Fashion Your Seatbelt: Recent Episodes
Jessica Michault
The Fashion Your Seatbelt podcast gives its listeners the rare opportunity to hear from some of the leading voices working in the fashion industry today. Each podcast is an exclusive one-to-one conversation with a creative who is crafting the future of fashion. Hosted by the renowned and award-winning fashion journalist Jessica Michault, this podcast is designed to take its audience directly to the heart of fashion and discover what makes it tick.
Designer Dima Ayad is rewriting the conversation around Arab fashion, inclusivity, and the power of creative resilience.
Born in Lebanon but raised in Dubai, she grew up within the rhythms of the city’s hospitality and luxury spaces. Her early career unfolded in PR and marketing roles at Jumeirah, Raffles, and Atlantis. Places where she learned not only about always going the extra mile and delivering more than what was asked for, but also the critical importance of storytelling and creating deep connections with customers.
But fashion — that was personal. Frustrated by the scarcity of beautifully designed, size-inclusive clothing, she began sketching what she needed — pieces that would flatter, not constrain. With no formal training, she learned by doing. Her first collection, launched in 2011, sold out almost immediately — but the trajectory of her signature brand was never linear. She has even said that some collections were “diabolically bad.” But she admits that she has learned more from those missteps than from her biggest wins.
Alongside building her namesake label, Dima founded DAC Communications in 2020 — a PR, marketing, and storytelling agency born to fill a gap in the market and nurtured through Dima’s unique vision. She’s now balancing dual identities: the dreamer who brings ideas to life through fabric, and the strategist who helps other brands speak their truths.
In our conversation, we explore how Dima keeps inclusion at the core of her business – designing for all women, for diversity, for dignity. We talk about the stumbles along the way that sharpened her resolve and hear how she feels representing Dubai to the world, exploring both its contradictions and its promise. And finally, for those starting out, she gives great insights into the bravest things they can do for their businesses, and how to hold onto themselves and their singular vision as they grow.
Dima Ayad’s story is one of elegance, grit, and radical inclusion.
In this episode, I sit down with Laure Guilbault, the Paris Correspondent for Vogue Business. Laure is a diehard fashion journalist. She worked at WWD for five years, became Business of Fashion’s first Paris correspondent, and is now the Paris Correspondent for Vogue Business. She doesn’t just report on fashion – she dissects it. From the C-suites of luxury maisons to the atelier floors of emerging designers, her journalism captures the pulse of an industry in flux.
Laure brings a uniquely European lens to her reporting – precise, considered, and always ahead of the curve. She understands not just the aesthetic ambitions of fashion, but the structural realities that shape its billion-dollar future.
During the pandemic, she took her love of the industry to new heights when she launched her Sunday Night Live interviews on Instagram. Each Sunday at 6pm, she goes live on the platform to interview leaders and creatives in the fashion and luxury space. It has become a weekly rendez-vous for industry insiders looking for real, uncensored, and unedited conversations about the current state of play in a world that is constantly reinventing itself.
In our conversation, we discuss the paradigm shift that fashion is in the midst of facing, how she honed her interview style, and who she has always dreamt of interviewing… and of course, whether or not she would recommend becoming a fashion journalist in the age of AI.
In this episode, I sit down with Lucien Pagès, one of the fashion world’s most accomplished storytellers and the founder of the eponymous Lucien Pagès Communication, a prominent public relations agency in the luxury fashion and beauty industries.
Cards on the table…I have known Lucien Pagès for decades. I have watched with joy as his unique mix of charm, creativity, and candor has manifested itself in public relations triumphs for hundreds of brands, including legendary labels such as Saint Laurent, Jacquemus, and Schiaparelli.
Once quietly working behind the scenes, Lucien, who just celebrated his 50th birthday, has recently stepped a bit more into the spotlight. Inviting a wider audience into the magical world he works in. Paying it forward to future creatives looking to understand what it takes to authentically and powerfully craft stories that make a luxury brand irresistible.
With nearly two decades of navigating the glamorous and ever-evolving world of fashion PR, in our conversation, he pulls back the velvet curtain on the raw truths behind his career, revealing his unfiltered thoughts on his growing TikTok fame, how he deals with different designer personalities, and what luxury really means today.
We dive deep into the values, grit, and instincts that guide him. His decision to sell his company after 18 years of shaping fashion’s most iconic voices, and why this man, with the most infectious laugh in fashion, still has so many stories to tell.
In just seven short years, Charaf Tajer, the founder and creative director of the brand Casablanca, has proven that the fashion world has room for a multitude of sartorial expressions. His unique blend of old-money style, colorful prints, sporty inspirations and architectural touches has managed to recalibrate the language of contemporary fashion. With roots in Paris and Morocco, Charaf’s path to fashion wasn’t linear. He cut his teeth in the nightlife scene as the art director of Paris’ iconic venue Le Pompon, but was also a creative consultant for Supreme, once upon a time collaborated with Virgil Abloh. But was also a co-founder of the streetwear brand Pigalle before launching Casablanca in 2018. A label born not from trend-chasing, but from a desire to distil elegance, memory, and escapism into clothing.Casablanca isn’t just a fashion brand; it’s a sensibility. A world where terry cloth tailoring meets Art Deco curves, and where every collection feels like a postcard from a sun-drenched far-flung destination. But behind the silk shirts and saturated palettes lies a precise vision – one that blends nostalgia with modernity and elevates leisurewear into a refined statement of intent.Now, the brand is entering a new era. With two flagship stores about to open – one in Paris and another in Los Angeles – Charaf is bringing his universe into physical form. It’s a bold move, but then again, Casablanca was never about playing it safe. As you’ll hear, Charaf is a designer who leads with instinct, impeccable craftsmanship, and a sociological eye.
