because they help me understand that mindset. Clothes are clothes. The people behind them make it interesting.
Jabari: You’ve built a uniform for yourself. How did you figure out yours?
Chris: Dude, there’s just so much stuff to see now. We’re all on our phones all day seeing trends get reported to us in real time, from people you know, people you don’t. It’s tough not to want to try everything, you know? And when you’re young, you should. That’s what your twenties are for, you experiment, you mess around, you figure it out.
But at 42, I’ve got these self-imposed rules. Like, I know what works and what doesn’t. A blue Oxford, some boat shoes or loafers, jeans, that’s pretty unfuckwithable. It’s not exciting, but it’s right.
For me it’s trial and error. You learn what feels good and what feels stupid over time. You see people who look unbelievable, I’ll see a twenty-year-old NYU kid and think, “That looks amazing,” but I also know I can’t pull that off. And that’s fine. That’s what makes the world go around.
I think the whole uniform thing has gotten more popular because it just makes life easier. I’ve got a lot of clothes I don’t wear, and a lot I just collect. But waking up with a general idea of what you’re putting on and how it makes you feel, that frees up brain space for the stuff that actually matters.
Jabari: What brands excite you right now?
Chris: Carter Young is probably the one I buy the most. We met years ago and I just like what he does. It feels American traditional in a way that’s rare right now. He’s in London, but it still feels authentic to me. When he twists something, it works.
I’ve bought the Japanese stuff. Auralee, A.P.C., all of that. I like it. Day to day I wear J.Crew and vintage. That’s how I would dress whether I worked with them or not. J.Crew makes sense for me. Lacoste, Levi’s, Nike, those are always around too.
There’s a brand out of Toronto called Literary Sport that’s amazing. It’s The Row energy but athletic. I wear it a lot. And The Row, yes, I wear it. Mostly because my wife buys it for me because she wants me to wear it, laughs. Once you put it on, you get it. Great pants are just great pants. No wheel is being reinvented. The difference is fabric and cut.
Jabari: How important are institutions like J.Crew or Gap?
Chris: They’re crucial. That’s where the power is. You can affect a lot of people at once. Look at Dior right now. It looks like J.Crew in the best way. It’s American prep at its core, just with different materials and construction.
The power of a place like J.Crew is accessibility. Three hundred stores. That’s reach. Most people don’t care about having the most expensive thing. They want what feels right. Institutions like J.Crew, Gap, Calvin Klein provide that. They make it accessible, and they can make it feel current without losing the plot.
Jabari: How do you think about trends without chasing them?
Chris: Translate them. Don’t chase them. Take silhouette shifts. J.Crew makes a giant chino that’s timely but still classic. Gap reissues the logo sweatshirt during logomania. That’s not Balenciaga hype. That’s building on history. The best moves are subtle. Proportion, fabric, color. Stay authentic and stay timely.
Jabari: I saw a Vogue article about the influencer event that J.Crew did. I think there’s a fatigue with influencers, but what struck me about that trip is you brought in people who actually do things, not just people who look good in clothes. Why did that feel different?
Chris: Because everybody there actually does something. That’s the key. Looking good in clothes is modeling. Modeling will always exist. But now people want more. Write, design, podcast, consult. Bring some substance.
The team didn’t just invite people with numbers. They brought writers, editors, creators, people with a point of view. Men and women. On the surface it looked like every other influencer trip. The nuance made it work.
People obsess over ROI and follower counts. Engagement matters more. Someone with fewer followers but a deeply engaged audience will convert in ways a million casual followers will not. Brands miss that because they’re staring at spreadsheets. It’s like A&R now. They don’t go to clubs, they look at charts. Sometimes it works. It also misses the point. Culture is gut, not just data.
Jabari: What advice would you give to someone who wants a career like yours, and can they do it outside New York?
Chris: Totally possible anywhere now. The playing field is level. The real question is can you stomach the instability? Clients vanish. Work dries up. Money goes away. You have to figure it out. That resilience is more important than creativity.
And consistency. Most people are lazy. If you show up, answer the phone, and stay on top of things every day, you’re already ahead. I learned that young. I was managing a band and the label wanted to fire me. I said, forget that, I’ll be the guy who’s on it. I made myself indispensable. I was 24. I never stopped because I learned that’s what works.
The payoff is freedom. The freedom to meet you at 2:30 on a Wednesday. The freedom to go to the gym at 9 a.m. That’s addictive. I don’t need vacations because I like what I do. I don’t want to escape it. I want to work on my terms from anywhere. If you want that freedom, you have to accept the chaos that comes with it, you know?
Jabari: How did How Long Gone come about?
Chris: Jason and I have been friends for years. He had a podcast in the early days and when I was in L.A. I’d go on. It was fun. When COVID hit I said let’s do this. We picked a name, a theme song, and started. No real plan.
From the beginning we had complementary skills. Jason handles audio and visuals. I’ll email and text all day, book guests, keep it organized. That division of labor made it sustainable.
My job in general is to be the middleman. The conduit. I like putting people where they should be. If someone is right for a lookbook, I want them in it. If someone should be on the show, I want to get them on. If a friend needs a job, I want to make the introduction. Facilitating is the fun part for me.
Podcasting is a strange business. Ten shows make all the money. The rest of us figure it out. How Long Gone is basically a full time job, but the real benefit is access. The people we’ve met have become friends and collaborators. It’s the kind of thing we’d probably do for free. We’ll keep going until the wheels fall off.
Jabari: Would you ever launch a product yourself?
Chris: I’m about a year and a half into something now. Hopefully out soon. I’m the ideas guy. I’ll always need people to make the thing real and I’m fine with that. The process has been long, frustrating sometimes, but enriching. I’m excited to have something tangible with my name on it.