Biography
Nicolas Arauz is an experienced creative director, brand strategist, marketer, and business executive who has held leadership roles across consumer retail, luxury apparel, footwear, beauty, and fragrance. He resides in New York, splitting time between New York City and the Hudson Valley, where he shares a creative studio with his wife Kirsten Westphal. Together with Kirsten, they have three adult children who also work as artists: Benjamin Arauz (Guitarist for Clovis, Pretty Sick and Stella Rose and the Dead Language); Alexander Arauz (Fashion Photographer residing in London); and Wallace Dibble (Painter working in New York City).
Nicolas attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is also active as a non-profit board member and was a co-founder of the global nonprofit 88bikes.
This site primarily focuses on creative work, including design, professional photography, and art photography. Please refer to the LinkedIn profile for a more in-depth look at accomplishments in business and brand strategy roles.
Work
A true polymath, Nicolas has spent his career in leadership roles that combine creative, strategic, and business disciplines. Originally trained as an Architect, he started his career designing stores and creating retail experiences, first as part of the agency responsible for the creation of the Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie retail experience, and then leading the agency's Anthropologie studio for nearly a decade, creating some of the brand's most recognizable flagship stores.
After his work with Anthropologie, Nicolas was a founding partner of brand consultancy ABO, where he lead brand transformation projects for over a decade. Most notably, the agency worked with The Frye Company on a brand relaunch which lead to the successful sale of the company within two years.
In 2012, Nicolas was invited to join David Yurman as Executive Director for Brand Experience. In this role, he lead all aspects of the live consumer experience, including Retail, Visual Merchandising, and also the design of the Brand's Tribeca Headquarters, Trade Showroom, and a new NJ Fulfillment and Operations Center. Nicolas also designed the Prince Street Flagship store and developed a new fixture program for the retail experience, to tell the story of the Yurmans as artists and raise the profile of the brand.
Following his role at David Yurman, Nicolas was appointed CEO and Creative Director of Caswell-Massey, America's original luxury brand, founded in 1752. His current mission is to honor the legacy of Caswell-Massey while creating new and relevant products, experiences, and stories that appeal to today's discerning consumers. Nicolas oversees all aspects of the brand's creative direction, strategy, and operations, from product development and packaging design to e-commerce and retail, to communications and marketing. He also collaborates with world-class perfumers on the refinement of the brand's fragrance assortment. In addition to his creative leadership, he has also transformed the business, increasing revenue in every successive year in his role as CEO, while narrowing and refining the assortment and improving margins.