Guillaume Delacroix is a luxury brand whisperer. His entire career, from his early days working at Karla Otto and KCD to his time at Giorgio Armani and Balenciaga, to his current role as the founder and CEO of DLX, he has been helping leading prestige companies craft their narratives in ways that spark conversations, engage the public and create lasting impressions. Guillaume launched DLX nine years ago and since then he has built up a reputation in the industry for both spotting and supporting budding design talents but also for helping more established companies create bold new chapters in their brand strategy. A born storyteller, Guillaume doesn’t limit his clientele to just fashion labels but instead uses his skills to create memorable moments with a variety of companies. He has worked with everyone from Matches, and the famed Samaritaine department store in Paris to hot niche brands like Sophie Carbonari Skincare, the Zurich-based On athleticwear label and the current must-have swimwear brand Hunza G. The common denominator across all these companies is they are cool. And if they weren’t cool, by the time Guillaume works his magic on their brand strategy, communication rollout and event activations…well they damn sure will be.I have known Guillaume for years and considering his impressive track record in the luxury space what still strikes me the most is how humble and self-effacing he is. I mean just Google the guy. For someone who can weave a brand narrative like nobody’s business, there is very little about Guillaume himself online. I hope this podcast will help change that. As he is one man worth knowing. This interview took place in June 2021
I don’t think I have ever been as nervous about interviewing someone in my entire career as I was when my former boss and colleague Suzy Menkes agreed to speak with me for this podcast. I worked side by side with Suzy for 16 years at the International Herald Tribune, which is now known as the International New York Times. Over that period she mentored me, encouraged me and guided me. Shaping my career as I moved from her assistant to fashion writer and finally the Online Style Editor of the IHT. During our time together we experienced so many amazing fashion moments, from the John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacob eras at Dior, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, respectively, to watching first-hand the rise of LVMH, Gucci Group, Kering and the whole transformation of the fashion industry from artform to billion-dollar luxury business. Not to mention witnessing the debuts of iconic designers like Nicolas Ghesquière, Alber Elbaz, Phoebe Philo, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Alessandro Michele, Riccardo Tisci, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Pierpaolo Piccioli and the list goes on. Suzy’s career as a fashion critic spans close to 60 years, starting with her college days at Cambridge where she was the first female editor of the university newspaper. But even before that, as a teenager, she moved to Paris to study at the fashion school that is now known as ESMOD. So her love of fashion as a visual expression of self and society runs very deep indeed. She started her true calling as a fashion journalist at the age of 24. Working under the watchful eye of Charles Wintour, the father of Anna Wintour, who would be an early mentor for Suzy. But Suzy came into full bloom as one of the most respected fashion critics in the world during her 26-year tenure at the International Herald Tribune. Her words were read in the pages of the daily newspaper by hundreds of thousands of readers around the world and eventually by millions once the internet was born. An audience that only expanded with the advent of social media and her turn as Condé Nast’s International Vogue Editor, which saw her words being translated into different languages and her reviews posted on all of the international Vogue websites. She also was the mastermind behind the idea of the modern luxury conference, events that are now commonplace but were brought into being at the IHT, and later continued at Vogue, under her guidance. Suzy is renowned for her honest, fair and insightful writing, and her ability to put fashion into the context of a wider global narrative. Today she runs her own very successful podcast called Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes, where she continues to interview the leading movers and shakers within the fashion industry. She is still asking the questions every fashion lover wants to know the answers to, but now I am lucky enough to be able to turn the tables on her a bit and ask her a few questions of my own.
From the moment Alexandra Van Houtte first told me about her newly launched platform in 2016, describing it as Google for fashion, I knew she was onto something. Since then TagWalk, the website she founded and is the CEO of, has grown by leaps and bounds and has become a linchpin platform for anyone working in the fashion industry. It is the first runway image keyword search engine in existence. In a nutshell, the former stylist’s assistant created a site that, in just a few simple clicks, makes it possible for stylists to whittle down their sartorial selections for fashion shoots or mood boards from the thousands of catwalk images, lookbooks, and street style shots taken every season. It is also the perfect tool for fashion journalists and editors who are obliged to cull together images for those never-ending “top trend” texts, as the platform allows users to search for images by keyword, colour, season, brand, and more. Tagwalk also offers a variety of features that make it easy to save, share, and organize images.In addition to its popularity with fashion professionals, Tagwalk’s democratic nature has made it a widespread tool for your average fashionista. As it allows visitors to the site the chance to explore the latest trends, discover new designers, find inspiration for their own personal style and create seasonal wish lists of the key pieces she wants to invest in.My conversation with Alexandra really gets into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to get a start-up off the ground, how best to bring on investors and what skill sets a successful leader needs. As always Alexandra is honest and open with her answers, not pulling any punches when it comes to the hard questions about revenue streams, scaling her business and her hiring practices. I came away from our in-depth chat feeling inspired, energized and ready to take on the world. This interview took place in May 2021
Talk about an inspirational story. Paula Wallace, the president and founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, better known as SCAD had a singular vision back in September of 1978, To create a world-class art and design college that would prepare students for a global workforce. Under her leadership, SCAD has grown from a small art school with 150 students to a global university that spans three campuses around the world with thousands of students enrolled. Over the years it also became recognised as one of the most respected art and design schools, thanks in no small part to President Wallace, who has been the driving force behind its success for 45 years and today is one of the longest-serving women presidents in the history of U.S. higher education.After speaking with president Wallace – and reading her charming book "The Bee and the Acorn" – which recounts the origins story of SCAD, the things that stand out about her are her drive, her sense of curiously, and her overarching desire to make sure her students are at the forefront of creative innovation. She is forever looking for ways for SCAD students, faculty and alumni to connect, collaborate and share their unique knowledge and perspectives. And president Wallace clearly believes that creativity is essential not only for economic growth, but also that artists and designers play a vital role in shaping the world.This interview was recorded in May of 2022.
Fashion entrepreneur Anine Bing is a very savvy business woman who knows how to seize her moment. An early adapter to the social media space, Anine, who is a former model and blogger, was one of the first to translate her online following into a successful fashion brand business.
She launched her signature line back in 2012 out of the garage in her home in California. Her collection of chic staple pieces, inspired by her Scandinavian heritage and the casual cool of her Los Angeles home base, were an instant hit. Her “online first” business model, leveraging social media to market and promote her pieces was a new strategy at the time she launched. But today it's a formula that many are emulating.
She reverse-engineered her success, starting from the digital space and then moving into the more traditional brick-and-mortar arena. Because today, Anine is sitting on the top of a wardrobe essentials empire. Not only is her collection sold in more than 350 stores globally, she also has over 15 stores located around the world. And Anine continues to expand. She has moved into childrenswear and has launched a successful line of perfumes, not to mention sunglasses, shoes, bags, lingerie, and jewelry.
