Carton d'invitation: Recent Episodes
Nancy Devitt Tremblay
Carton d’invitation celebrates creative people - expressing themselves through fashion, music and design. Learn how to design a garment, compose a pop song, create a brand, become an influencer, make a movie - or maybe just become more comfortable being who you are. Conversations from Berlin, London, Toronto, Milan and Paris with people whose creative explorations help us all feel seen Nancy Devitt Tremblay’s podcast was formerly known as Teaching the Teacher, featuring accomplished under-30's, talking about how they figured out who they wanted to be - chef, diplomat, podcaster, doctor...
Publicist, model agent, playwright, erstwhile stylist, Fred Howard was the publicity manager for Linda Evangelista’s comeback tour last year. Fred has spent a life in the so-called fashion trenches. Among his skills is preparing models for the red carpet, (avoiding the fries that can bloat and turning up the music and the AC on the way to the venue)! Fred’s worked at Elite Models and DNA, scouted countless models, served as media coach to still more, He even chaperoned models’ apartments years ago, perfecting his knack for helping people be philosophical about failure to launch in the way they expected. He has managed PR and philanthropic initiatives for various celebrities and he continues to write - he and his cousin, acclaimed director, Raelle Myrick-Hodges created the play “He Has The Prettiest Handwriting” which sold out at the Public Theatre in New York in 2022. Fred is now working on a piece of first person creative non-fiction--sharing tales of growing up in a military family, coming of age as a Black gay man in conservative North Carolina of the 80s, and his youth in the fashion trenches from the late 90s and 00. He’s also serving as a consultant for a scripted series currently in development, set in the fashion industry. Fred is the kind of a person who has always been there but one didn’t always know what he was doing. He is a connector - and someone people can count on to craft - and even protect - their public images. He is an insider who has many stories - and he tells them in this episode of Carton d’invitation!
Find Fred on Instagram @bushwickfreddy
Original music @leonthesinger
Please subscribe here for more fashion conversations! Your support for my project means a lot.
A video trailer for this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel.
To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation
Sibyl Buck is the American supermodel who brought punk to Paris runways in the 90s.
At the height of her success, she left for New York to become an artist and a musician.
Sibyl built The Doghouse, an artists’ commune in New York City and toured for years as a musician with lots of different people including Chris Traynor. She and Chris parent their daughter, Puma Rose.
Along the way, Sibyl has been an MTV host, an actress, in the Fifth Element for instance; she spent 10 years working as a therapeutic yoga instructor and now she’s a permaculture designer (who does some modeling on the side of course. Book her!)
Sibyl’s called a “Grunge Icon”.
Her scarlet hair and piercings inspired Jean Paul Gaultier to cast her in 1993. She stuck out her pierced tongue at the end of the runway and the result was her first picture in Vogue.
Soon Sibyl was learning how to breathe into corset fittings at Vivienne Westwood and Thierry Mugler.
And before she knew it, even the most traditional houses wanted to capture some of her frank freshness to burnish their brands. She even posed with Yves Saint Laurent for a famous portrait.
I had fun watching all of that unfold back then. Sibyl always made a fashion show more interesting and I liked checking in with her for chats here and there - she was never boring!
So it meant a lot to me to track Sibyl down in Topanga, California where she tends her garden, walks her dog, mothers her daughter, builds just about anything - and works on a wide variety of projects aimed at healing people - and the land.
Sibyl's info:
NextLA//MarilynNY//OuiParis
www.sibylbuck.com
Instagram: @sibbyfresh
Please subscribe for more fashion conversations! Your support for my project means a lot.
A video trailer for this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel.
To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation
Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.
“The French Facialist” Sophie Carbonari is often referred to as one of the world's ultimate beauty secrets, whether you pick up Vogue, Town and Country or Goop.
Sophie's famous for gifting “glow” to her clients such as Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, Carla Bruni, Caroline de Maigret, Nicole Kidman and Lou Doillon…To be clear, we are talking about something that looks like a facelift but isn't!
The Carton d’invitation Podcast often but not always talks about 90s fashion - but this is a twist and the humour doesn't escape me! In this episode, we are talking about how some of the famous faces from the 90s stay luminous today!
A pioneer of the “facialist wave”, Sophie's special techniques and I dare say her deep intuition and care for people have celebrities lining up at her studio in Palais Royale in Paris or once a month in London - or wherever she may be: for instance working her magic installed at Cannes during the festival.
In this episode, we learn about how she does it - you will be quite surprised!
Sophie talks about her rich childhood in the south of France, being raised by a French mother and an Italian father, some of the discrimination she faced starting out as a beauty therapist and her empathy for her clients who are always being judged in the public eye.
She calls out “beauty shaming” - and for those of us who might not be able to see her for a treatment or buy her “addictive” Le S Serum, she offers her simple “10p” tips for daily skincare!
Sophie says anti-ageing is a not a thing - you can’t anti-age! But after years of research, she’s developed a protocol that combines customized formulas, ayurvedic and kobido practices - and her own innovative massage technique that stimulates the fascia (it makes a cracking sound when it happens by the way). She says she just “reveals” people - without the tiredness that accumulates!
If you want to know more about Sophie after listening, here is her website:
https://sophiecarbonari.com/studio/
Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you are listening!
A video excerpt of this episode is available on Youtube.
To learn more about my documentary project, go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram.
