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Inspired by classes in art history at Brown, Jonathan Adler discovered his life’s passion when he strode down College Hill to the Rhode Island School of Design for his first ceramics course. Not everyone thought this was a good thing, however. After an incident in which Adler accidentally damaged a kiln, his ceramics professor informed him that he did not have what it takes to be a successful potter. Adler, the professor suggested, should leave and not come back. Today, Adler is one of the most successful potters in the United States. His work, in addition to being sought after by numerous private collectors, is sold in such stores as Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus. He recently opened his own store in SoHo and has developed a line of pieces for Pottery Barn – the first collection bearing a potter’s name the chain has stocked. After graduating from Brown with a twin concentration in art history and semiotics – and with his RISD professor’s words still ringing in his ears – he left pottery behind to work for a talent agency. The entertainment business was an ill fit, however, and so at age twenty-six Adler quit his job, set up a studio, and resumed throwing pots. After working in solitude for six months, he emerged with designs that quickly found their way to some of New York’s toniest stores. Unlike many traditional potters, Adler says, he is inspired by fashion and popular culture. The fashion world seems to be responding: boldly striped black-and-white Adler creations, along with his futuristic all-white vases with geometric reliefs, are collected by such fashion designers as Geoffrey Beene, Cynthia Rowley, and John Bartlett. Adler also borrows a few marketing tricks from the fashion industry, producing different lines of pottery at different price points. There is highbrow Adler couture, and a line he calls Pot au Porter – less expensive items made in bright, funky colors reminiscent of the 1970s. “Unlike most potters who zero in on a particular style and do it over and over again, I come out with seasonal styles,” says Adler, who has also created a line of pottery for fashion designer Todd Oldham’s stores. To keep supply on track with the ever-blossoming, mass-market demand for his work, Adler has come to depend on a group of artisans from Peru. In 1996 Adler was introduced to Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit group that connects American designers with foreign artisans to foster economic growth in poor countries. After travelling to Peru and working with artisans in their studios, Adler contracted the Peruvians to produce his Pot au Porter lines. His venture has created forty new jobs in Peru, where the bulk of Adler’s pottery is now produced. “Going to the studio had become an it’s-time-to-make-the-donuts thing,” Adler says of trying to keep up with demand for his pieces. “Although I am still covered in clay most days, I am now working more as a designer-potter CEO type,” he says. “It has been incredibly refreshing.”