Creative Director, SUNO

Erin Beatty entered fashion after earning a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish at the University of California. Beatty began at GAP, Inc., working as a buyer and then as a product manager. Encouraged by GAP’s creative director to study design, Beatty entered Parsons’ AAS program. Beatty followed her boss to Generra, working there while completing her degree. Beatty and her friend Max Osterweis then established SUNO, launching a collection in 2009. The inaugural line was produced in Kenya from vintage fabrics. Their business now includes sustainably produced pieces made in India, Italy, Kenya, New York and Peru. Known for high-end tailoring and dynamic prints, SUNO is available at more than 50 retailers worldwide. In 2013, SUNO won the CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear; Beatty was also named Creative Director RTW of Tory Burch in tandem with her Creative Director role at SUNO. Beatty has been most recently profiled in T Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. “Parsons grads are my best employees,” she says, “They’re motivated and skillful at translating ideas into the visual realm.”