Ethan Lawrence – Senior Creative Design Manager at Disney – on crafting characterful collabs

Ethan, it’s great to connect. To kick us off, what set you on the path to a career in design?
For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in storytelling and art. I grew up reading Marvel comics and loved how the medium combined these art forms, transporting the reader to other worlds with such inspirational characters. I always dreamed of an opportunity to continue to tell the stories of these characters in one form or another… I finally got the opportunity when I discovered the world of licencing!

Being able to combine my natural love of licences with graphic design was a dream come true. I have worked across movies, TV, videogames and music licences, which actually sum up my personal interests!

You’re Senior Creative Design Manager at Disney. Talk us through what the role entails.
My role consists of managing a brilliant team of creatives who work across our global collaboration partnerships, such as adidas. Luxury partnerships also form part of our day-to-day and we love the journey we go on with brands, cross pollinating to birth something awesome.

We also dabble in creating kickass licensing style guides across the Marvel and Star Wars franchises.
Our usual focus is fashion apparel, but we often work collaboratively with our awesome Disney teams situated around the globe.

“It’s always a fun challenge reinterpreting our characters across different materials and executions.”

Disney’s adidas collabs are always special. Some have fun subtle nods to characters and stories, others are a little more full-blown design-wise. What dictates how you approach the design of the shoes? And how subtle – or full of bells and whistles – they are?
Working with a global partner like adidas, we have to keep in mind the many different touchpoints and demographics adidas has. Disney is also a globally celebrated brand that speaks to many different fans, across many different generations.

The ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’ campaign is an adidas initiative centred on using recycled materials. Delivering this important message through the lens of Disney allowed us to showcase such incredible innovation, but in a fun fashion with some of the most beloved Disney characters. We thoughtfully picked characters from the world of Disney which made sense from a storytelling perspective. Our stories and characters are cross-generational, so we aim to align characters according to target audience.

What makes adidas a great team to work with?
Adidas is an incredible brand with an impressive history and footprint within mainstream culture. Their influence across the sportswear and fashion world, makes them such an inspiring partner to work with. The global adidas teams we work with daily are some of the most creative individuals we collaborate with.

There is a huge amount of respect and transparency between our brands which always brings out the best stories and products to market. The expertise adidas brings to every project really helps us better understand how we can best interpret our IP within the world of sports and fashion.

“It’s the quiet moments in life where our brains conjure up some of the most exciting ideas.”

I thought the recent Pinocchio launch was a smart one.
Yes! Pinocchio is interesting as he is on a journey throughout the film, dreaming of becoming a real boy. To play into the idea of not being quite complete, we decided to have the back counter look half-finished. It’s a piece of subtle but effective storytelling. We also touched upon his puppet strings via the iconic adidas three stripes on the side.

Monsters Inc is a good comparison… It’s a such fun-filled colourful film with bright and bold characters. We wanted to make sure that those qualities were celebrated across different models, from the funny expressions of Mike Wazowski to a full-on furry Sully borg coated sneaker. It’s always a fun challenge reinterpreting our characters across different materials and executions.

What fun design details from other recent launches come to mind with regards to showcasing how creative you can be in footwear?
A good example would be the recent Crocs X Cars collab. While I didn’t work on this collab myself, I was blown away with the success of an adult size Lightning McQueen Crocs with working lights! It is such a fun idea to explore and execute within the kidult footwear sector.

Yes! Looks fantastic. We’re in the midst of Disney’s 100th anniversary celebrations. Thinking about the vast portfolio of IP at your disposal, what key considerations determine which brands you bring into footwear?
Disney 100 is such an incredible celebration of storytelling and passion, which has touched fans around the world. There has to be an authentic reason for choosing a character and that particular story. The world of licensing has evolved so much that many of our consumers now look for more meaningful connections with our IP.

In depth knowledge of the Disney portfolio is a must. This determines which characters would be best placed to speak to a particular project. The beauty of D100 was the gathering of so many different characters, across different franchises for the first time ever!

With that in mind, does Emperor’s New Groove stand a chance? I’m a card-carrying champion of that film!
I love Emperor! Emperor – like Lilo & Stitch – had modest commercial success back in the day. New generations of Disney fans are now discovering these brilliant characters and in turn, helping to bring them into mainstream pop culture. My fingers are crossed for Emperor!

You also work in the luxury sector. Could you tell us about any recent launches you’re proud to have been involved with there?
Working with luxury partners is a real joy and we love finding those unique and authentic collections between our brands. We have a really exciting collaboration happening with Marvel and Christian Louboutin. It is one of the most fun projects I’ve worked on.

It’s an eye-catching collection! Last question – what fuels your creativity? What helps you have ideas?
Being inspired by other creatives and seeing how they interpret the world around us is always energising. I also make sure I find time to do absolutely nothing and shut off from screens or any form of entertainment. It’s those quiet – sometimes mundane – moments in life where our brains conjure up some of the most exciting ideas.

Ethan, a huge thanks again!