One day after Highsnobiety reported that his relationship with Nike is over, Tom Sachs has opened up about the allegations of abuse within his studio. In an open letter that was initially sent as an email to his team, Sachs acknowledges that he ought to be “leading by example in my behavior, in my studio practices, not just for our own team, but for the larger community.”
The open letter, titled “To My Studio Team,” was apparently sent to Sachs’ staff on March 21, 2023, just over a week after an investigation alleged abuse within Sachs’ art practice.
Highsnobiety previewed the letter on May 9, a day before it was published on Medium. Sachs announced the letter’s publication with a statement uploaded to his company’s Instagram Stories.
“I am a demanding boss, I have high standards, I push my team to deliver more, and I always expect the absolute best,” Sacks says in the letter.
“That means at times I have been impulsive and even aggressive in my language and my approach. I’ve said things I regret. I haven’t always evolved as quickly as I’d liked. There are times I have not met even my own internal standards and times when I have let you, my team members, down. I am many things — an artist, a welder, and a builder — being a manager is something I’ve tried to learn along the way.
“But let me be clear: I have never tried to make anyone feel uncomfortable. I have never harassed anyone. I would never intentionally harm anyone. Safety is a top priority in the studio. Those are the facts.”
Tom Sachs notably avoids mentioning Nike in his letter, presumably because it comprises an email drafted months before Nike issued a curt statement about the state of its current relationship with the artist.
It’s not immediately clear why Sachs elected to publicly release the email on May 10, months after the allegations were initially reported, though it does coincide with yet another story about his workplace.
The statement, sent to Highsnobiety by Nike representatives, reads in full: “We are not working with Tom’s studio at this time and have no release dates planned.”