Original music for this podcast by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos
Carton d’invitation celebrates the fashion journeys of Supermodels, designers, journalists, stylists, creative directors, illustrators etc. Stars of 90s Paris as well as emerging creatives in conversation about "life before the internet" and making fashion now.
I was a TV reporter in the Golden Age of fashion in Paris in the 80s and 90s, back when it was a new thing to bring video cameras into that elite world. Now I am a documentary maker and writer thinking about embodiment, glamour and sartorial disruption. These podcasts honour legacies. Touching and fun - a fashion history archive.
Sophie Theallet has dressed Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian. An award winning designer in her own right, she started out assisting Jean Paul Gaultier - and then Azzedine Alaia for 10 years. She saw everything! And in this podcast, she decides she’s willing to tell me about it all.
It took us three meetings but Sophie was eventually ready to explain what “assisting” really meant - the lines she developed, the prints she designed, the symbiotic relationship between herself and Alaia, who she calls the “Last Couturier.” (Along the way, she was also ready to gossip a bit - and to be honest about how hot under the collar things sometimes got)!
When I interview people who worked as “assistants”, they are always very respectful - careful to protect the mystique of the iconic designers they worked for - Of course, Sophie is extremely respectful of the legacy of Alaia - but she was also finally willing to lift the veil and help me get a real sense of the contributions that so many invisible people working around the great designers made to fashion.
Sophie also talks about how she broke away and moved to New York, built her award winning brand and dressed stars from Lauren Hill to Sharon Stone. We also learn how she ended up in Montreal, launching Room 502, a direct to consumer low waste brand of pitch-perfect pieces every woman wants in her wardrobe - couture quality construction at a small fraction of the price.
Cathy Horyn says her colour sense reminds her of Saint Laurent - Sophie’s many admirers from Obama to Rosy de Palma appreciate her approach to empowering women through clothes.
Sophie has won the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund award. In addition, to running Room 502, she has been a fashion instructor at the University of Montreal and she offers online tutoring for young designers, including hopefuls putting together portfolios for fashion programs around the world.
Find Sophie and Room 502 at https://sophietheallet.com/
Sophie is also on Instagram @sophietheallet
Please subscribe for more fashion conversations! Your support for my project means a lot.
A full video trailer for this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel.
To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation
Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.
Eve Salvail: Supermodel, Muse to Jean Paul Gaultier, successful DJ, an addiction counselor, frequent television personality in Quebec, author and importantly the energy behind the Eve Salvail Foundation which aims to serve victims of domestic violence.
Along with a lot of people, I will never forget the season Eve arrived on the scene in Paris. Everyone was buzzing: “Who is the extraordinary new Canadian model? Her head is shaved - she has a dragon tattooed...on her skull!”
Really quickly, designers couldn't get enough of Eve from Gaultier to Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. She appeared to be taking on Paris on her own terms as she swaggered distinctively down those runways - but it was quite a bit more complicated than that, as she recounts in this latest episode of the Carton d'invitation Podcast.
Eve understands now at the age of 53 that the turmoil she was experiencing inside back then inadvertently offered a sense of representation to other young people (all around the world) who also might have been struggling with identity.
Please subscribe for more fashion conversations! Your support for my project means a lot.
Gentle warning: Eve discusses her recovery from addiction and her work now helping others as a counselor.
A full video version of this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel.
To learn more about Eve and the Fondation Eve Salvail:
https://fondationevesalvail.org/en/
Or simply go to Instagram: @evesalvail
Find Eve's book "Sois Toi et T'es Belle". Available in bookstores or through online providers.
To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation
Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.
British Patricia Jacobs was a newspaper reporter for The New York Post back in the 80s and 90s. Now known as the artist, PJ Cobbs, she has hilarious gee-whiz tales from the trenches of fashion journalism and much perspective on what it was like for persons of colour to operate in that world.
Listen for a crash course in what being a news reporter back then was like, from scrambling to the phone booth to call stories in, getting the scoop when Karl Lagerfeld started yelling at Denise Dubois of the Chambre Syndicale right in front of her, to wearing her best and only little black dress to her first Paris soiree which happened to be hosted by Roger Vivier at Maxims.
It was bittersweet to share our stories of the designer Patrick Kelly who died so quietly in those tragic days when AIDS was kept a secret.
When I was roaming around backstage during the Golden Age of Paris fashion, I would turn to Patricia for soundbites - she always had something interesting to say! Hence while working on my documentary, I knew I needed to track her down to hear her perspective on that whole scene with the benefit of hindsight. The sting of the microagressions hasn't waned; her tenderness towards defenders such as Hilary Alexander remains.
And I think you will find it interesting that Patricia or PJ Cobbs as she is now called left fashion journalism behind to become a successful artist in New York.
I hope you enjoy this episode of oral history from Golden age of Paris fashion and also about what a creative life can look like.
PJ Cobbs is an artist, workshop leader and keynote speaker. To learn more about PJ Cobbs (or to buy her artwork), go to her website: https://www.pjcobbsarts.com/or pjcobbsarts
Find her on Instagram @pjcobbsarts
To learn more about my documentary project go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram.
Be sure to check out the video trailer for this episode on Youtube.
Music for this podcast by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos.
