This past week, I sat down with Banfield’s resident fashion guru and Creative Director, Craig Lobban. He was wearing his unmissable signature look: grey pants, a button-down chambray shirt, and very little else of note — absolutely genius. Immediately I thought to myself, “I can’t believe I wore last season’s espadrilles”. He glanced at them, knowingly, and raised his eyebrow slightly in a way that said, “that’s all”.
One thing I’ve learned in the short time that Craig has been at Banfield is that it’s not so much about the creative ideas you come up with, it’s about the clothes you’re wearing when you come up with them. Another is how to convince a senior agency partner to literally give you her car to go and fetch your backup pair of grey pants when the first pair get splashed with mud on your way to work. These are just some of the of the reasons why Craig has been selected as Banfield’s fashion icon guru influencer of the year.
In this rare tell-all, Craig discusses everything from his can’t-live-without pieces (which you can definitely steal, down below), to how he keeps up (or doesn’t) with trends, to whether capsule wardrobes are a thing of the past, and finally, the state of fashion — how it’s changed in the last decade, and where it’s going.
Q: First of all, is it okay if I call you Craig?
A: I’d prefer you call me Craigery.
Q: With your busy schedule, how do you find time to pull looks together in the morning?
A: The trick is, I don’t choose what I wear every day. The clothes choose me. Every day it just happens to be the exact same clothes that choose me.
Q: The trend cycle moves at a breakneck pace. Are you worried about keeping up?
A: Frankly, I’m more concerned with the trends keeping up with me.
Q: So, you must be a big believer in the capsule wardrobe then? Or are those, like, totally over?
A: I am a big believer in capsule wardrobes, as long as said capsule contains no greater than 4 pieces.
Q: And now, a philosophical question: Which came first, the Creative Director or the chambray shirt?
A: I think the better question is, can one exist without the other? And the answer to that question is no.
Q: Inspiring. Speaking of chambray, can you speak about some of your go-to wardrobe staples? What should we not be living without this season?
A: This season’s must-have is a pair of grey jeans. Also, if you’re feeling particularly bold, why not try pairing that with a brown belt?
Q: Brown belt? Not everyone can pull that off… Maybe one day I’ll work up the courage. In other news, and to no one’s surprise, you’ve been named Banfield’s fashion icon guru influencer of the year for the fifth year in a row! How does it feel?
A: I’m glad I’ve had such an impact on the Banfield team for so long, even though I only started working here 3 months ago. It really was a dream come true, for a lot of people, when I joined the team. Now, instead of admiring me from afar, they can admire me from across the boardroom table.
Q: Yaas! Okay, the readers are dying to know: what’s next for fashion? What are Creative Directors going to be wearing on the runway in F/W 2020?
A: Things are really being turned on their head this year. In a bold move by some of the top minds in fashion, instead of seeing grey jeans and blue shirts, you’ll start to see blue jeans and grey shirts. And rumour has it, there might even be some plaid making an appearance.
Q: Very avant-garde! So, if you had to give advice to someone trying to get the effortless Creative Director look, what would you tell them?
A: I would tell them to wear exactly what I wear. And to pretend they’re busy. The clothes really shine when you’re acting as if you’re rushing to a meeting or pretending to be reading an urgent client email on your phone when you’re really just scrolling Instagram.
Wow! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to throw my whole wardrobe in a trash can!
Craig’s closet is #goals and yours can be too if all your pants are only one colour: grey. Chambray? More like chambr-yay. Ditch those outdated “shirts” and go for something Craig-approved: a chambray button down (or maybe plaid, but only on special occasions). Top the look off with a suede Chelsea boot that screams “I’m a Creative Director” (even if you’re not — shhh!). And voila! A Craig-fit worthy of the man himself. Get the look today:
