Ivy Ross

Ivy Ross

Ivy Ross (1955) is an American business executive and jewelry designer.[1] She was appointed Head of Google Glass at Google X[2] on May 19, 2014.[3] Ivy Ross’s metal work in jewelry design is in the permanent collections of 12 international museums, including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.[4] One of few recognized fine artists to successfully cross over into the business world, Ross is also a keynote speaker[5] and a member of several boards, and has been hailed as a “creative visionary” by the art world.[6]

Background & Education

Ivy Ross was born in Yonkers, New York and grew up in Riverdale. She credits her father, an industrial engineer who worked for the Raymond Loewy studio that created the Studebaker Hawk automobile, for influencing her choice of careers.[7] Ross attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City, with a major in Fine Art and minor in Psychology. She later attended the Syracuse University School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City with a major in Jewelry Design. She went on to complete the Professional Management Development Program at Harvard Business School in 1994.

Career

Ivy Ross began her professional career as a designer. After college she launched a jewelry design business in 1978 called Small Wonders,.[8] Until the mid-‘80s, Ross worked as a designer for Avon Products Inc.[9] She oversaw product development for Swatch Watch and worked as an accessories designer for Liz Claiborne before moving on to direct design and product development for Outlook Eyewear (Bausch and Lomb), Coach, and Calvin Klein.

During Ross’s tenure at Mattel (1998 to 2004) as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Design & Brand Image for The Girls Division, she was charged with developing a new toy for the pre-teen girls segment. Ross conceived of an experiment in multi-disciplinary design dubbed “Project Platypus”,[10][11][12] which resulted in Mattel’s highly successful Ello Creation System.

After leaving Mattel, Ross joined the Gap Inc. as Executive VP of Product Design & Development for Old Navy from 2004 to 2007. While there, Ross created an in-house blog called "Culture Feed" with insight culled from the Internet and curated by trend-hunter Jody Turner.[13] She left to become Senior VP and Chief Creative Officer for the Disney Stores of America (owned by the Children’s Place),[14] a position she held for one year before returning to the Gap in 2008. As Executive Vice President of Marketing for the Gap Inc. Ross was responsible for the launch of the 1969 denim line of jeans. In July 2011, Ross joined Art.com[15] where she served as Chief Marketing Officer until her move to Google X in 2014.

Jewelry

Ivy Ross was one of the first jewelers to use titanium, tantalum, and niobium, metals that reveal a spectrum of colors when they are charged with electricity.[16] By age 26, Ross had some of her jewelry designs included in the permanent collections of 10 museums, including the Smithsonian,[17] the Victoria and Albert Museum[18] in London, the Museum of Arts and Design,[19] the Schmuckmuseum, in Pforzheim, Germany,[20] the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City and the Montreal Visual Arts Center. Ross is a recognized American craft artist and has had her work exhibited globally.[21] In 1984 Ross and then-husband Robert Ebendorf won a Formica design competition through the exploration of a new product called ColorCore™.[22]

Articles

Boards

Honors & Awards

Interviews

References

  1. ↑ Ivy Ross by Cool Hunting, June 2011
  2. ↑ BBC News Technology "Google Glass appoints Ivy Ross as new head", May 2014
  3. ↑ Bloomberg Businessweek Executive Profile
  4. ↑ Smithsonian American Art Museum Collections
  5. ↑ Ivy Ross at TedXRVA 2013
  6. ↑ Art Daily News “Creative Visionary Ivy Ross Joins Art.com”
  7. ↑ Harvard Business School Alumni "A Life by Design", December 2004
  8. ↑ Toledo Blade, September 23, 1981
  9. ↑ Harvard Business School Alumni "A Life by Design", December 2004
  10. ↑ <AIGA 2003 "Project Platypus"
  11. ↑ Fast Company "Ivy Ross Not Playing Around"
  12. ↑ [http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/technology/2014/05/19/how-project-platypus-could-open-google-glass-to.html?page=all Upstart Business Journal>
  13. ↑ Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine "Ivy Ross: the Feeder", June 2006
  14. ↑ Indian Television "The Children's Place Retail Stores appoints Ivy Ross as Sr VP & chief creative officer of Disney Store North America", January 2007
  15. ↑ PR Newswire "Creative Visionary Ivy Ross Joins Art.com Inc. as Chief Merchandising Officer", July 2011
  16. ↑ Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center for American Art, Ivy Ross, Craft Jewelry Bracelet
  17. ↑ Smithsonian American Art Museum, Earrings by Ivy Ross 1979
  18. ↑ V&A Collections, Brooch by Ivy Ross 1984
  19. ↑ Museum of Arts & Design, Necklace by Ivy Ross & Robert W. Ebendorf, 1986
  20. ↑ Toledo Blade, September 23, 1981
  21. ↑ A History of American Studio Craft
  22. ↑ Smithsonian American Art Museum Press Room
  23. ↑ "Letter to Glass Explorers from Ivy Ross"
  24. ↑ Destination XL Group, "Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. Elects Industry Veteran Ivy Ross to Board of Directors"
  25. ↑ The National Institute for Play Board of DIrectors
  26. ↑ Newhouse Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship Mentors
  27. ↑ Ambidextrous Magazine Interview with Ivy Ross, January 2007
  28. ↑ Business Innovation Factory "Project Platypus"
  29. ↑ Fast Company Magazine "Who's Fast 2003"
  30. ↑ Otis College of Art & Design, Past Fashion Mentors
  31. ↑ Ambidextrous Magazine, Interview with Ivy Ross
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