Dawn Wolf stands by the motto that she is only as good as her last booking, A straight-talking New Yorker transplanted to Paris, Dawn says there are secrets she is taking to the grave...but all the same, you will be delighted to hear many, many stories here! She opened Ford Models in Paris and then IMG. Dawn helped launch almost every supermodel from Christy to Naomi to Shalom and Amber to Guinevere van Seenus and Amy Wesson. The list will make you dizzy.
While I was researching my recently released film Carton d'invitation, Dawn was very much a person I needed to reconnect with as a consultant to the project. Her perspective was invaluable.
There's a video trailer for this podcast which will have you laughing out loud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPguwuuoa68
For more on my documentary project, go to Instagram @cartondinvitation
Original Music: Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlon and Chloe Hsu
Featured in British Vogue, designing for drag influencers, Bailey J Mills and Bimini as well as pop stars CMAT and The Dinner Party, Oran O'Reilly is creating a bit of a sensation in Ireland. His bespoke knitwear sells out. His inventive corsets feature faces of anyone from Kate Bush to Princess Diana. He is just 21 years old - and does his knitting on the bus to college - where he is studying costume design with the illustrious Peter O'Brien at IADT.
(Peter O'Brien is an earlier Carton d'invitation Podcast guest - scroll to find that)!
I met Oran when I went to Dublin to screen my documentary. Of course, his teacher brought some of his students along!
But before I even got to Dublin, I had heard the buzz about Oran - he's been making appearances on Irish national radio and television - and basically charming audiences with his inventive clothes and disarming candour. Among other things, he is honest about how new this career is for him. By the way, since the start, Oran's mother, Orla has been his model for publicity shots - and that launched an unplanned modeling career! As Oran says, Mum taught me to knit and I got her a modeling contract!
You can listen to the podcast here - or watch the full episode on Youtube.
To learn more about Oran: @oranjaurelio on Instagram
And more about my documentary project @cartondinvitation
Music for this podcast: @leonthesinger
Justin Teodoro is a fellow Canadian - based in New York - and an illustrator whose work is followed by tens of thousands of people. His art offers witty and very stylish commentary on pop culture and the world of fashion.
Enjoy listening to a person who has carved a unique niche for himself by trusting his instincts and leaning into his creativity!
In 2023, Justin was part of the Costume Department for Madonna’s Celebration Tour. His role was as the Costume Illustrator, working closely with the Costume Team sketching the looks of the show.
And at the start of 2024, Justin’s original illustrations were chosen to be printed on exclusive merchandise for The Celebration Tour.
Graduating from the Parsons School of Design in 2006, Justin built a successful career as a Womenswear Fashion Designer for such companies as Tuleh, Cynthia Steffe, and Kenneth Cole Productions.
But after 8 years in the fashion industry, Justin decided to merge his two passions, Fashion and Art to forge a new career as a fashion illustrator and artist. His illustrative work has been featured in many publications including WWD, WSJ, Vogue, Glamour and GQ.
As a creative consultant, he has worked with clients such as Nespresso, Hugo Boss and many more to create illustrated & graphic imagery and campaigns that are all infused with his own unique sensibility.
To find Justin: https://www.justinteodoro.com/ or @justinteodoro on Instagram.
Visit @cartondinvitation on Instagram to discover my ongoing project.
Original Music: Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos
Described by Dazed magazine as an ‘industry fave’, Maximilian Raynor has dressed everyone from musicians Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora to supermodels Paloma Elsesser and Adut Akech. Just 25, he recently presented a collection in the MA Graduate show at Central Saint Martins in London. This is the show that people in the fashion world eagerly anticipate each year, hoping to spot the next Alexander McQueen or John Galliano. The buzz since February would indicate that Maximilian is making his mark.
But Maximilian is no stranger to press. His BA collection premiered with ‘Perfect’ and featured in British Vogue as well as The Pirelli Calendar, styled by Amanda Harlech, eventually walking the runway in Rwanda for a show hosted by King Charles III.
But long before that, when Maximilian was just ten, his sketches came to the attention of Vivienne Westwood who invited him to spent a week in her studio - an indelible influence on his life.
How did Maximilian and I meet? I was recently at Central Saint Martins for an evening screening of my film Carton d’invitation. During a tour of the studios, my wonderful host Roger Tredre took me into the inner sanctum - where racks of the MA Graduate work was on display for fashion insiders scouting talent that week. I immediately spotted the pieces I found most interesting - and though everyone else was gone that evening, I realized the designer of that collection was still there. I decided I couldn’t waste time being shy and i introduced myself.
I’m glad I did - because now you too can meet Maximilian talking about this crucial turning point in his life as a designer.
For more on Maximilian: https://maximilianraynor.com/ and @maximilianraynor on Instagram.
Go directly to “Manor for Heaven” film: https://maximilianraynor.com/collections/
Learn about my documentary project: @cartond’invitation on Instagram
Original music for this podcast by @leonthesinger
An established leader in the beauty space, James Boehmer is embarking on a new adventure in Kent, Connecticut after years as the Global Artistic Director for SHISEIDO Makeup. That role was preceded by groundbreaking work at NARS. In this podcast, James talks about beauty, leaning into difference and creating community. You will hear about "Peggy Mercury" - an exciting new multi-category store and art space he and his partner Greg Fricke are bringing to life - and lots of funny and touching stories about how a beauty obsessed teenager who felt like an outsider in St. Louis, Missouri managed to create a life that took him into the inner sanctums of the fashion world, both backstage and corporate boardrooms.
