Sarah Swann

Executive Creative Director | Luxury Brand Strategy & Growth Leader

Brooklyn, NY | sarah@sarahswann.com | LinkedIn

Executive creative and brand leader with over 22 years of experience driving transformation, omnichannel growth, and global brand evolution across luxury fashion and contemporary retail. Proven track record leading creative strategy, digital transformation, e-commerce expansion, and cross-functional business initiatives in partnership with executive leadership teams.

Recognized for aligning creative vision with commercial performance — spanning brand positioning, revenue growth, retail expansion, digital marketing strategy, and customer experience. Experienced leading multidisciplinary teams across design, merchandising, marketing, production, and agency partnerships throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Combines creative authority with operational and strategic business acumen to modernize brands, scale growth, and build culturally relevant luxury experiences.

Leadership Impact

  • Omnichannel growth leadership

  • DTC transformation

  • Founder, CEO and board-level partnership

  • KPI-driven creative strategy

  • Agency leadership

  • Retail expansion

  • Brand repositioning

  • Creative-to-P&L alignment

Executive Creative Director

AMSALE — New York, US
2018 – Present

Lead creative direction, brand strategy, and business growth initiatives across bridal, ready-to-wear, digital commerce, and omnichannel customer experience for the luxury fashion house.

  • Partner closely with Founder, CEO and executive leadership on long-term business strategy, financial planning, KPI performance, and brand evolution initiatives.

  • Spearheaded company-wide digital transformation, including e-commerce launch, omnichannel expansion, and direct-to-consumer growth strategy.

  • Launched and scaled ready-to-wear division to represent 50% of company revenue within three years.

  • Lead digital marketing creative strategy and oversee external agency partnerships across campaigns, customer acquisition, CRM, paid media, and brand storytelling.

  • Drive cross-functional alignment across creative, merchandising, retail, marketing, production, and finance teams to support revenue growth and brand positioning.

  • Directed retail expansion strategy, including launch of SoHo flagship and partnerships with Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and Moda Operandi.

  • Oversee omnichannel campaign development, visual storytelling, runway presentations, and customer-facing brand experiences.

  • Build and mentor high-performing multidisciplinary teams spanning design, atelier, production, marketing, and creative operations.

  • Strengthened cultural relevance and brand visibility through strategic celebrity placements, red carpet partnerships, and custom designs including the 2025 Met Gala.

Studio Director

AMSALE — New York, US
2013 – 2018

Served as right hand to Founder and Creative Director Amsale Aberra, supporting to lead and deliver the creative vision across all collections for The AMSALE Group. Directed creative development across couture bridal and eveningwear.

  • Oversaw atelier, product development and merchandising strategy.

  • Led biannual runway presentations and full creative production across campaign shoots.

  • Collaborated with PR agencies to secure editorial placements and high-profile red-carpet exposure.

  • Managed VIP relationships, ensuring brand integrity at the highest level.

Owner Creative Director

SARAH SWANN — New York, US
2015 – 2018

Founded and scaled contemporary womenswear label from concept to market, overseeing full business strategy, brand architecture and e-commerce sales.

  • Built brand identity, product vision, and e-commerce strategy.

  • Managed global production partnerships in Turkey and developed DTC platform.

  • Secured national editorial coverage in Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Refinery29.

  • Established retail partnerships while directing marketing, PR, and digital storytelling.

Womenswear Design Director

NEXT — London, UK
2009 – 2013

  • Directed multi-category womenswear division within $400M department business.

  • Delivered 5% year-one revenue growth against $400M annual target.

  • Led a 15-member womenswear design team across Dresses, Tailoring, Knitwear, Outerwear, Nightwear, Beachwear, and Blouses.

  • Oversaw global sourcing and development across China, Sri Lanka, India, and Turkey.

  • Partnered with business directors on long-range planning, margin strategy, and category expansion.

  • Managed departmental budgets, recruitment, performance development, and international travel operations.

Senior Womenswear Designer

NEXT — Hong Kong, China
2007 – 2009

  • Built tailoring division from inception to $60M in annual revenue within three years.

  • Led design and development across tailoring, dresses, outerwear, and soft separates for Asia-based operations.

Womenswear Designer

NEXT — London, UK
2004 – 2007

  • Global design, sourcing, and development across multiple womenswear departments.

  • Coordinated international design and production partnerships in China, Sri Lanka, India,
    and Turkey.

Recognition

Education

BA (Hons) 2:1 – Fashion Design
De Montfort University – UK

Download my Resume

Creative Production & Storytelling

  • Omnichannel campaigns – stills and video

  • Fashion marketing strategy

  • Runway production

  • E-commerce and look book creative

  • Retail and in-store visual identity

  • VIP and red-carpet brand placement