I sat down with Anine in her stylish stand-alone store in the heart of Paris to discuss her impressive success story. I was curious to learn more about a woman who was able to translate her love of timeless style and relaxed elegance into a brand that is helping legions of women look picture perfect for their selfies.
Kaat Debo is the Director and Chief Curator of Antwerp’s famed ModeMuseum fashion museum, better known as the MoMu; a museum that has spent the last three years under renovation. But now, after years of waiting, Kaat is able to reintroduce the world to her second home. A museum with over 35,000 pieces of Belgian fashion in its archives and a unique history that celebrates sartorial storytellers who have helped the world see fashion from new and unexpected angles.
But while the MoMu is all about helping the larger world understand the different aspects and influences of the fashion universe, Kaat herself hasn’t been one to share her story much with the public. There is very little information about her online, other than the broad brushstroke that tell us that she studied literature and philosophy in school, that she first joined MoMu as a curator in 2001, she spent a couple of years as the editor-in-chief of A Magazine and then in 2009 took up her top spot position as the director of the MoMu.
So I was excited to have an in depth chat with Kaat about what it takes to be a curator, especially one working in the rather new field of fashion curation. I looked forward to learning how her studies, her childhood and her mentors throughout her career shaped her world view and her collaborative nature. And I was interested to hear all about the rebirth of MoMu and how she is planning to make this museum so much more than a shire for clothes; but rather a living, breathing part of the Antwerp cultural community that interacts with the city that surrounds it and helps to nurture fashion lovers of the future.
I’ll never forget the first time I discovered the work of Mary Katrantzou. It was in London in 2008 I believe, and I just happened to wander into a room where a rack of her now-famous perfume bottle printed dresses was on display. On hand was her mother who was proudly showing off the stunning creations her daughter had dreamt up.
And Mary’s mom had every right to be proud. Her work was unlike anything else going on in fashion at that time. Advancements in printing and computer technology had made it possible for this young woman to create architectural designs on fluid fabrics. Blending beautifully her passion for interior designs and her studies in the field of architecture at Rhode Island School of Design with her Bachelor of Arts in Textile Design and her Master’s in Fashion from Central Saint Martins. But it wasn’t just the print work that set Mary apart from the pack,it was that combined with her choice of vibrant rainbow colorways. The result was a collection that was the harbinger of the 2010s colorful print fashion revolution.
Since she started her signature brand in 2008 Mary, who was born in Athens, Greece, has found a way to modernize trompe l’oeil, help women fall in love with print and color again, and showed the world that clashing aesthetics can be boldly feminine and empowering. This is why powerful women like Michelle Obama, Cate Blanchett, Beyoncé, Lizzo, Jane Fonda, and Zendaya have all flocked to her creations.
But Mary’s success goes beyond her ability to reinvent her core design principles every season. She is a very savvy businesswoman who saw early on in her career the power that collaborating with other creatives and brands could have in expanding her reach and name recognition. Her recent partnership with the high jewelry company Bulgari on a line of limited edition bags is a perfect example of this. But so is her work with Victoria’s Secret, Longchamp, Topshop, and Adidas Original. And her recent decision to create the size-inclusive year-round holiday capsule collection called Mary-Mare also is indicative of how Mary is able to deftly read the fashion tea leaves as the industry shifts away from seasonal shows and moves into a space where smaller drops throughout a year feels more in keeping with the times we live in.
With over a decade in fashion, Mary Katrantzou is still innovating and challenging herself as a creative, and her devoted clients couldn’t be happier.
Designer Spencer Phipps is a born risk-taker. There isn’t a limb on his body that doesn’t have a scar from one escapade or another - that he jumped into with both feet before asking questions. The man is even missing a significant portion of one of his pinkie fingers from one memorable misadventure. And when it comes to taking risks, Spencer also has no problem doing that in business. It was, after all, an impulse decision to launch his signature menswear brand Phipps back in 2017. When, after having worked alongside Marc Jacobs and Dries van Noten, he found himself looking to make his next move and couldn’t find a fashion house that ticked all the boxes. So instead he decided to start his own.
Spencer, who was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated with a degree from Parsons in New York, has over the past four years created for himself a label that scratches a very interesting sartorial itch. His clothing celebrates timeless American wardrobe staples that allude to wide open places, outdoor activities, and manly pursuits. Garments that Spencer has designed so that they revere nature, appreciate the artisanal hand, and seek to leave as little an impact as possible on the planet. While simultaneously his goal is to have them hold a long-term place of honor in a man’s closet, another sustainable pursuit.
From its inception, one of the pillars of the Phipps brand has been its commitment to sustainable sourcing and responsible manufacturing. For the designer, this means both leveraging the latest technology in terms of construction and production, as well as fine-tuning a list of transparent, sustainable suppliers that he works with regularly. His fervent commitment to crafting clothing that makes an impact but doesn't leave one on the Earth is one of the reasons why Spencer was an LVMH prize finalist in 2019 and, after just two seasons, the brand was added to the official Paris Fashion Week: Menswear calendar.
But if I am being completely honest, on top of all the reasons I have already mentioned, Spencer is just a really cool guy that you always have fun hanging out with, as you will discover yourself with this interview.
You get the sense, when you speak to designer Joseph Altuzarra, that he is that perfect combination of creativity and commerce. That as a French American, he has an innate sense of style coursing through his veins. While his American roots give him savvy business sense and a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” attitude.
From a young age, Joseph - who was raised by his French Basque father and Chinese- American mother - has always believed in the transformative power of fashion. A self-taught designer who got a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Art History from Swarthmore College, his approach to this sartorial art form has always been focused on how the clothes someone chooses to wear tell a larger story. It can be the story of who that individual is or it can be one about the person they hope to become. That clothing telegraphs a message to the world about how we see ourselves.
As luck would have it, Joseph landed an internship in the design studio of Marc Jacobs in 2004 and he went on to work with Proenza Schouler before getting tapped by Riccardo Tisci to join him in Paris and become the designer’s first apprentice during his tenure at Givenchy.
Then in 2008, Joseph returned to New York to strike out on his own. And from the moment he launched his signature brand, his work stood out from the other fashion collections being shown at New York Fashion Week. His sexy, sensual aesthetic that wove together elements of his multicultural heritage into his designs did not fit into the American Sportswear approach of many of his peers at that time.