The entire podcast is available in video form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNVsi0LU2Zs
Thanks for subscribing here and on Youtube, if you feel inclined to support my project.
For more about James: check out @itspeggymercury and @jamesaaronboehmer on Instagram"At SHISEIDO, James drove product innovation and directed shade development. He oversaw all Global Artistry teams and communicated the brand’s unique point of view by creating content across multiple channels. In addition to devising many of the attention-grabbing looks for SHISEIDO Makeup’s ad campaigns, brand films, and social content, he worked closely with various departments within the company to conceptualize educational materials and tools that enhanced the consumer experience and increase customer engagement.Prior to his position at SHISEIDO Makeup, James served as Director of Global Artistry for NARS where he defined seasonal beauty trends, conducted seminars, educated other makeup pros, and assumed the role of key artist backstage for numerous designers including Mansur Gavriel, Creatures of the Wind, Suno, Naeem Khan, Vivienne Westwood, and Carolina Herrera.His work has appeared editorially in prestigious international publications such as Marie Claire, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Purple, Jalouse, L’Officiel, and The New York Times Magazine. He has also contributed to beauty stories in WWD, British Vogue, The Financial Times, and The Guardian. James' client roster includes Hunter Schafer, Arca, Isabella Rossellini, Alek Wek, Sofia Coppola, Karen Elson, Daphne Guinness, Naomi Campbell, Zoe Saldana, Amy Sedaris, Olivia Palermo, and countless other top models and actresses. James has also designed makeup for various independent feature films that have been on view at Sundance, Slamdance, Toronto, and IFP."To learn about my documentary project: @cartondinvitation on Instagram.
Original music for this podcast by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.
Openly trans in 1989, Connie Fleming made her Paris modeling debut and history on a Thierry (Manfred) Mugler runway.
Connie is a multi-hyphenate: illustrator, model, runway coach, also known as The Door Bitch in the New York club scene. She has become an advocate for trans-healthcare following her experience with breast cancer.
Growing up in Jamaica and then New York, Connie experienced violence in childhood - but was rebuilt as a teenager by developing her stage persona at Boy Bar. She became a fixture at the Paradise Garage where she was discovered by Steven Meisel. Connie is featured in a new documentary about that scene “Love is In the Legend”. And she has been seen in current day Mugler publicity campaigns and on recent Mugler and Rick Owens runways.
I talked to Connie while working on my documentary Carton d'invitation - I had wonderful memories of seeing her on the runways in Paris in the 80s and 90s - and it was important for me to ask what it all felt like for her.
To learn more about Connie follow her on Instagram @therealconniergirl
For more on my documentary project, visit @cartondinvitation on IG as well.
Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.
Jason Duzansky recently worked as the art director on the instantly iconic book: “Linda Evangelista Photographed by Steven Meisel”. But probably without realizing it, you are always seeing images Jason helped create on billboards, in shop windows and magazines - wherever you might be in the world. Jason is a busy Creative Director based in Los Angeles and New York who works for many brands including Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Before going out on his own, Jason was "the right hand man" to Steven Meisel, serving as his in-house art director for 13 years. He grew up in Chicago and got his first break working at Visionaire Publishing in New York.
This podcast is a Master Class for young people wondering how to break into fashion…and of course, it is also for anyone who wants to know what it might have been like to work with Steven Meisel on all those Italian Vogue covers! Jason shares many memories working with and learning from the very private Meisel, who is considered the photographer of his generation.
Jason work is informed by a distinctive integration of typography and graphic design - he explains that his goal is to catch our eyes with work that is both chic and charming. Enjoy meeting the self-deferential and indeed very charming, Jason Duzansky in this Carton d’invitation podcast.
For more about Jason: https://www.jasonduzansky.com/
To learn about the Carton d'invitation documentary project, check out my Instagram account @cartondinvitation
You can find a video trailer for this podcast on Youtube or by checking my linktr.ee on Instagram.
To help fund continued work on this podcast series about the Golden Age of fashion in Paris, find a Kofi link in my bio as well.
Original music for this podcast was provided by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos.
Fashion History 101 - For six decades, Tony has been immersed in the world of fashion - thinking, writing and sketching. From early 1960s YSL shows in the intimacy of the salon to the latest extravaganzas in Paris, Tony's been there, notebook in hand. We caught up as I was working on my documentary Carton d'invitation. Back in the 1990s, I often turned to him for TV interviews right after fashion shows. He was always knowledgeable - and effervescent with excitement - about the spectacles we witnessed in those days, from the first shows by Galliano at Dior to the time Martin Margiela made a "lace" dress from old sandals.
Tony started as a fashion forecaster with Sir Terence Conran, and went on to become an editor at Conde Nast, based in Australia. Prolific still, at the age of 77, Tony stays busy covering fashion for numerous magazines, commuting from his home in Palma to London and other fashion capitals.
For many years, Tony has also been a lecturer at a number of institutions including The London College of Fashion.
Tony is the author of several books such as "Top to Toe, a guide to men's grooming" and "New Icons of Fashion Illustration".
For more about Tony, check Instagram @ t.g.therealtonyglenville
For more about the Carton d'invitation documentary, check out my Instagram account @cartondinvitation
You can find a video trailer for this podcast on Youtube or by checking my linktr.ee on Instagram.
