ROBYN DUTRA
CREATIVE DIRECTOR + WRITER
Hello from Manhattan! I landed here for NYU and never left, building a life and career over three decades in this endlessly inspiring city. These days, I share it with my partner and our two dogs, Princess and Frank, who really run the show. Glad you stopped by!
WHAT I DO
Creative director and executive leader, I’ve been agency and brand-side, including Unilever, Estee Lauder Companies, Saatchi, Ogilvy, and McCann (Gotham). Making culturally relevant campaigns and content for many of the world’s most loved brands, I motivate and manage diverse, high performing teams that thrive in collaboration.
Storyteller and strategic partner, I have a depth of experience building brands in beauty, fashion, lifestyle, luxury, retail, and more. I’ve worked closely with founders and in complex matrixed organizations across multi-category portfolios.
I led the global rebrand of Olay, created breakthrough TV for Maybelline, gave Tommy Hilfiger a new brand platform, and helped Avon revive its legacy. I launched an internal creative agency at Estee Lauder Companies during a global pandemic, turning uncertainty into innovation. It’s been a wild and beautiful ride.
I've touched broader categories along the way as well, writing the long-standing Aquafina selling line, “Pure Water. Perfect Taste.”, scripted the award-winning teaser video and site for Mission Juno to Jupiter with NASA, and produced Passport Kids (a multilingual online community for kids) with Sesame Workshop, and worked with James Nachtwey, Pulitzer-Prize winning photojournalist, to realize his TED-prize wish of bringing to life his XDR-TB (Extreme Tuberculosis) awareness campaign, in a powerful video presented to the world.
ON THESE PAGES
I’m a widely published writer on trends in travel, food, fashion, beauty, art, and design, appearing in BlackBook, Vanity Fair, Interior Design, Dwell, Surface, Soma, Ageist, Theme, The Fader, Death + Taxes, Let Them Eat Cake, BPM, Clear, Cool Hunting, Hintmag, Style.com, Merge.
I’ve profiled luminaries and founders like Maria Buccellati, the late Anita Roddick (Body Shop), Matthew and Andrew of Malin + Goetz, Hedi Slimane, Maria Cornejo (Zero), Cindy Gallop, Daniel Arsham, Hank Willis Thomas, Frédéric Fekkai, Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes), Death in Vegas, Katrin Jakobsdóttir (Iceland's second female Prime Minister), and many more.
BEHIND THESE PODIUMS
As an adjunct professor, I've taught undergraduate courses in feminist theory, contemporary fashion, and media studies at Hunter College, New York University, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. I’ve lectured and presented on pop culture, fashion politics, body image and beauty standards.
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
Beyond words and pictures, to holistic campaign and brand expression, I'm ready to create breakthrough work with you. Let’s win over hearts and minds while growing awareness, communities, and audiences. With a passion for ideas and shaping brand narratives, I invite collaboration with clients that want to change perception, challenge the expected, and make a difference in the lives of consumers everyday.
