Take Five with Brian Phillips ’02

Brian Phillips ’02 is the president of Black Frame, a public relations company he founded in 2004 that represents clients from the worlds of fashion, architecture, performance and art. He is also the founder and creative director of the advertising and strategy agency Framework, which in 2017 received a Webby Award and a Titanium Lion from the Cannes Festival of Creativity for its work on the short film My Mutant Brain, directed by Spike Jonze for Kenzo. The same year, Phillips was appointed creative director of Garage, an art and fashion biannual owned by Vice Media.

What were you like when you arrived at Columbia?

Ready to go to nightclubs in the East Village.

What do you remember about your first-year living situation?

My resident advisor Michelle Wang ’00’s incredible wardrobe.

What class do you most remember and why?

Art history with Rosalind Krauss.

Did you have a favorite spot on campus, and what did you like about it?

The office of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, where I did my work-study.

What, if anything, about your College experience would you do over?

More kissing.