To help fund continued work on this podcast series about the Golden Age of fashion in Paris, find a Kofi link in my bio as well.
Original music for this podcast was provided by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos.
Partner of the late Manfred Thierry Mugler, Krzysztof Leon Dziemaszkiewicz is a Polish performance artist based in Berlin. From a little kitchen in Schillerpromenade, he and I spoke together about his highly inventive art practice - and what it was like navigating the first year of grief after the passing of his partner.
To learn more visit his Instagram: @leondziemaszkiewicz
This podcast is part of an interactive media library which accompanies my documentary Carton d'invitation. It's a film about my work reporting for Fashion Television in Paris during "The Golden Age", the 80s and 90s. My documentary naturally revisits my encounters with Mugler so it was important - and moving - for me to be able to talk to Leon for this podcast.
A gentle warning to people dealing with loss that some of the content deals with the process of grieving.
If you would like to learn more about my documentary and the overall project, go to Instagram @cartondinvitation
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
Entertaining, outspoken and really funny, former fashion model and Big Brother Reality TV star, Marcellas Reynolds calls himself the “ultimate fangirl." He is the author of Supreme Models, The History of Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion and Supreme Actresses as well. He co-produced with supermodel, Iman, the hit six-part Supreme Models docuseries. The series brings together many stars from Pat Cleveland to Karen Alexander and Veronica Webb to Zendaya to tell the story of Black models past and present. We sat down to talk about Marcellas’ own extraordinary life in fashion and the thrill of creating the books and the documentary.
Known as a "walking, talking fashion wikipedia", Marcellas is the ultimate fashion insider. In this podcast, he offers us a Master Class in the compelling history of the Black Model.
Find a video trailer for this podcast : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSeFQbKhdDM
Find the docuseries at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObeHmWsyshM
Find Marcellas @marqueemarc on Instagram and @Supreme_books on Twitter.
Buy his books online or in your favorite bookstore!
Special consultant on this podcast: @domcreates
To learn more about my ongoing documentary project about Paris fashion in the 80s and 90s, go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram and Tiktok
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
Peter O’Brien, wildly talented, humble and really funny, has been a fashion insider for decades. He sat down to share his thoughts and impressions about where things are at now and what was happening back in the 1990s when we knew each other. I am working on a documentary and doing a Master’s about my own work making television about fashion in Paris at that particular moment in time. To be honest, I need a lot of help remembering, clarifying and reinterpreting. In this podcast, Peter enlightens me on many questions.
Raised on a council estate, avoiding sports and always drawing ballgowns in his schoolbooks, Peter O’Brien went from dressing windows in Dublin to attending Central St Martins in London, (telling a pre-Internet fib about having finished an Irish Leaving Certificate to gain admission). In a few short years, Peter was in Paris, working at Christian Dior under Marc Bohan, followed by Givenchy, then a brief stint as a senior designer at Chloé. In 1989 he was appointed Creative Director at Rochas, where he remained for 12 years, designing women’s wear and accessories, and overseeing menswear, perfumes and licenses.
Peter returned to Ireland in 2004 where he has since been working as a freelance designer for various lines.
He is an award-winning costume designer for theatre - and he spends much of his time now teaching a new generation of costume designers in Ireland.
For more about Peter:
Instagram: @peterobriendesign
Website: https://peterobriendesign.com/
Find a video trailer for this podcast here: https://youtu.be/BWKRfZZ_GqI
To learn more about my ongoing documentary project about Paris fashion in the 80s and 90s, go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram and Tiktok
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
Veronica Webb’s fancy-free strut down the Chanel runway was iconic in the 80s and 90s. In a fast rise to fame, the Detroit-native entered the emerging circle of Supermodels at the age of 19. Veronica was the first Black model to sign an exclusive cosmetic contract - becoming a spokesmodel for Revlon. She appeared on many magazine covers including Vogue and Elle, modeled for Victoria’s Secret and acted in films including Jungle Fever and Malcolm X. Supported by mentors such as Bethann Hardison, Azzedine Alaia, Karl Lagerfeld and Andre Leon Talley, Veronica became a student of the system - her astute observational wit propelling her multifaceted career.
In this podcast, she reminisces with me about those heady days when everyone came together all at once in the fashion world to attend shows that were not possible to see any other way - before the dawn of the internet. She talks about the excitement, the clothes, the characters and her work now mentoring young Black fashion talent.
Veronica is a mother and a blogger who espouses the motto: Own your age. Own your beauty. Own your power.
She recently appeared in the docu-series Supreme Models, a history of iconic Black women who revolutionized fashion, created by Marcellus Reynolds and Iman. You can find that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQkSAKgIaJI
For more about Veronica: Instagram: @veronicawebb Website: https://www.webbonthefly.com/
Find a short video version of this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyfqmxr2uWA
To learn more about my ongoing documentary project about Paris fashion in the 80s and 90s, go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram and Tiktok
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
London’s Heather Stewart Whyte quickly shot to fame upon arriving in Paris, posing for all the great photographers of the time and walking the runways for every designer in town. A muse to Herve Leger, Yves St. Laurent and Dominique Isserman, Heather was also a Victoria’s Secret model. She tells a funny story about that in the podcast - and some cheeky tales about keeping Helmut Newton in his place.