But standing out from the crowd served Joseph well. He was honored with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award in 2011 and the CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear Design in 2012. He was then named the winner of the US Woolmark Prize in 2013 and in 2014 he nabbed the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award.
Suffice to say, Joseph, with his accolades, his brand collaboration with Target, and his stint as a judge on the first season of the Amazon Prime television series “Making the Cut” turned Altuzarra into a household name. And now with his label well established in the fashion industry, Joseph is thinking about where he wants to take things from here.
In our conversation, we discuss what the future holds for this talented designer as he looks at his career from a post-pandemic perspective. A viewpoint that has been changed by the arrival of his daughter Emma and a desire to lead a balanced and intentional life. But one that will always have fashion at its heart.
I wanted to interview Alisa Volskaya, the founder of the public relations firm AVEC, for a few reasons. First of all, every time I would bump into her at a fashion show or event, our conversations about the state of the industry, future trends, and fashion in general always went well past surface chit-chat. Secondly, I was impressed by her drive and third, it just takes a lot of guts to launch a PR company during a moment when that field is in the middle of such a paradigm shift. Not to mention doing it in 2020, the year the world stood still.
Alisa started out her career working at Condé Nast International in Paris and was in charge of the fashion publishing house’s digital projects and partnerships. In 2015, she became the Executive Director at Naked Heart France, a charity founded by the top model and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova, where she was in charge of international fundraising and partnerships. Then just five years later, she decided to go out on her own and launch her firm AVEC.
Alisa’s PR philosophy is right there in the name of her business - AVEC. She sees the work that she does for brands like Chaumet, Ralph Lauren, Chopard, and Balmain as a real partnership. One where her role is to be there with the companies every step of the way in their strategy journey, from conception to completion. But what exactly does that mean in the post-pandemic, social media-centric metaverse world we now inhabit? Alisa, just like every other time I have spoken with her, had some insightful and sometimes surprising answers.
Consummate creative Alexandre de Betak is an industry touchpoint in the world of fashion. He is behind some of the most era-defining fashion shows, events, and exhibitions of the past three decades. The proverbial man behind the curtain, Alex has brought to life the visions of designers as diverse as Raf Simons, Michael Kors, and Gabriela Hearst, and brands big and small, from Dior and YSL to Jacquemus and Rodarte.
Throughout our fascinating conversation, we talk about where the spark of creativity comes from, how to keep those creative juices flowing, and how Alex is instilling in his own children that desire to experiment, to explore, and to see the world, and what it could be from different perspectives. Perspectives that will help those around them also experience a moment in new ways that challenge, delight, and mesmerize.
Fashion designer August Getty is a gentle soul whose goal is to create a fully inclusive, fully immersive sartorial world where everyone is welcome. All that is required is that you be yourself 100% both in the real world in one of his one-of-a-kind couture creations, or in the digital sphere where he recently created a whole new virtual universe he has baptized Tinitus.
It is inside Tinitus that August brought to life four digital gowns for this past haute couture season, with 3D imagery so detailed it probably caused some of the biggest couture houses to turn green with envy. The designer spent six months creating these three-dimensional virtual gowns and he intends to expand on this concept with the upcoming couture shows this summer.
Based in Los Angeles, the August Getty Atelier has become a niche go-to fashion house for celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Cher, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Zendaya..and I could go on. All of them looking for outfits that are bold, unexpected, and wholly original for their galas, red carpets, and event outfits, because let's get one thing clear, August designs ensembles for maximum impact.
For August, who is an autodidact designer, the goal of fashion, which he says he has loved all the way back to “when he was in the womb” is how transformative it can be. It can make you brave and it can give you the strength to be the person you want to become. Turn fiction into reality with fashion. That is what makes it so magical and so powerful.
Photographer Sasha Samsonova is generating quite a buzz with her striking images of women who are comfortable in their own skin and unabashedly sexy. A female Helmut Newton, Sasha is all about celebrating the beauty and strength of the women who stand before her lens.
Born and raised in Ukraine, Sasha is an autodidact photographer who was already shooting for Harper’s Bazaar by the time she was 17 years old, having picked up a camera after her plans to become a professional ballroom dancer fell by the wayside. But her innate understanding of how the body can express emotion in the way it moves has had a direct impact on both her photography and the films and videos she is now directing in Hollywood.
Sasha has worked with celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Lili Reinhart, Khloe Kardashian, Emma Roberts, and Kate Bosworth, her images have been featured in the pages of Vogue, L’Officiel, Elle, and Playboy and she has collaborated with brands such as Google, Fear of God, and Revlon.
When you see Sasha’s work it’s all about sensual strength. And when you listen to her speak, you know that her goal in life is to make women feel as powerful as possible. And she has the photos to prove that she is doing exactly that.
Romeo Hunte first registered on my radar in a way that I have never connected with a young designer before. He sent me a DM on Instagram during the global lockdown last year and suggested that the two of us jump on an Instagram Live to talk about the state of fashion in the throws of a global pandemic. And that is exactly what we ended up doing.
I am telling you this story because I think it perfectly illustrates who Romeo is. He always takes the initiative, he has a clear vision of where he wants his brand and his career to go. And he is open to experimenting, trying new things, meeting new people, and just seeing how the creativity all comes together to build something new and engaging.
Now just a bit of background about Romeo before we jump into our podcast interview. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and turned down a full athletic ride for his skills in track and field to instead attend the Fashion Institute of Technology to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He launched his brand in 2014 and then he hustled. Using his contacts via his freelance styling gigs and his full-time job as a personal shopper at a luxury retail store he was able to build both momentum and a buzz for his signature label.
And then it wasn’t long before Romeo found his statement-making outerwear on the likes of Beyonce, Dwayne Wade, or Tobias Harris. Zendaya was a very early adopter of his colorful ensembles, and Michelle Obama has been spotted wearing his tailored blazers and denim hybrid jackets.
Step by step, Romeo has been building a reputation for making cool, reconstructed pieces that take the best elements of different items of clothing and creating CRISPR-like hybrid pieces designed to get noticed. One person that early on took a shine to Romeo’s designs was Tommy Hilfiger.
The two designers have built a strong relationship over the years, and Tommy recently gave Romeo free reign to forage through his archives. Romeo took it upon himself to revisit and reinvent some of Tommy’s iconic designs and give them a new lease on life. This clever collaboration is just the beginning of the long road ahead for Romeo in fashion.
