Meet 20 of the People
(and One Dog) Who
Make SSENSE Work

Among this group in particular there’s more than 100 years of experience—just at SSENSE, mind you. Holding the record among this group, Eugene Marshall, senior brand experience specialist, boasts 11 years with the company. During the pandemic, Hyunji Nam entered her first week of work at SSENSE from an apartment in Seoul, where she lived at the time. Working through the night because of the time difference, she met her colleagues virtually. “I wore a black SSENSE T-shirt, which is given to all new employees, even though I was the only person in my room,” she says. Nam is the lead editor of Korean content, responsible for copywriting and editing all material displayed in that language.
“I was overthinking everything and it is now all a blur,” Michael Kirreh, senior stylist, says of his first week. “I remember hating all of my outfits because your normal clothes feel weird when you move cities.” Existential closet anxiety: We all suffer from it, even when you work at a place where even acquaintances will hit you up for a discount.
His first week on the job Marshall broke his wrist during a dancing accident (long story), which created immediate problems since he’d been hired as a stylist. “I had to style with one hand for six months, but I ate that!” he says. That’s the spirit that allows you to grow with a company for more than a decade.
Halleston Marte’s first week at SSENSE was only his second week in Canada. Born in the DR, Marte is now the studio warehouse associate manager and his teenage daughter’s friends think his job—the only one he’s had since emigrating eight years ago—is exciting because he gets to see the latest styles.
Many longtime employees started out in the studio, the sprawling, maze-like space in the Montreal headquarters where the newest products are photographed before traveling to the site and IG page, where they become meme and dream fodder for customers across the globe. Sara Lithwick, senior director of product management, likens the SSENSE operation as a whole to a beehive, and perhaps no space exemplifies that better than the studio.

Nora Meena started there seven years ago, as a set coordinator. (That’s Meena’s dog, Lucky, in the hat.) Back then, she produced the e-commerce shoots, wrangling the stylist, photographer, hair and makeup artists and casting. It was a tight community of young people in Montreal, cutting their teeth in the fashion industry, and from there Meena joined the marketing team, progressing to marketing planning manager. Now she travels the world executing events, like the recent NY fashion week party with Jean Paul Gaultier and KNWLS. Ask any employee and they’re liable to tell you that the highlight of working at SSENSE is the community: peers and clients; professional relationships and deep friendships that span years. The intangibles that can’t be quantified. The XX capsule is limited edition, with three offerings: the SSENSE XX cap,the SSENSE XX tee, and the SSENSE XX hoodie. They only come in one color: black. Get yours—because you can’t get the employee discount. Like Kirreh says, “People ask for my discount and I politely decline, as my discount is the closest thing I’ll feel to true love.”