Initially shy, Heather grew in confidence and was part of that group of supermodels who changed the rules. She pushed back when designers complained about her curves and she even rewrote the rules about being a mom and a model, taking her nursing babies on set - and just making that work too.
I knew Heather in the 90s, often interviewing her for Fashion Television. I was really delighted when we were able to catch up for this conversation so many years later. She recounted her memories of catwalks and photo shoots - but most especially she relished talking about the human moments: the encounters and the creativity she experienced in “The Golden Age” of fashion.
Find a video trailer for this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COTQrC6wogA
To learn more about my ongoing documentary project about Paris fashion in the 80s and 90s, go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram and Tiktok
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
Hear what poet and spoken word artist Cathi Rae has to say about body positivity and growing old in style. She embraces slow fashion, consuming less yet still enjoying the thrill of the find in charity shops and her own cupboard!
A PhD student at the age of 60, Leicester's Cathi Rae teaches creative writing - and can be found doing manual labour cleaning houses two days a week. She has strong opinions about why it is important to value the body's function over form and wishes she had seen more representation of non-airbrushed older bodies when she was younger - a situation she is correcting from what she calls her "little corner of Instagram" where she posts pictures of herself in fabulous preloved styles - and sometimes in the nude.
A poet in conversation.
Go to @cathirae on Instagram to enjoy her creative styling of preloved clothes and her thoughtful messaging.
Cathi Rae's recent book "Your Cleaner Hates You and Other Poems" is available from Amazon or the Soulful Group @ https://www.soulfulgroup.com/authors/cathirae
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
Follow @cartond'invitation on IG for more about Cathi Rae - and my documentary project.
Claudia Mason: Supermodel, author, actress, stroke thriver and Life Coach.
Claudia walked fashion runways in The Golden Age and now has another kind of "super life" as a coach, helping others get unstuck and centred. Author of "Finding the Supermodel in You" and also spokesperson for The American Stroke Association (ASA), Claudia has many dimensions and lots of stories to tell. It was special for me to catch up with Claudia after many years and ask her about what it felt like to be swept up in the glamourous fashion world of the 90s and how she certified for a new career in coaching.
Discovered in her early teens in a record shop in Manhattan, the young ballerina had braces on her teeth and was wearing a backbrace for scoliosis. She was quickly catapulted into the studios of the top photographers of the world; but her parents didn't let her leave for the runways of Paris until she finished high school. Claudia has an insider's perspective on the glitz and the hard work being one of that small and fascinating group of women who emerged as "90s Supermodels".
Charming, warm and funny, Claudia recounts her adventures - the ups and the downs - and she talks about why she wrote a book as a guide for young people interested in working as models or in the entertainment industry in general; the book is for their parents too!
You can see a short video trailer for this podcast at: https://youtu.be/K682-dTs3tU
To contact Claudia for coaching or just learn more about her work:
www.claudiamason.com
Claudia Mason - Spiritual Life Coach CLC/ Human Capital Group
Author: Finding The Supermodel In You
Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/
Follow @cartond'invitation on IG for more about Claudia Mason - and my documentary project.
Meet Maltese-Australian Anto Christ, a Berlin-based creator who scultps in crochet, paints in neon and wears her art on the street. A proponent of adornism - and of "particpating in your life", Anto is a liberating person to listen to on fashion and its power to "bloom" a person! Her recent solo show Divine Mutations at Transparent Forum in Berlin was well received but as you will see Anto Christ is not just about galleries – her whole life is a work of art – and fashion.
"Stratosphere", the original music for this podcast was composed and performed by Ashley Rivera of Toronto. LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M71ohUImaRw
Video trailer for this podcast on youtube: https://youtu.be/ks1v1Wxfi0w
Visit @antochrist on Instagram to discover more of the world of Anto Christ!
@cartondinvitation on Instagram to learn more about this ongoing project.
My reunion with French couturier and inventor Olivier Lapidus.
Olivier has dressed everyone from Celine Dion to Amal Clooney. Designing haute couture from a young age, Olivier came by his talent naturally as his father was Ted Lapidus, iconic designer in the swinging 60s and 70s who dressed John Lennon among many others and his mother Veronique Zuber was Miss France, a model and an actress. In the 90s, Olivier took over design at the house of Lapidus – and it was there that I interviewed him many times for Fashion Television – the program I reported for back in the day and that I'm making a documentary about now.
In this episode, we meet again after almost 25 years and have lots to reminisce about.
Olivier won the Golden Thimble in 1994 and also created collections for Balmain and Lanvin but he was never satisfied just designing clothes. For more than thirty years, Olivier has been working with craftspeople and scientists to patent cutting edge inventions in fibre, light-technology and more.
Long ago, Olivier took my cameraman and me with him to Pakistan to meet Benazir Bhutto and cut the ribbon at the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, a ground-breaking school he helped found. We share our memories of interviewing a frankly feminist Benazir who sent us her own limousine to drive around Islamabad.
Olivier's latest work is with the Lucibelle group on the Ove Mask for Dior - and as far as I can tell, it means we can all say goodbye to wrinkles!
