From Fashion to Your Living Room — Meet Robert James, Design Lead at Loft Beds NYC

From Fashion Designer to Your Living Room: Why I Joined Zen Space Makers Inc.

I'm a preacher's kid from Troy, Ohio who came to the Big Apple in 1998 chasing my dreams and making my mark. I fulfilled a challenge I made myself at 20 years old — to launch a brand and store by 35. So on January 3rd of my 35th year I left my corporate design career to launch my namesake menswear brand, By Robert James. We launched in 2008 and opened retail stores on the Lower East Side, Brooklyn, and Long Island. It was great — but that took a turn in 2020 when my factory closed due to COVID and I had to pivot to interior design and sales. I learned the business working for a 60-year-old custom kitchen and bath company out of Allentown, PA. Once again I was working right where I function best — working directly with people to bring great form and function to bear. Now I'd work with customers to design and make things that bring their vision to life, just in their home rather than their closet. Not a straight line, but the same task: great design, great collaborators, do right by people, and create lasting relationships that extend well beyond a single project.

These are all lessons learned growing up in a hands-on household. We always had almost enough of everything, which meant collaborating to make a lot out of a little. Even on a budget, my mother ran a tight ship — things had to be just so. Having a well-thought-out and functional home meant making many things rather than buying them. There was always a workbench, a sewing machine, something to be built or repaired. I learned early that form, function, and beauty aren't competing forces — they're a conversation. Sound design values the balance of form and function in a way that supports it all, across multiple personal styles and materials.

That passion, work ethic, and those instincts followed me from a mechanical engineering drafting table and material science labs at The Ohio State to FIT's menswear program, and then on to founding a consequential men's fashion brand. That's no small feat — it meant leaving a budding career, but it also reinforced a deep belief in small business. It was where I first expressed my interior design instincts. In addition to designing four collections a year, I designed, built, and opened 10 retail locations over 18 years.

My success was attributed to great branding and apparel, but more than anything it came from always putting people first — my customers and my employees alike. It wasn't enough to just make great clothing — it had to be housed in a space that worked for everyone who used it. That meant making sure each store had a functional kitchenette and clean, comfortable bathrooms, and keeping those spaces open to everyone. The amazing artisans and staff who spent long hours in those spaces deserved the same amenities as the people walking through the door. Customers and workers shared the same kitchen, the same coffee, the same bathroom — and in doing so, got to know each other on a human level that went well beyond the usual retail dance.

I spent as much time on the architecture and flow of the spaces as on the clothes inside them. Where does the energy flow — cash wrap there? Where does the customer feel most at ease — dressing room there! How do you make a small space feel like an invitation rather than an obstacle? How do you make a large space feel comfortable, smaller, and more intimate?

I bring that same passion, curiosity, and collaborative spirit to spatial design here at Zen Space Makers. I get to apply everything: the spatial instincts, the craftsmanship, the genuine love of serving customers and finding solutions — all while helping support and grow a small business, and all while working alongside Sander, one of Brooklyn's most respected custom builders and the author of the Zen experience in interior design. I am so excited to bring those combined skills to your loft, custom millwork, built-in storage, home office, podcast setup, retail store buildout, and beyond.

Small spaces transformed thoughtfully don't just look better. They change how people live. That's the work. That's why I'm here.

— Robert James, Design & Commercial Lead, Zen Space Makers

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