Old Navy's Senior Designer Shares Her Favorite Things About The Job (Including Clothing For All)

One of the most surprising things about identifying your ideal career is learning how many different opportunities there are in a single field. Take fashion, for instance: If you’re passionate about clothes, you could write about them (I hear it’s pretty fun, wink, wink), style them, sell them, or, in the case of Old Navy Senior Designer Janet Chun — actually create them.

As a senior designer, Chun designs the tees and knitwear you love from Old Navy, a division of Gap, Inc. Her team is on the forefront of the brand’s inclusivity efforts, like creating a gender-neutral line and including more skin tones in “first layers” items, like camis. Chun loves her job, and after talking to her, it’s easy to see why. From working with ultra-creative colleagues to liaising with customers to figure out what they’re looking for in a shopping experience, it’s pretty much a dream job, which explains why she’s stayed at Old Navy for more than 11 years.

“Since I was a little kid, my interest was in clothing and drawing,” Chun recalls. But growing up in the highly competitive atmosphere of Silicon Valley, she’d been on a more traditional academic track. It wasn’t until her sophomore year of high school that she realized fashion was her true love, so she got her portfolio together, applied to art school, and was overjoyed to get into Parsons in New York City.

When she’d been out of school and in the workforce for a few years, Chun felt like it was time to get back to her California roots, and snagged a coveted interview at Old Navy. She started out as an associate designer in the maternity department, and two promotions later, her role expanded to include knit tops, tees, and a size-inclusive line. At first, the scope of the job was a bit intimidating: Janet didn’t know anything about designing maternity wear. “When you’re first starting to learn about fashion design, it feels like you’re designing for yourself,” she explains. But she learned quickly. Working at a brand like Old Navy means developing a relationship to the customer, and keeping them front of mind. “To me, that’s the fun part,” she says. “Figuring out, ‘Are we giving you the right product? The right trend?’”

Working at a brand like Old Navy means developing a relationship to the customer and keeping them front of mind. “To me, that’s the fun part,” she says.

The design process is constantly evolving, and no two seasons are the same. “As a designer, you should be like a chameleon,” Chun explains. “You should learn everything you can, and you need to have an open heart.” This means learning how to work closely with other departments, like the technical design team, who takes Chun’s team’s sketches and inspiration and translates them into carefully-measured patterns. Those are then tried out on models, who offer feedback on the fit and feel of garments as they’re being created.

“As a designer, you should be like a chameleon,” Chun explains. “You should learn everything you can, and you need to have an open heart.”

This close collaboration with her own team and other departments is one of Chun’s favorite things about the job (and goes to show just how many different career paths there are within the fashion world). “There are so many people involved to make a product and make it work,” she says. For example, right now, her team is looking at trends for the Spring 2022 line, a process that’s kicked off by the trend team, who often have backgrounds in trend forecasting or were designers themselves. At the same time, they’re looking at samples for the Holiday 2021 line, using materials selected by the fabric research and development team.

Chun appreciates being surrounded by passionate, open-minded colleagues who all bring different views to the table. “We really are supportive partners,” Chun explains. “Everyone sticks together and is kind to one another.” This level of empathy is key not only for developing successful customer-designer relationships, but also for inclusive, and closely-knit work teams.When adding new designers to the team, she ensures that they know they would be welcomed into a creative environment where inclusivity is at the forefront of each step. It’s safe to say Chun not only loves what she is doing, but also the context in which she is doing it. The feeling of being appreciated and buoyed by a supportive team allows Chun to focus on what she does best – designing inclusive, quality and fun clothing.

In Chun’s eyes, the future is bright for up-and-coming designers and other industry hopefuls, who can use social media to network and build their digital portfolios. And you never know who’s looking: “I’m scoping artistic Instagram pages out for inspiration, too, so as I run into things I can see, ‘Oh, this person is really talented!’” she says. “You have a good platform to break into the industry. It’s just how you’re going to manage it, and how you’re going to show up when you get there.”

Discover your dream career at Old Navy here.