We take time to talk about Olivier's talented wife Yara who reinvented herself after an accident; she was a designer, now she has hit records on Billboard. Find her beautiful music in the link below - and lots of links to the rich story of Olivier Lapidus, a tireless inventor who embodies French style.
https://www.instagram.com/olivierlapidusofficial/
http://www.creationolivierlapidus.paris
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Lapidus
https://www.lucibelleparis.com
https://www.cafedeladanse.com/event/yara-lapidus/
Original music for this podcast is courtesy of Ashley Rivera, Chloe Tsu and Myla Carlos.
Leon The Singer is a Berlin-based singer/composer/dancer whose new album The Noise Beside Your Thoughts is as catchy as it is honest. This podcast episode will have you tapping your feet - maybe even dancing a little - as Leon and I explore the three-year process of creating an album which has caught the attention of Rolling Stone Magazine.
Leon talks about his craft, his inspiration - and some of the doubts he had to cast off to create an "openly queer" album. Leon says he wrote these songs for himself as a teenager; creating representation he wished he'd had growing up. While resonating with the LGBTQ+ community, the "Noise" is an album that speaks to everyone both in its playful and its vulnerable moments.
Leon The Singer is on Spotify and Bandcamp as well as Instagram @leonthesinger.
Find Leon's music videos on his Youtube channel: Leon The Singer https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCG8iGmUCH__CKdh-Vdxi8Xg
A contemporary artist and conceptual designer, Jo Cope plays with the semiotics of dress. From her recent work at The Garden Museum in London, to the Venice Design Biennale to her out-of-the box fashion activism in support of Shelter, the UK homeless charity, Jo pushes boundaries and questions fashion's evolving role within art and society.
Jo adapts traditional shoe making techniques to create handcrafted metaphorical and symbolic artworks which use the shoe as a vessel to explore notions of being human.
Warm and funny, Jo talks to me about all those conceptual shoes, about her boundless curiousity - and about her dyslexia. Jo is a dyslexic artist and believes that her neurodiversity is a key attribute to her practice.
A portrait of Jo recently became a billboard on the London Design Museum to celebrate neurodiversity during London Craft Week.
Jo was also instrumental in the creation of the new "Fashion For Social Change Award" for Graduate Fashion Week with Shelter UK.
Julian Warner says his body is a canvas; his fashion style is eclectic, disruptive - and joyous. A delightful raconteur, Julian has tales of a lifetime of travel from Easter Island to Tibet. Julian directs us to good vintage shopping in international capitals – and explains how he came to own a thousand shirts.
Join me in conversation about race, disruption, clothing as communication. Do come along and enjoy this man’s contagious joie de vivre.
Julian has 11000 fans of his style and travel inspiration on Instagram @vita.allegra.
Learn more about this podcast series @cartondinvitation
Yossi Fisher: from the front row at fashion shows in Milan to rolling up his sleeves to help build fashion brands. Yossi is a guru, advising fashion brands about how to play the long game, stay authentic and show empathy towards the customer base. Yossi has insights on how to become a fashion influencer, what faux pas to avoid and what practices to embrace. He has unothodox opinions about fashion schools and advice for aspiring fashion designers.
Very usefully, Yossi also offers advice on how optimize Instagram, Tiktok, Linked In, Facebook, apps and newsletters to promote your brand.
This epsiode is basically a free brand consultation - enjoy!
To learn more: yossifisher.com
Instagram: @yossi_fisher
To learn more about this overall project visit @cartondinvitation on Instagram
Former model, master tailor, fashion designer, Alexis Mersmann in conversation about their beautiful new collection created using denim found on the streets of Berlin (and other places too)! Alexis shares thoughts on many issues: gender fluidity, sustainability, sizing in fashion, day to day life in Berlin - and growing up on a dairy farm in the German countryside. Besides fashion collections, Alexis creates costumes for theatre, film, drag kings and drag queens.
To encounter Alexis in person and see their inventive designs, go to the podcast video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Iv6q-wdng
Find @alexismermaid on Instagram
Follow @cartondinvitation on Instagram to learn more about this podcast series and Nancy Devitt Tremblay's associated documentary film project.
This episode explores Alexis' ideas about what fashion should say, how a well cut garment can make a person feel and all the different places inspiration can be found. It also offers a revealing glimpse into the world of fashion modelling.
Carton d’invitation is a podcast that celebrates creative people - expressing themselves through fashion, music and design. Self-reflective moments with creators motivated by the search for beauty - and community.
These are people whose creative explorations help us all feel seen.
Along the way, you will learn how to design a garment, compose a pop song, create a brand, become an influencer or make a movie. Most especially, you will hear how my guests became comfortable being just who they are.
Hear perspectives from Berlin, London, Toronto, Milan and Paris.
I’m Nancy Devitt Tremblay and I’ve been a TV interviewer for the CBC and for the iconic Fashion Television; I covered fashion in Paris during the Golden Age in the 1990s and I’m currently working on a documentary about that experience. I’m meeting all kinds of creative people now on my journey so I’m creating portraits of these interesting folks in this podcast series.
I do hope you come along on this adventure with me as I travel around the world meeting people who just can’t help but live their lives expressively - maybe they are already famous, maybe they are on their way or maybe they have just figured out the secret to enjoying a life of self expression and creativity for its own sake.
During its first season, this podcast was known as Teaching the Teacher. And those conversations are still available here too - featuring accomplished under-30's, talking about how they figured out who they wanted to be: a chef, a best-selling author, an immunologist, an astrophysicist, a diplomat, a doctor, a podcast star, a hedge fund trader...and many more.