Declan Chan is one of those front-row fashion fixtures that you always keep an eye out for at the shows. A fashion editor and stylist by trade, Declan has also become a favorite subject for anyone who loves to appreciate those who take the time to put together a look. Declan always looks put together, but with flare. And his outfits are just as eye-catching as the spreads he creates in the pages of publications like Vogue Hong Kong, The New York Times, the South China Morning Post, and Men’s Uno Hong Kong, or the campaigns he crafts for companies like Calvin Klein, Cartier, Estée Lauder, and Lane Crawford.
Ostensibly, Declan is based in Hong Kong, but if you follow him on Instagram, his real home, up until the pandemic, seemed to be on an airplane...or a series of hotels... as he is continuously crisscrossing the world to oversee a fashion shoot, attend a fashion week, or just be a part of all of the “you had to be there” fashion happenings.
What I like most about Declan, besides his style, is his honest, frank, and often funny reflections on fashion in general and fashion shows in particular. I always look forward to checking in with him at least once a season to get his thoughts on what he saw - the upcoming trends - and even which pieces he has already put a personal order in for. Declan’s point of view is important because he has become one of the central go-betweens linking the Chinese consumer to the fashion catwalks. Communicating via his editorials a sartorial message that will shape how the Middle Kingdom sees a collection, understands a designer, and ultimately, which brands they decide to invest in.
I know that once you have listened to this podcast you will be as enchanted by Declan as I am.
It is hard to miss Pascal Morand when he arrives at a fashion show. Not only does he tower above most of the guests, but he is also always surrounded by the who’s who of the industry, designer hopefuls, and fashion journalists who all want to bend his ear about one aspect or another pertaining to the business of fashion. But that is what you sign up for when you are the executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
However, Pascal wears his title with the ease of someone who has spent years in the industry and knows it well. Having had paid his dues with tenures at both the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) and Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), not to mention his time as the deputy director-general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Paris region before his current job – shaping the future of French fashion.
His years teaching and his studies in Organisational Sciences at the University of Paris Dauphine have come in handy at the Fédération where he is both helping to nurture the next generation of designers who dream of showing their work during Paris Fashion Week, and wrangling those current calendar members who are always angling for a better spot. And Pascal’s love of innovation and technology has very much come in handy over the past year when, almost overnight, all of the collections - from menswear and womenswear to haute couture moved from real-world runway shows to fully digital experiences that only exist online, on a platform that the Fédération built up to frame the virtual shows as well as enrich them with added content. Including exclusive designer interviews, round table discussions about hot button fashion topics, and in-depth looks at the savoir-faire that is the beating heart of French fashion.
I spoke with Pascal before the Fall/Winter 2021 menswear collections got underway in January about how he sees the fashion week evolving in the future and, as always when I speak with Pascal, I was blown away with his overarching vision when it comes to the fashion industry. It is one of the reasons why I am often part of the crowd that tries to catch his attention at the shows.
Anna Dello Russo is a fashion force of nature. To the uneducated, she is the eternal star of the concrete catwalk. The colorful, upbeat and sometimes outrageous outfits she wears to the fashion weeks she attends are always the must get shots for the photographers that stalk the streets outside the show venues.
But for those who know Anna, she is much more than a fabulous clothes horse. She is one of the industry’s leading stylists and art directors. After getting a master’s degree in fashion at the Domus Academy in Milan, Anna had the good fortune, right at the start of her career, to cut her teeth at Vogue Italia under the watchful eye of its longtime editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani. There she spent 18 years honing her skills and worked alongside all of the biggest photographers of the 80s and 90s. Then in the year 2000, she was tapped to become the creative director of L’Uomo Vogue before going out on her own as a creative consultant in 2006. She is also currently the fashion editor-at-large for Vogue Japan, creating one iconic cover image after another for the magazine.
Throughout her career, Anna has been paying forward the generosity and mentorship she received from Sozzanni to up and coming stylists. Many of her former assistants have gone on to their own successful careers in the industry after being trained up by Anna. And three years ago she took the concept of giving back even further by becoming the international brand ambassador of the Istituto Marangoni, teaching its students from around the world about how to telegraph their sartorial ideas through visual storytelling that both grabs the viewers’ attention and makes them dream.
Full disclosure, I have known Anna for years and she is hands down one of the most positive, heartful, and generous people working in fashion today. You can always count on Anna to find a way to make any situation fun and unforgettable.
Steven Kolb and I have traveled in the same circles for years. But until this podcast, we never really had the chance to have a deep dive discussion about life in general and more specifically, life in fashion. As the CEO of the CFDA, Steven is basically the ringmaster of New York Fashion Week, so it is a bit difficult to pin him down.
But what I have always appreciated about him is how level headed he is. Even in the eye of the fashion tornado, you can count on Steven to be matter-of-fact with his insights, feedback, and suggestions. Over the years, he has been a driving force behind some of the CFDA’s more important projects, from the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and the CFDA Fashion Incubator program to the CFDA Fashion Awards. Not to mention the many initiatives he, and by extension, the CFDA, have supported over the years that shine a light on issues such as better representation, equity, and inclusivity within the fashion industry.
Just this year Steven launched RUNWAY360 in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic to create a digital platform for New York fashion designers to show content-rich online presentations of their collections when social distancing made in-person fashion weeks a non-starter. And at the same time, he flipped the script on this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund turning it into a fundraiser called A Common Thread to aid those fashion businesses that have been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this podcast, Steven and I talk about where he sees fashion weeks headed in the future, how his outsider’s perspective has helped him be even more effective as the CEO of the CFDA, and what his favorite part of his job is. Also do listen all the way to the end of this podcast because Steven’s answers to my 5 generic fashion questions are just fantastic.
Creative director and stylist Sascha Lilic is a fashion month’s fixture. His distinctive look, of a beret and monocle, always makes him easy to spot at a show. You can also always count on Sascha to give you a great sound bite about what he thinks of a presentation, and it’s often something that will make you laugh out loud or blush. Maybe it was all those years working alongside his mentor, the iconic photographer Helmut Newton, who was also known not to mince words, that formed Sascha’s talent for finding the perfect bon mots.
