Alumni in Action: Launching a Global Fashion Design Agency

By: Sarah-Mae McCullough, Editorial Content Manager

 

When Alexander Donald ’14 reflects back on his days at SAAS, one experience jumps out: rehearsing and performing with The Onions.

In SAAS’s premier Jazz Choir I—an arts offering known for award-winning performances and meaningful community—he learned to master complex works with laser-like focus. He practiced building collaborative relationships with other creators and grew more and more confident in the spotlight. 

Those are the skills Alex later used to launch a career in a different creative field: fashion. Following his artistic interests throughout college and beyond led him to his current career as a fashion entrepreneur, running his own studio and designing for brands around the world. The sense of curiosity, the commitment to detail, and the confidence to share his work that he nurtured at SAAS all helped fuel his journey. 

After SAAS, Alex studied music at Wesleyan University and then apparel design at Seattle Central College.  Equipped with the tactical skills to pattern make and sew garments, he landed a job at the brand Brain Dead in Los Angeles. At the LA cultural institution, he became responsible for designing seasonal fashion collections presented twice a year at a Paris fashion show and regularly sold to retailers around the world. 

“Seeing people buying and wearing the clothes I made in Paris—that felt like a full circle moment,” he reflected. 

A few years into his fashion career, Alex had started working with private clients on the side. With both elevated design expertise and the confidence to share his ideas boldly, he was ready to strike out on his own. The studio he founded a year and a half ago, PGG, now offers design, development, and production services to brands worldwide.

Alex partially credits his studio’s success to the level of discipline and attention to detail he mastered in The Onions. Breaking down complex works note by note, he developed a “deep, deep appreciation and respect for the details,” he said. Now, that translates into inspired, intentional design.

At the same time, SAAS's culture of curiosity and breadth of curriculum—from advanced jazz choirs and studio arts to robotics and speech and debate—encouraged him to explore interests and follow his hunches. SAAS’s Culture of Performance helped prepare him to share and advocate for his work and to launch into entrepreneurship. 

Throughout his seven years at SAAS, “there was always an emphasis on public speaking, whether it was in American Studies or any other class—there was always an element of being comfortable speaking in front of people and being in the spotlight,” Alex said. “That was a huge advantage—having the confidence and clarity in how I want to present myself and my ideas, and knowing how to speak with conviction.” 

A mix of laser focus on important details, openness to wide-ranging opportunities, and the ability to articulate his big ideas shaped Alex’s success. His advice for SAAS students is to follow their own curiosity and sample the incredible range of opportunities available at SAAS and beyond. 

“Cast a wide net,” he said. “It opens you up to be endlessly curious.”