Associate Director, Styling

Associate Director, Styling

The Associate Director of Styling is responsible for defining, evolving, and executing the overall styling identity across all touchpoints, including e-commerce studio, editorial campaigns, social channels, marketing assets, and in person retail experiences. This role blends exceptional creative taste with operational excellence, leading a team of in-house and freelance stylists. The ideal candidate will translate brand strategy into compelling outfitting that drives customer engagement, brand loyalty, and commercial conversion.

This role is based in our Pittsburgh, PA office.

What You'll Do:

1. Creative Vision & Brand Identity

• Lead the creation and story-telling of all seasonal outfitting for lifestyle campaigns
• Establish, maintain, and continually evolve the styling guidelines and visual identity for the brand.
• Translate high-level seasonal brand concepts, merchandising and marketing strategies into easy yet aspirational outfitting that inspires the customer conversion.
• Oversee the styling for all major campaigns, lookbooks, e-commerce product imagery, video content, and social media channels.
• Ensure absolute consistency in aesthetic, fit, and trend relevance across all styling teams and studio locations.
• Be able to execute an exquisite level of fit integrity in order to maintain no retouching brand standards.

2. Team Leadership & Talent Management

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing team of full-time stylists, assistants, and coordinators.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and highly creative culture that encourages innovation and stays ahead of industry trends.

3. Studio Operations & Efficiency

• Partner closely with Studio Operations, Production and Photographers to optimize workflow, ensuring high-volume e-commerce turnarounds meet strict deadlines without sacrificing aesthetic quality.
• Collaborate with merchandising and buying teams to ensure key products and seasonal trends are strategically prioritized and styled to maximize commercial impact.
• Oversee at a high level and support the lab store styling team across all formats on the execution of key looks that maintain styling and merchandising big ideas and strategies.

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work alongside Art Directors, Marketing Leads, and Digital teams to create cohesive multi-channel campaign looks for all seasonal marketing needs.
• Interface with the Design and Merchandising teams to deeply understand product stories, fabrication, and intended fit, translating that knowledge seamlessly onto set.

5. KPI Contribution

• Image Quality & Consistency: Adherence to brand guidelines across all digital and print assets. Fit is integral to the brand with high importance on no retouching standards and guidelines.
• Studio Velocity: On-time delivery of styled assets in partnership with marketing teams, merchandising and photo studio operations.
• Commercial Impact: Contribution to increased digital click-through rates (CTR), higher average order value (AOV), and reduced product return rates related to fit/styling representation.

What You Bring:

• 810+ years of professional styling experience within e-commerce, retail, fashion media, or agency environments.
• 35 years in a leadership role managing a team of stylists and creatives.
• A diverse portfolio showcasing expertise in both high-volume e-commerce and elevated editorial/campaign styling.
• Intuitive understanding of current market trends, luxury vs. commercial styling techniques, and digital/social consumer behavior.
• Proven track record of managing and developing creative teams, navigating fast-paced environments, and giving constructive, clear visual feedback.

Perks: Why You'll Love it Here

• Generous Associate Discount: Treat yourself to the best our brands offer!
• Summer Fridays (For Pittsburgh, NYC and Remote Corporate Associates): More time for the sun and the weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Casual Dress Code: Come as you are (and stay comfy).
• Hybrid Schedule: Enjoy a blend of home-office focus and in-office collaboration.
• In-Person Connection: While we love our digital tools, we love our people even more! To keep our culture thriving, in-person presence is required at one of our Pittsburgh or NYC headquarters, distribution centers or field locations for interviews, orientation and periodic quarterly meetups.
• FOMO (Fun Office Moments Only) Events: Exciting company-wide events you won't want to miss!

Pay/Benefits Information:

• Actual starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to relevant experience and location.
• Subject to eligibility requirements, associates may receive health care benefits (including medical, vision, and dental); wellness benefits; 401(k) retirement benefits; life and disability insurance; employee stock purchase program; paid time off; paid sick leave; and parental leave and benefits.
• Paid Time Off, paid sick leave, and holiday pay vary by job level and type, job location, employment classification (part-time or full-time / exempt or non-exempt), and years of service. For additional information, please click HERE.
• AEO may also provide discretionary bonuses and other incentives at its discretion.