But to be fair, Sascha, who was born in Yugoslavia and grew up in Germany, was always fascinated by the world of fashion and its fundamental transformational properties. By the tender age of 16, he was already working as a hairdresser and make-up artist, before he finally got his first break as a stylist. And once he did, he never looked back.
Sascha became the fashion & creative director of influential 90s era SPOON magazine before moving on to become the editor-in-chief of ABOVE magazine, which Sascha launched in 2004 and sold for a pretty penny right at the height of excess before the global recession of 2008. And since then, he has been using his talents on all sorts of different fashion fronts, as a stylist, fashion consultant, creative director...you name it...if it has to do with fashion and creativity, Sascha is your man.
A claim that is backed up by the laundry list of publications, photographers, and celebrities he has worked with. Which include, but not limited to Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Interview, V Man, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Glamour, LʼOfficiel, and Grazia. And besides his longtime collaboration with Newton, Sascha has also teamed up with other leading photographers like Ellen von Unwerth, Norman Jean Roy, and William Klein...and I could go on. His visual eye has transformed everyone from Lana del Rey, Jessica Chastain, Sienna Miller, Rihanna, Lily James, Diane Kruger, Keira Knightley, Lea Seydoux and I could go on and on.
So let’s just say that Sascha has quite a lot of great fashion stories to tell. Which is why I wanted to jump on a zoom call with him for this podcast. To tell us all about his extraordinary life, lived to the fullest, in fashion.
As Japan Fashion Week is almost upon us, it is fitting that I finally post my Fashion Your Seatbelt interview with Nick Wooster. Nick and I met up at Japan Fashion Week back in October of last year; long before anybody had ever heard the words COVID or Coronavirus. Originally, I had planned on posting this podcast in March, when the last Japan Fashion Week was scheduled to start. But then the world shut down and the fashion week didn’t take place in the real world.
But what do Japan Fashion Week and Nick Wooster have in common? Well, Nick, who is consistently one of the best-dressed men I have ever seen, is a world-class fashion consultant and he has been coming to Japan for years on buying trips. And basically, he has fallen in love with the country. Today he even sits on the jury of the prestigious Tokyo Fashion Award.
In the past, Nick has worked as a buyer at Bergdof Goodman, he was the director of retail merchandising at Calvin Klein, the design director of the Polo Ralph Lauren brand, and later he held the role of the men's fashion director at Neiman Marcus. Over the years there have been a few bumps in the road of his career path, which he will talk about, but today Nick is living his best life as a fashion consultant working with and advising a number of different fashion brands around the world.
Nick feels that it is his love of being a fashion consumer that is part of the reason he has been able to continue to be successful in the fashion sphere. His ability to maintain a user’s point of view makes it possible for him to give his clients clear-eyed opinions and criticisms with the confidence of a true blue luxury consumer.
So sit back and enjoy Nick talking about what he loves most - fashion.
I am going to be very honest here and say that every time I end up being placed next to Milan Vukmiorvic at the front row of a fashion show, a smile spontaneously forms on my face. And at the exact same moment, I say a little prayer that the show will run a bit later than normal. This is because Milan is just a great front row buddy. He and I end up always getting into these extensive philosophical conversations about the current state of fashion. We discuss the nuances of shifting tides of trends we have picked up over the season and what we both think that might mean for the future of fashion.
So you can imagine that with the current upheaval of the industry, I wanted to find a way to have another front row deep dive debrief with Milan, so the two of us jumped onto a Zoom call to hash things out. And what makes talking with Milan so engrossing is that his career in fashion is so varied and vast. He was a multifaceted creative before that was even a thing.
Just to give you a bit of background. Milan was born in France to a Serbian family and grew up in Paris, he studied at ESMOD and then, after an internship at the Jardins des Modes, in 1996 he co-founded the concept store, Colette. He went on to become a design director for the Gucci Group during the reign of Tom Ford, then came a stint as the creative director of Jil Sander, and after that, he re-launched the magazine L’Officiel Hommes Paris as its editor-in-chief and creative director, where over 7 years he expanded the brand to more than a dozen international versions of the title. In 2007 he returned to designing for a fashion house, this time as the creative director of Trussardi. And as a side hustle, he co-founded The Webster Miami, another ultra-cool concept store. Then in 2011, he launched his own menswear bi-annual book magazine hybrid he named Fashion for Men, of which he remains the editor-in-chief. And if that wasn’t enough, he also took on the duty of menswear creative director of Ports in 2015.
So Milan clearly likes to keep busy. And his work as a buyer, a designer, a stylist, an editor, and a photographer, just to name a few of the titles he has carried over the years, gives him a very unique perspective on the world of fashion. This is why, when we finally were able to connect, I simply pointed Milan in the direction of a topic I wanted to get his thoughts on and let him rip.
I am sure that once you have listened to what he has to say you too will be trying to find a way to sit next to him in the front row of a show.
This intro is going to be a very short one. Basically, I want to jump right in and let you all listen for yourself as the French fashion critic Carine Bizet, who is not one to live her life as an open book on Instagram, finally gives us a glimpse into her life in fashion. Carine is one of only a handful of true “take no prisoners”, speak truth to power fashion writers working in the industry.
Well, actually she is no longer working in the industry. Earlier this year, after building a name for herself at Madame Figaro and leaving an indelible black ink mark on Le Monde with her must-read fashion reviews as the renowned French newspaper’s lead fashion journalist, she quietly, with no fan fair or big send-off, decided to leave it all behind. After decades of working at the epicenter of the fashion universe, sitting in the front row at ALL of the shows and interviewing every designer under the sun...that she found worth profiling….Carine decided to start her second act, working in a totally different field. Yes, a creative one, but still a 180-degree change from her career as a writer.
So I felt this was the perfect time to speak with her. To have a no holds barred discussion about what got her interested in fashion in the first place, the current state of the industry, and where she thinks it will go. And why, when she was at the top of her game she decided to walk away from it all to chase a new dream.
Full disclosure. I have known Carine for years and I feel that I can say without a doubt that, in a world where superficial friendships are part of the game, she is ride or die. Carine is one you can count on. She will give it to you straight, whether you are one of her closest friends, a designer, or a billion-dollar fashion house.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Carine and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues.
And now I am going to turn it over to Carine, because if there is one thing I love to do is listen to her tell it like it is.