Music: Leon The Singer
Follow @cartondinvitation on Instagram
Ever wonder about time travel, ever go off in search of the first light of the universe (hint you can actually find it), well then you will enjoy listening to University of Toronto, Science Communicator Spencer Ki regale you with tales of the heavens! Spencer also talks to us about how his curiousity took him through studies in AI, statistics, physics, mathematics and Shakespeare during an epic undergrad degree of his own design. Here's introducing polymath and my former student, Spencer Ki.
Japanese Alternative Fashion. Taking up Space. Helping Young Entrepreneurs across Canada. This episode is all about repurposing a teaching degree to create new career directions. "Life happens", says Melissa Backhouse as she takes us on a journey from teachers' college to working with Futurpreneurs Canada, helping hundreds of new businesses get off the ground. But we also learn about her passion for Japanese Lolita fashion, designing clothes that connect her with a whole community of people with similar interests. And of course wouldn't we discover Melissa is launching a small business of her own: making and selling jewelry!
After Josh's graduation from high school, he studied in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) Program at McMaster University specializing in Child Health. While at McMaster, he took an introductory course in immunology that would change the trajectory of his life. To him, the cells of the immune system were small superheroes that protect the body from villainous infections. He did his undergraduate thesis with Dr. Manel Jordana studying the pathogenesis of food allergies, a foundational experience that inspired him to enroll in a Master's degree in Medical Sciences with Dr. Jordana in 2015. A year later, he transferred into the PhD program, where he still is today. Early in his graduate degree, Josh engaged extensively in education as a teaching assistant in the Child Health Specialization and in immunology courses. Inspired by his experiences in alternative education in the BHSc program, he designed a summer immunology course which the Bachelor of Health Sciences program allowed him to teach as an instructor. From there, he has expanded his role as an instructor- teaching multiple immunology and child health courses a year and providing guest lectures in multiple other courses across multiple universities. Since defending his PhD in May, Josh continues to engage in both research and education at McMaster.
Eternity Martis' debut memoir, "They Said This Would Be Fun", was a “Best Book of the Year” pick by Globe and Mail, Apple, Audible and Chapters/Indigo. A conversation with Eternity, fellow alumna, Serena Habib and me, her high school teacher.
Campus racism, intimate partner violence and a personal journey to understand identity.
CBC called the book one of “20 moving Canadian memoirs to read right now” and PopSugar named it one of “5 Books About Race on College Campuses Every Student Should Read.” In 2020, Eternity was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by Women’s Executive Network.
Ever wonder how decisions get made to build superhighways or new transit lines? The big transportation decisions take a lot of advance planning, a lot of money - and you might think a crystal ball to predict. But no - it’s not magic! It’s a lot of math and hard work. My former student Balthazar Crane is busy doing infrastructure planning for 2041. Before that he studied at the University of Toronto in Engineering Science - that's reputedly the most difficult university program in North America.
An inside look at a hard-knock, high stress and very successful life in Toronto kitchens. In eleven short years, Michael has opened seven restaurants and risen from sous chef at renowned Toronto restaurants to his current position as Executive Chef at Marked, a bustling downtown restaurant which is getting rave reviews. This episode has something for everyone: if you are an amateur cook and want some tips and hacks, you are in the right place; if you think you might like to become a chef yourself - we’ve got you sorted A to Z.
Alexandra is a feminist researcher working on a project of engaged scholarship, exploring the theme of migrant justice. Learn with me about the place of emotionality in academic research - and all about the concepts of positionality and reflexivity. You will also be fascinated to hear about her Masters research which took her to a refugee camp in Greece to study the digital practices of women.
Wonder what it would be like to be an investor? Jacob will fill you in! Hear his thoughts on sustainable investment, geo-politics and consensus building. He is an investment manager focused on identifying funding gaps and providing impactful credit solutions to mid-sized companies across Asia Pacific.
Have you ever wondered about what’s involved in working in the field of mental health? Sylvia is training to become a psychotherapist who can talk to people about the big spiritual questions in an interreligious way. Her road to an innovative program at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto started in her undergrad at the renowned Health Sciences program at McMaster University.
Jad is an extensively published researcher/scientist and a doctor in what he considers the most exciting and innovative field in medicine. He talks to us about the long road from the village he comes from in Lebanon to medical school and beyond. Learn about how young doctors learn to manage the stresses of patient care. And hear about Jad's fascinating research into new ways of training surgeons.
Once a student who came along with me to Model United Nations, Fatin now works for the actual United Nations! She is an Associate Programme Officier at the UNFCCC in Bonn, Germany. Fatin was one of 100 outstanding young leaders who earned a "green ticket"to attend the first United Nations Youth Climate Summit and the Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit in 2019. She was also awarded Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leader.
Speaking in her own capacity and not as a spokesperson for the UNFCCC, Fatin breaks down some complex issues to help me understand the work being done to increase adaptability and resilience with regards to climate change.
Back in the day, I was the teacher who nagged Tiana to stop chatting with her friends while I was teaching! But wouldn't you know, it's Tiana's wonderful gift for talking and connecting that propels her success. She hosts a podcast with her fiance Sophie and it is ranked 1.5% globally! Tiana talks to me about the creation of She. | Shifting Her Experience, a podcast and a brand that embraces "non-traditional" conversations concerning self-improvement, feminist and LGBTQ+ issues.