Semi Permanent, Australia’s leading creative experience company and the producer of the biggest festival of creativity and design in the southern hemisphere, is pleased to share that Mitchell Oakley Smith has joined in the newly created role of Global Content & Creative Director.
Having returned to his hometown of Sydney from Singapore, where he was until now working as the Editor-in-Chief of the Southeast Asian edition of international men’s lifestyle publication Esquire, Oakley Smith joins Semi Permanent at a time of significant growth, with the recent announcement of a joint venture with culture publisher Highsnobiety, and the expansion of Semi Permanent festivals to the Middle East later this year.
“I feel incredibly lucky to be home and to have joined an Australian company that punches so far above its weight on the international stage,” says Oakley Smith. “I feel energised and ready to get to work on the host of great projects on my desk.
In his new role, Oakley Smith will work alongside Murray Bell, Semi Permanent’s executive creative director and chief executive officer, to lead creative strategy across the company’s owned properties, brand activations and partnerships, and work to enhance its content capabilities and output. He played a key creative role in A Semi Permanent Hotel presented by Highsnobiety, the recent hybrid exhibition-brand activation-event featuring Gia Coppola, Flume, Jonathan Zawada, Juno Shen and Joji, which was produced in partnership with brands including Polestar, Glenfiddich, RIMOWA and Dropbox, and will lead curation on the forthcoming Semi Permanent Sydney, Wellington and Middle East festivals.
An award-winning editor and creative, Oakley Smith was formerly the Global Content & Creative Manager for Australian not-for-profit organisation The Woolmark Company, where he oversaw the implementation of an international, multi-language content program as the company shifted its media strategy from earned to owned. He also oversaw the creative direction of the company’s key projects, including international marketing campaigns, co-branded projects with partners including Adidas, Boston Marathon, Prada Luna Rossa, Karl Lagerfeld and David Jones, and the International Woolmark Prize, the fashion industry’s most historic and richest talent development program.
As a writer, Oakley Smith has worked for and contributed to some of the world’s leading publications including Architectural Digest, Art & Australia, Belle, CNN Style, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, The Australian, Wish and Vogue Living. He has also worked on special projects for Melbourne Art Fair, Sydney Contemporary, Mr Porter, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Myer, Westfield and Saba. He is the author of five Thames & Hudson-published books on art, fashion and design, and has published several more artist monographs under his own imprint, Manuscript.
