WSJ. Magazine 2017 Fashion Innovator: Raf Simons, left a career in furniture and industrial design to start his own fashion label in 1995. That decision was the first of many on his way to becoming one of the world’s most influential fashion designers. Known for his cultural relevancy, Simons has been an instrumental force as a designer for Jil Sander, Dior, and, most recently, Calvin Klein. Simons’ work as Chief Creative Officer at the iconic American brand is as eye-catching as it is subversive, taking cues from American pop-culture and the political landscape, and turning those into a beautiful, wearable cultural critique.

WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards

Crafting a better future from a world in flux. This is the hallmark of WSJ. Magazine's 2017 Innovators—a group of visionary, foundation-shaking luminaries working across seven fields. This year's talents were honored at the annual Innovator Awards on November 1 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Selected by WSJ. Magazine editors, the honorees were: Reese Witherspoon (Entertainment); Raf Simons (Fashion); Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Architecture); Roman and Williams (Design); Musical.ly (Technology); Ryan Heffington (Performing Arts); Mark Bradford (Art).

For the third year in a row, MediaStorm has used its multidisciplinary approach to create films that shine a light on the legacies and innovations of each individual. These films showcase some of MediaStorm’s greatest strengths: an ability to develop a captivating story under tight constraints; combining beautiful cinematography and motion graphics to add unparalleled finesse; and working in close partnership with a client to get results.

These videos have been a critical part of WSJ’s strategy to drive it's audience to its site and to assert itself as the place of significance for the informed citizen.

In keeping with our mission to develop stories that matter, we are thrilled to play a role in recognizing the WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovators.

The Wall St. Journal Magazine, for its seventh annual Innovator Awards, required short, fast paced, but personal, stories of innovation from each of its seven winners.

The WSJ Magazine and MediaStorm make every effort to interview Innovator Award winners personally. But that is not always possible, and in this instance, Raf simply could not be interviewed.

Director Samia Khan, and the WSJ Magazine staff needed to find someone that was familiar with Raf’s work, and with him personally. After weeks of searching, the team decided that artist and friend George Condo would be a good fit. Raf’s respect for, and interest in, the arts made Condo the perfect spokesman for Raf in this video.

The film premiered at the WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards, on November 1st, and then published on the Wall St. Journal’s and MediaStorm’s websites the next day. It is a key tool for driving awareness to the magazine and the prestigious awards themselves.

With five global editions spanning 62 countries, WSJ. Magazine—which publishes 12 issues a year—is The Wall Street Journal's luxury-lifestyle publication dedicated to the power and passions of the Journal's readership.