Decades apart, baby boomer Jay McLaughlin ’70 and millennial Liz Joy ’06 each found success in an industry they had never even considered before graduating from Fairfield: fashion. Though their career paths reflect the eras they came of age in, both alumni credit Fairfield’s liberal arts education with sparking their creativity and shaping their entrepreneurial drive.
“I wasn’t totally focused on what my next steps in life should be,” said McLaughlin of his first years out of college, “but I knew that the idea of Wall Street wasn’t appealing to me.” McLaughlin spent the early ’70s working in his father’s real estate business in Brooklyn, N.Y. He married his wife Joan in 1974 and the couple made their home in a Park Slope brownstone they renovated together. In 1977, he opened a boutique clothing store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with his brother Kevin. From there, they grew the upscale J.McLaughlin lifestyle clothing brand into a national retail presence with approximately 180 stores in downtown locations across the country. McLaughlin left his role at the company in 2016.
Liz Joy entered the corporate world after her 2006 Commencement. “My first job out of college was in human resources,” said the art history major. “It was a practical path, but I quickly realized I wasn’t creatively fulfilled. I had so many ideas I wanted to express, so around 2009, I started a lifestyle blog.”
At the time, blogging about style and home interiors was purely a passion project—there was no money in it. Slowly, as the concept of social media influencers took off, brands began establishing paid partnerships and sending products for Joy to wear and endorse online. By 2018, she and her husband had built a full-time business out of her Instagram account and her blog. With a loyal community of online followers, she launched her own lifestyle clothing brand, Marea, in 2022.
J.McLaughlin
In fashion retail, there is no tailor-made plan for success or longevity. To build their timeless brand, McLaughlin said he and his brother “relied on instinct, common sense, and God-given talent.”
With a fashion sense they’d inherited from their mother, they shaped J.McLaughlin’s traditional East Coast aesthetic with innovative, unexpected twists. Signature features of the brand include bold-yet-classic prints and color palettes, flattering silhouettes, and high-quality, easy-care fabrics.
The McLaughlins got their entrepreneurial skills from their father. While cautious not to overextend themselves, decisions were made not just on profit margins, but on long term impact and alignment with their vision for the brand. “We were merchants, not accountants,” said McLaughlin. “Because we were small, Kevin and I were the ones who had our hands on the products and we knew what our customers wanted.”
While other clothing retailers were leaving neighborhoods for malls, J.McLaughlin stores remained firmly on Main Street. Drawing on his real estate background, McLaughlin scouted downtown locations and thoughtfully designed each brick-and-mortar location to reflect its coastal or historic neighborhood setting. Eventually the company grew big enough to manufacture its own products, which McLaughlin said, “gave us fast turnaround times. If we saw something doing really well, we didn’t have to wait until the next year for a reorder—we could have it in a month.”
McLaughlin credits his well-rounded liberal arts education with helping him understand people, markets, and cultural trends. “It was something we loved—putting together a line of clothing each season and trying to make the J.McLaughlin brand feel exciting and special. This was the thing about it: it was all fun.”
After leaving the clothing retail business, McLaughlin turned his business and creative energies to a renovation of the Village Shops shopping center in Vero Beach, Fla., which he and his wife Joan purchased in 2013.
Marea
After spending years making other people’s brands shine on her social media channels, Liz Joy had a realization: “I thought, ‘I have this amazing market and this amazing community behind me. They trust me,’” she said. “Why don’t I make something myself?”
Marea is the word for “tides” in Spanish and Italian; Joy’s mother is Spanish and her father is Italian. “With its beachy undercurrent, I just really liked the word marea,” Joy said, “and I liked the whole concept of the tides—the ebb and flow.”
Inspired by Joy’s New England heritage, the Marea brand blends relaxed, coastal designs with European sensibilities and artisanal accents. “I take a trip to Europe every year, and I’m always inspired by the way people dress there—the street fashion,” she said. “I love going to the museums and getting color inspiration in Europe. We also do a lot of block printing in India, which adds an artisanal element.”
At the time that she declared her college major, Joy said, “I really didn’t know what I could do with an art history degree, but I just felt so awakened in those classes. It felt like the right choice because I wanted to enjoy my college years and I really loved art history.”
She didn’t realize it then, but studying art—including a semester abroad in Florence, Italy— would spark a lifelong passion and shape the design sensibilities of Marea.
For a millennial making a living as an influencer, rolling out her own lifestyle brand online came naturally. In addition to its shopmarea.com website and downtown Fairfield location, Marea clothing is carried by online retailer Shopbop, Nordstrom, and 150 specialty stores throughout the country.