For decades in the world of fashion, there has really only been one man who has given the industry its sonographic soundtrack. And that man is Michel Gaubert. Michel eats, sleeps, and breaths music. It has been the framework of what he does in his career, as a sound director for most of the leading fashion houses on the planet, and it has been the guiding force in his life as well. His fascination with music is what pushed him to learn English, move to California in his youth and it is through music that he has made some of his deepest and lifelong friendships.
Michel’s passion for music has always been intertwined with fashion. As early as 5 years old, he dreamed about being a musician; as much for the amazing clothing, they wore as the music they made. Later, at the end of the 1970s, his years-long devotion to music turned into a two-pronged career. During the week he was a buyer of international music for the renowned record store Champs Disques, and on the weekend he was a DJ at the famed Le Palace nightclub.
Karl Lagerfeld was an avid collector of music and it was at Champs Disques that the designer first crossed paths with Michel. Later it would be Lagerfeld that would give Michel his first big break designing the soundtrack for one of his signature shows. And eventually, he would call on Michel to do the music for Chanel as well, the first time with less than 24 hours notice. Their artistic collaborations would continue for close to four decades and span the Chanel, Fendi, and Lagerfeld brands.
Over the years Michel has gone on to create musical memories for brands and designers big and small. From Dior, Valentino, Gucci, and Loewe to Raf Simons, J.W. Anderson, and Jeremy Scott. Not to mention the music he has created for the fashion store Colette, numerous exhibitions, store openings, and global events. His collaborations with designers tend to endure for decades as Michel’s encyclopedic knowledge of music, his collaborative nature, and, without question, his endless positivity and good humor make him someone you just want to spend time with.
If you want to get an even better sense of Michel after listening to this podcast, besides listening to some of the amazing mixes he has created for shows over the years, I suggest following him on Instagram at @MichelGaubert. His feed is a riot and is always an instant pick me up.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Michel and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues.
Now, it’s time to enjoy the dulcet sound of Michel’s own voice as he talks about the love of his life - music.
Sometimes it just feels like destiny when a designer lands at a fashion house. This is the case for British designer Louise Trotter, who took up the mantle of creative director at Lacoste at the tail end of 2018. Growing up she played a considerable amount of tennis and Lacoste was always her go-to label. Her husband is also a bit of a tennis nut and over the years has built up his own collection of Lacoste pieces that take up considerable room in his closet. But perhaps the most profound connection comes from the one that Louise feels with the founder of the company, René Lacoste. His rebellious decision to become a tennis player on his own terms resonated with Louise, who from a very early age knew she wanted to be a fashion designer, a career path that really wasn’t a consideration for most kids growing up in the north England town of Sunderland.
It was René’s moral code and approach to life on and off the courts that Louise connected with. His strategic yet stylish way of playing the game, his sense of fair play, tenacity, and bringing joy into whatever he did, are all values that are close to Louise’s own heart. And it's the reason why, while still riding high after a successful 10-year stint at the label Joseph, she decided to make the leap to Lacoste and become the brand’s first female creative director in the house’s almost 90-year history.
Since her arrival at the house, Louise had been quick to put her own stamp on the label. Her signature aesthetic slants to the oversized; be that silhouettes, patterns and prints, or even the iconic Lacoste crocodile. And her approach to the performance wear heritage of the house has been to look at it as creating clothing that “performs” daily. Day in and day out, week after week. Garments that are so well made, flattering, and still maintain a fashion-forward viewpoint that they are the ones that men and women continually turn to.
But what I found perhaps most appealing about Louise during our interview was that she is all about the work. She is not a diva designer with an ego that could fill a room. If she doesn’t know about something, say having an encyclopedic knowledge about high tech performance fabrics, she says so, takes steps to educate herself, and is always looking to learn new things. She is one of those “best idea wins” designers. Encouraging her staff to speak up and she has created a workplace that promotes teamwork. For Louise, each collection is a new chapter in a continuous journey of sartorial discovery.
After listening to this podcast, and learning about how Louise likes to work, Lacoste is probably going to find itself inundated with resumes from people wanting to learn from a leader who is as open, inclusive, and creative as Louise.
I’ll never forget my first Christian Lacroix fashion show. Watching all of the supermodels walk his catwalk in outfits that mixed colors, patterns, and prints in combinations my mind could never have conceived would ever work together, let alone look as fabulously as they did on the Lacroix catwalk.
Lacroix’s shows were always full of energy, passion, and precision but above all love...with just the perfect dash of joie de vivre added in for good measure. By the end of every show, the audience was always revved up to throw out onto the catwalk, during the grand finale, the single carnation that was systematically placed on each seat at each show throughout the designer’s prodigious career.
That was why, when I showed up at the Dries Van Noten Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show and saw a single carnation sitting on my seat...well...I am going to be honest...my heart skipped a beat. Was this the return of Lacroix I asked myself? And to a certain extent, it was. The famed designer, who had walked away from the catwalk after his fall/winter 2009 haute couture show, was back. This time working in collaboration with Van Noten for one season only.
Let’s just say it was a fashion moment, and the show was certainly a highlight in my career.
But Lacroix hasn’t been in hiding since he stopped doing fashion shows. He turned to theater and Opera houses, creating dreamlike confections for the stage. A place where his theatrical sartorial inclinations were right at home. And also he consulted for big name brands in need of a designer who is a master of the color wheel and has never met a print he doesn’t like.
I spoke with Christian in the wake of his triumphant return to the catwalk. To take a joyful stroll down memory lane together. For me, it was a pure moment of bliss. I know, when you listen to our conversation, it will be one for you as well.
When you meet Marine Serre for the first time, it is hard not to notice; or maybe a better word would be feel, the pent up energy in her diminutive frame. It is easy to understand why she spent years as a child playing tennis at almost a professional level before turning her drive towards design. You can practically see the wheels turning in her head as if she is doing a million things at once. And yet...and I don’t know exactly how... Marine also has a reserved shyness about her. It is a potent and powerful combination that honestly just makes you want to get to know her better.
With all that has happened in the world in the past six months, Marine’s fashion seems almost Cassandra-like. Her signature house is built on the concept of using up-cycled materials to make her garments - and then she presents them in post-apocalyptic themed runway shows., often with her models wearing face masks and gloves, carrying reusable water bottles and armbands made into mini backpacks. Fashion, including her now iconic demi-lune motif full bodysuits, that seem purposely designed with protection from the elements in mind.
