David Prior

Some people have an air of always being mid-journey, even when they’re sitting still. David Prior fits that bill. He is wanderlust, personified. Born in Australia, he left early, propelled by what Australians often refer to as ‘the tyranny of distance’, moving to Italy in 2006 to study Gastronomic Science in Piedmont, then to California in 2009 and finally, to New York in 2014. Clearly, geography matters to the founder of esteemed travel company Prior, although taste and cultural literacy matter more.

On Journeying

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With a life that has unfolded across continents, the beginnings of his career were fuelled by pocket money from a side quest. "Basically, I wanted to travel on the weekends and keep up with my European friends who had had the opportunity to explore more than I had," he says. So, while studying in Italy, paid journalism was something he could do in tandem with his degree. As a collector of magazines, David had a particular affection for Australian lifestyle titles, "They led the world at that moment. It was a great entrée into an editorial world that was admired globally. It pushed me to write and create travel and food shoots with a rigour they demanded, married to a romantic vision of the world. It is a potent mix and I think (and hope!) that I still have both, no matter how far and wide I explore these days."

India sits at the emotional centre of the Prior origin story. "I fell in love with it when I first went." He returned again and again, writing for multiple publications, most notably Condé Nast Traveler, where he became a roving editor. "I just thought I could take an editor's eye on that place and bring the experience to life." India became the backbone of what followed when he organised a group trip there. He explains, "I basically took a bunch of twenty-one friends, some high-profile people like Alice Waters and Skye McAlpine, and roamed the country for twenty-one days." It wasn't framed as a business, but it got attention, and from that, Prior was born. "I don't think I am an incredibly gifted writer," he admits, "But I do know how to edit and elevate a place. It isn't just for readers now. It is for our travellers. I took what I already knew and applied it to experience design."

For David, travel only works when curiosity remains "pure". His deliberate refusal of cynicism helps him maintain enthusiasm. When he reflects on his time inside Condé Nast and now at Prior, shaping (often invisibly) the global conversation around travel, he stays candid about influence. "I never wrote for ego and the by-line, but I would be lying if I said that influence was not a prime mover. It's the best feeling when you can change the worldview of people and introduce them to places and cultures that just might be saved by their support."

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"Travel only

works when curiosity remains pure"

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Not surprisingly, he recoils from ranked lists. "I hate them! They lack nuance and imagination," he says. "I often love places that people don't traditionally. Occasionally, at Prior, we sometimes offer a kind of 'best of' out of editorial necessity, but I like to do them on things you wouldn't generally see listed, like 'Portaluppi's 10 buildings in Milan', the world's most beautiful Art Deco cinemas, where to see the 'dark sky' in Australia and the like." David's definition of good travel resists the fashionable rhetoric of total spontaneity and advocates balance. "I should qualify that," he smiles, "It's not always the most meaningful trip if it is not planned. I think that's a cliché. You need a mix of planning and space for serendipity."

He sees food, cultural festivals, textiles and markets as the entry points to understanding a place. "I don't know how to do it any other way. I like to arrive in the middle of the night and go to the local market first thing wherever I am. It gives you a guiding light for what you should order in terms of seasonality and diversity, but also a sense of landscape and the people."

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He's clear-eyed about how technology will impact the travel industry. "AI will drive everything to the mean. I see it already." What it can't do, he believes, is what matters most. "It won't conjure the tangible, the connection, or the creativity of experience design." It's a philosophy echoed in the way he thinks about clothes, and his ongoing affinity with Marfa Stance. A believer in utility over ornament he describes how, "I am a bit of my own creation – and that came from a very diverse array of influences so I like that I can almost create my own. I like that Marfa Stance clothes allow me to be horse riding in Mongolia, walking through a snowy Central Park, and can take me from a fancy hotel to a long hiking adventure. I also love that they provide some consistency and stability on flights."

When asked about journeys that changed him, he speaks about fellow travellers. In particular, the late chef Skye Gyngell. "She was my favourite person to travel with. We had the same sense of colour and taste in food." David recalls a bakery in Istanbul. "These swarthy Turkish bakers were making pastry and it seemed as though they were airing out sheets, making the bed with rolled dough. The icing sugar and flour were on their eyelashes and they looked like butterflies. It revealed the strength and fragility of tradition." Syria also had an effect. "It taught me that the world needs to slow down and think of the consequences of conflict and imperialism."

Tourism versus exploration remains an open question. "The spotlight can make something shine, it can also ultimately burn it. There are no easy answers. Who am I to say someone should not experience Venice, but that it only comes at a price?" What he believes in is context. "Better, more informed choices." Responsibility doesn't have to be sanctimonious. "Get to know the place beyond travel recommendations. It gives you context clues."

What makes a place stay? "It's the 'only in…' factor," he says. The thing that resists replication. Travel, he reflects, shapes identity in both directions. "Travel is about the stories we tell the world about ourselves, but it is also the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves." If every guidebook disappeared tomorrow, he knows where curiosity would pull him next. "I am quite curious about China at the moment." He closed by sharing that he's more comfortable with life on the road. "For me, it's a novelty being at home."

Welcome to The Stance. A natural extension of the conversations, places and most importantly, the people who have long shaped the brand. This printed record celebrates our community – and takes a closer look at how the connections we've made have played a part in defining the shape and unique spirit of Marfa Stance.

Across its pages, are stories from our global collective. Long-form interviews with humans whose lives, practices and points of view reflect a shared sensibility, rather than one single aesthetic. United by the way they move through the world with curiosity, creativity, and conviction, these conversations lean into the value of slowing down.

A publication is the original anti-scroll – something permanent you can live with and return to, time after time. Forever evolving with enduring, timeless appeal, The Stance mirrors our approach to clothing. It's an invitation into the Marfa Stance world, their voices, values, and the rhythm of their universe.

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Some people have an air of always being mid-journey, even when they’re sitting still. David Prior fits that bill. He is wanderlust, personified. Born in Australia, he left early, propelled by what Australians often refer to as ‘the tyranny of distance’, moving to Italy in 2006 to study Gastronomic Science in Piedmont, then to California in 2009 and finally, to New York in 2014. Clearly, geography matters to the founder of esteemed travel company Prior, although taste and cultural literacy matter more.

Read Article

David Prior

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