Maison Margiela, LOEWE, Chanel, Vogue, Architectural Digest – these are just a few of the designers and publications Dan Thawley has collaborated with. 

The Australian-born journalist and creative director became the editor-in-chief of fashion title A Magazine Curated By in 2010, and has since worked with some of the most prestigious designers and houses to spotlight their world – uncovering their history, stories, values and sources of inspiration.

Before the Fall collections and between shows and design projects in Tokyo and New York, Thawley shared an afternoon with us in his adopted hometown of Paris to talk styling, sportswear, trend predictions and his return to running.

Let’s talk about sportswear. How does it show up in your wardrobe?

Sportswear for me is quite a loaded term, because it can mean many different things. I have a sort of casual-formal way of dressing all the time. I'm always in a T-shirt. I layer that under a suit as much as under a sweater or a coat. Sportswear can mean tailoring – it can be dressing down a more elegant trouser with a trainer. 

I think layering is so important in our everyday lives, whether it's throwing over an anorak, or a hoodie underneath a beautiful double-faced wool coat – I think that's part of dressing in the city. I need to dress for travel a lot, and I'm conscious of things that I can easily pack in my suitcase. I don't need to be precious when I'm on the road – things like jerseys and materials that you don't need to steam are inherited from sportswear.

It’s a great dressing technique – pairing sportswear with something really classic like a camel coat. It’s simple but really chic. How do you consider color choices alongside the silhouettes and textures of sportswear?

I was really flattered to be asked by the Financial Times late last year to write an article about how to wear color as a modern guy. And I really enjoyed the exercise, because I don't write about myself, my wardrobe and fashion very often. But it was a chance for me to really think about what I do.

When I’m choosing On apparel, one thing that’s important to me when looking at the colorways is thinking how I like to play off my own wardrobe. And as you said, a camel coat – how can you layer up a great hoodie underneath, or a pair of tactical trousers?

There are great colors in the shoes that play with contrast too, and also quite pastel and interesting colors that you don't necessarily find in the men's sportswear world. That's a lot of fun to play with.

How have you observed sportswear appearing at the shows and collections you’ve seen recently?

Dion Lee is a good example. At his last fashion week show, he actually collaborated with a wetsuit manufacturer from Australia and incorporated genuine wetsuit technology into his garments. And he's really strong at making very ergonomic pieces that have a direct relationship to the body, and hence also to movement. That's really interesting.

Where do you see sportswear evolving next? Any predictions for coming seasons?

What we're seeing at the moment is that there's been this incredible clash and mélange of sportswear happening on the runway to the point where the world of high fashion has embraced sportswear so much that there's almost been this flood of luxury houses producing sportswear-like garments and making luxury versions of them. But they don’t always have the same technology as real sportswear companies to deliver on the functionality and technical aspects. What's happening now is that designers are calling upon real sportswear providers to create capsules or individual pieces in their collections that correspond to those needs.

I think seeing how one takes from the other will still be a part of the conversation for quite a while to come.

We love to hear that, like so many others, you got into running during the pandemic. Tell us about that. How has it stayed part of your routine? 

I actually ran the Milan marathon in 2018 as a charity project. It was a relay, so I only did a quarter, but it was still an interesting and really fun challenge in my life at that time.[In the pandemic] I found running again. I was actually in the southwest of France in a house with a colleague of mine and other young people. Some of them I knew, others I didn't. We found ourselves in a really beautiful part of the world, but confined to a one-kilometer radius for the first month. We found ways of creating running routes around the house that would allow us to do four, five, six kilometers whilst never being more than a kilometer away. 

For me,[running] is a really great disconnect that allows me to think, to ideate, brainstorm and just absorb what's around me in a different way, whether I'm in my own city or another. It's a geographic displacement, it's a decision to take a certain route, to choose something either known or unknown.

Are there pieces that you always reach for before you head out?

I've discovered that there are track pants that I feel comfortable running in, whereas I would usually be more of a shorts guy. It's interesting to see the developments of venting, and also even the movement and flexibility around the joints that the Storm Pants deliver, for example. I'm an anorak guy, and I really like a light long sleeve hoodie, or the Active Jacket with all the bells and whistles of a kangaroo pocket so I’m hands-free and comfortable.

Because as I said with music, I need that accessibility. I don't want my phone stuck on my arm …

Before we wrap up, any new projects coming in 2023 that you can share with us?

At the moment, I'm working on the next issue of A Magazine Curated By, which should come out in late May. It's part of the reason I was in Tokyo. So I’m in development with the next curator, which we'll be revealing just before it comes out in a couple of months. I've also just been working on an exciting project with Charlotte Perriand's archives, with an addition of beautiful carpets that she drew in the seventies that were never produced. I was able to curate a design exhibition about that for Paris Design Week in January, and we’ll be showing in other parts of the world later in the year too. 

I'm working on some objects in the design space as well, which is less related to the magazine and more to my own work with artisans and friends. So I'll be curating a collection of homeware that will be coming out before summer. And I'm also hoping to visit some places I've never been to. I'd love to go to India this year. I'd love to go to Iceland as well. And maybe Georgia too, to see parts of the world that I have touched and tasted through my friendships and relationships, but have never been.

Sounds like you have some amazing adventures ahead. Thank you so much for sharing. So – some quick-fire questions…A piece in your wardrobe that you were initially unsure of that's now a staple.

Ooh, blue jeans. I never would've thought in a million years, growing up as an indie rock kid with black skinny jeans, that I would ever find myself with indigo and blue Levis.

Styling advice that you should ignore.

That black doesn't go with navy. Also “blue and green should never be seen” – I don't agree with that either.

A hidden talent.

I can belt out an Elvis tune at karaoke.

The best kind of run.

The run you didn't realize you needed, and want to continue.