What do Charli XCX’s Brat era and Clairo’s Charm tour have in common? On the surface, not much — Brat defined the summer of 2024 with louche anthems that sneak in moments of deep reflection, and Charm is a hushed, regal collection of timeless, near-jazzy songs. But both artists do share one key component: creative director Imogene Strauss.
In videos that emerged from Charli XCX’s birthday party, the camera occasionally panned over to the DJ booth from the banquette where she was singing along to songs from Brat. One of the DJs was Strauss. It’s a fitting place for her to be, not just attending the party but making sure it pops off. Strauss, who grew up in New York City with a model mother and a musician father, is one of those preternaturally cool city figures whose easy style is inimitable — it’s in her blood. She’d be an “It” girl if she weren’t more comfortable pulling strings behind the scenes. Strauss, who got her start in artist management, now does touring creative direction for artists like Caroline Polachek, Tate McRae, and Clairo.
Strauss swears she has no specific aesthetic herself, able to shape-shift her taste-making toward the needs of her client. With Brat, that meant everything from helping choose the specific hue of green for the cover to reacting on the fly when the album seeped into every aspect of pop culture. Speaking from her new home in California, wearing a very vintage Keith Haring T-shirt, Strauss name-checks everything from Noguchi to The Lion King as she runs down what shapes the taste of the most elite of tastemakers.
What does a creative director do?
It’s a confusing title that doesn’t really mean that much. In the context of music, it’s working with an artist to help bring their vision out, ideally, or to give them a vision in some context, figuring out the right partners for everything, expanding references, and defining their world. The goal is not to change who they are or give them an identity, but rather to help them develop their own identity and then maintain that in a really precise and cohesive way.
You’ve worked with artists with very different worlds — currently, you’re working with both Charli XCX and Clairo. How are you able to shape-shift from one kind of taste to another?
I almost have no aesthetic in a weird way. I feel like there’s not a ton of cohesion to my taste, other than I tend to like artists that I think are challenging, really authentic, really good, and not always the biggest thing. I think there are creative directors who you go to because you want their very specific thing, whereas I think artists come to me because they see that I can pull out the best in them and add to their project without changing them.
You guys didn’t create the “Apple” dance, for example, but now that’s a big part of how people are getting into the album. How do you figure out how to respond as Brat takes on a life of its own?
When we put the album cover out, we had no expectation that people would turn it into their own memes. So we reacted to that by making a Brat generator so that it would be easier for people to make their own memes. But that wasn’t ever part of the plan. So many marketing people now are like, “Wow, how did you come up with this genius idea to have this viral marketing campaign?” And I’m like, we literally didn’t. We just made something that we thought was cool and challenging. Charli knew she wanted to be a text-only cover for so long. And, honestly, at first, I was like, “I don’t know,” because I felt very allergic to “graphic design” as a concept, which I think is ultimately part of why we went through hundreds of versions of what this cover was going to be. There were literally hundreds of versions to ultimately end up with something that looked like it took us five minutes to make, and that felt like the ethos of Brat more than anything. Before we released it, lots of people internally told us they thought it was ugly, that they didn’t get it. And we were kind of like, “Okay, cool, that’s fine.” And I think that was kind of part of the point. We wanted to get a reaction out of it.
Do you think it’s bad taste? Is bad taste good taste now?
I think it isn’t necessarily bad taste, but I think there is something to seeing a potential in something that isn’t obviously easily digestible by the masses. Like, it’s not a hot photo of Charli. That would have been the easy thing, but that’s not going to make any waves. We’ve seen lots of hot photos of Charli. They exist. They’re everywhere. I think that this was turning something that wouldn’t necessarily be considered good taste into almost fashion. It’s like Pop Art, in a way. You take this thing that feels so rudimentary, and you use it in a certain context, and it makes it something more valuable.
Where do you get your best cultural recommendations from?
When I was in my 20s, I was definitely a crazy digger for cool new things on SoundCloud. Now I feel music-wise, I’m like, a little less of a digger and image-wise, art-wise, movie-wise, I’ve become more of a digger. For music, I definitely let Spotify kind of guide me in a weird way, slash, like Instagram and just what my friends are listening to. For movies, I’m a big Letterboxd head. I like to see what everyone’s watching and look at everybody’s lists.
What is the most recent trend that you participated in?
The “Apple” dance? What’s an example of the kind of trend you’re talking about?
Dining trends?
I don’t really care about food at all. I’m always saying, if someone could just give me a bowl of dog food that was for humans and it gave me everything I needed, I would be so happy.
Somebody kind of made that. Remember Soylent?
I do. I’m allergic to soy, so that one didn’t work for me. But I liked the concept.
What is a book that you couldn’t put down?
I read both Emma Cline novels, which I loved, and read them both in like, a day. Also, I’m weirdly into horror. I read Rosemary’s Baby in a day on the beach this summer.
What is your go-to comfort rewatch?
It would have to be between Bring It On and Zoolander. I literally watch those all the time.
What is your favorite piece of art that you own?
A lamp made by my friend, Bennet Schlesinger. It’s huge and really beautiful. He makes these Noguchi-reminiscent lamps, and it’s just like a big sculptural piece in my house that I love.
What’s something that you would never, ever watch?
I have a hard time with animals being hurt or killed. When I was a kid, I cried so much at Homeward Bound when the dog didn’t come home that I threw up and my mom had to remove me from the movie theater. I wasn’t allowed to watch The Lion King after that, and I’ve pretty much been, like, banned from animal-sadness movies.
What is the worst thing that someone could do at a dinner party?
Talk about the weather.
What’s the best thing they could do?
Honestly, have a dog that I can hang out with.
What’s the best advice that you ever received?
I can’t remember if I ever actually received this advice or if it was a realization that came to myself at some point. But realizing that everyone else is just as confused and insecure as you are, and there’s just no reason to be that way, because nobody’s thinking about you. It just doesn’t matter. I don’t really care what people say about me or think about me in the same way I did when I was younger.
How did that change?
I feel like I had a lot of confidence issues when I was younger, and that really stopped me from doing a lot of the creative things that I wanted to do. I was always really hesitant to put my ideas out into the world because I thought that people would look at them and be like, “Those ideas are bad.” And eventually I was like, (1) There’s so many bad ideas out in the world — who cares? (2) Why aren’t my why wouldn’t my ideas be good? I just stopped caring what people think about them and just trusting my own taste and instincts.
Do you think that just comes naturally with age and experience?
You know, I went and did ayahuasca and did the full “work on myself” moment for a while, and that really helped.
What’s the last song that you Shazamed?
I feel like I actually haven’t used Shazam in a while. [Pulls her phone out and looks at Shazam.] It’s a Taylor Swift song.
What was the context for it?
It was April, and I was on tour. It was one of the songs that was being played before the artist performed and everyone was singing all the words, and I was like, “What the fuck is this song?”
What did you think about Barack Obama having “365” on his summer playlist?
Obsessed with that. Obsessed. I’m so curious if he knows what “bumpin’ that” means. His kids are cool and around at parties in L.A., and I assume they know what “bumpin’ that” means. I would hope that he consults them on the playlist. Maybe they were just like, “Yeah, go for it, Dad, go for it.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