The 27-year-old designer was born in the little village of Corrèze in France but by the age of 14 she had left home to pursue her love of art and fashion. She went on to attend the famed La Cambre fashion and design academy in Belgium, graduating with honors in 2016. Then came a string of internships at top houses like Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, and Dior before Marine landed a junior designer job at Balenciaga. And it was while she was still working at Balenciaga that, to her surprise and no one else’s, she won the top LVMH Prize in 2017. The youngest designer ever to hold that honor.
Since then, Marine has been on fire. Using all of that crackling energy of hers to expand the number of lines she produces each season to celebrate different aspects of her up-cycling creative esthetic. She also has added into the mix a menswear line, has done collaborations with the likes of Nike, and has seen her work worn by global powerhouse females like Beyonce, the group Black Pink and Dua Lipa.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Marine and I did our interview before the global pandemic put the world into confinement, and kept me from accessing this audio recording. So I hope you enjoy taking an auditory trip back in time. When the world was much more innocent and before Marine’s sartorial philosophy became the new normal.
The art of a costume designer is to tell a story without saying a word. So let’s just get this straight right from the start, Hollywood costume designer Mary Vogt has spoken volumes over her impressive career. One that is filled with spellbinding sartorial stories that have stood the test of time. Because let’s face it, it doesn’t get more iconic than having the ensembles you designed for a film become tentpole cosplay outfits and Halloween costumes for generations.
Mary is the mind behind the amazing costumes in the staple Halloween film Hocus Pocus that starred Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker. She is also the woman who came up with Michelle Pfeiffer’s unforgettable Catwoman suit in Batman Returns. And she made “I make this look good” Will Smith and the rest of the Men In Black team look sharp and sleek over the span of the three MIB films. And for those of you who are more interested in fashion-focused feature films, well then you can thank Mary for bringing you Crazy Rich Asians. Arguably the most fashion-loving film of recent memory, filled with one unforgettable designer outfit after another.
From a very young age, Mary knew that being a costume designer was her calling. While everyone else in her theatrical hometown of Long Beach, Long Island wanted to be an actor and stand center stage in the local theater troupe, Mary was only interested in creating the costumes. After high school, she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and then later she went to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She quickly realized that instead of being a traditional fashion designer, her creativity was sparked by a good story or character which she could then build a wardrobe around.
Mary got her toe in the door in Hollywood as an illustrator and then eventually got her first big break working alongside Bob Ringwood on David Lynch’s epic film Dune and would work with Ringwood again later, but this time as his co-designer, on Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. And we all know what costumes came out of that collaboration.
With close to 50 costume designer film credits under her belt, Mary is at the top of any Hollywood director’s must hire list. Her expert ability to use clothing to help her directors advance their story or transmit the underlying message they want to subconsciously communicate with their audience is highly sought after. All you have to do is take a look at her most recent collaboration, with Gina Prince-Bythewood, the director of the Netflix film The Old Guard - that drops today on the streaming platform - to understand just how skilled Mary is at telling a story with clothing.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Mary and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
And now it's time for Mary to come out from behind the curtain and take a well-deserved bow under the spotlight and at the center stage of this podcast.
What is that old saying, “do a job that you love and you will never work a day in your life”. That is the life that Gabriella Cortese is lucky enough to lead. She is the founder and visionary behind the brand Antik Batik and as part of her job, she gets to travel the world for months at a time looking for new ways to incorporate the beauty of ethnic designs and craftsmanship of local artisans into her Bohemian chic collections.
Born in Turin, Italy Gabriella grew up with eclectic style inspirations all around her. Her mother instilled in her a love of beautiful things and an eye towards well-made clothing. While her Hungarian grandmother expanded her style palette by introducing her to the beauty of the Mitteleuropa aesthetic. After living a rather sheltered childhood Gabriella decided to explore the world when she turned 18.
A choice that found her living in Paris, France, and working as a dancer at the famed Crazy Horse cabaret. There she learned how effective the use of pattern and light can be as it plays on the body. A skill that would come in handy later at Antik Batik when she began to design clothing out of graphic and dramatically printed fabrics.
But before the idea of starting a label had ever entered into her mind, Gabriella decided that while she was young she wanted to continue to see the world and she spent years visiting places like Bali, Tibet, Nepal, and India.
Then, not unlike Ralph Lauren who got his start selling men’s ties, Gabriella began her business by selling a single item - the Pareos. Her beautiful wrap skirts, that she had created with local artists in Bali using the batik printing technique, were an instant hit. So in 1992 she launched Antik Batik and began to corner the market for those women looking for a sophisticated slant on hippy chic ethnic fashion at a time when minimalism was at its peak.
From its inception, Gabriella was determined that Antik Batik would be an eco-friendly brand dedicated to supporting artisans in far-flung countries who have the unique skill set to create her colorful and richly embroidered designs. And for the past three decades, she has built up long-lasting relationships with many of her suppliers in India and elsewhere. She sees them as part of her extended family and the work they do as the beating heart of her successful business.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Gabriella and I did our interview over Zoom video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now, it's time to discover how Gabriella built up a global business out of her passion for travel and her devotion to ethnic elegance.
Rebecca Todd is one of those “she is just born with it” stylists. Self-taught and a straight talker she is at the top of the stylist game in Hollywood. And that is because Rebecca is constantly hustling, networking, and pushing herself creatively. That drive has resulted in a highly successful career in both styling and costume design that spans over 20 years. And her mile-long list of clients includes everyone from Blake Lively, Kobe Bryant, Melissa McCarthy, and Dwayne Johnson to Elle MacPherson, Ryan Hansen, Lizzy Caplan, and the one and only Betty White.
Rebecca started out in Hollywood in public relations, which evolved into merchandising and buying before she got bitten by the stylist bug. And almost from the moment she decided that being a stylist was her dream job her career took off. In less than a year, she was styling for America’s Next Top Model and then became the head of the wardrobe departments of numerous shows on the E! Entertainment channel and The Style Network.
Over the span of her career, she has done everything from celebrity styling and fashion magazine editorials for publications like Flaunt, People, Us Weekly, LA Confidential and Maxim to creating the visual story for advertising campaigns for companies such as Ford, Nike, Pepsi, Starbucks, Showtime, Google, AT&T, Budweiser, Toyota, and Universal Studios - just to name a few. Not to mention her red carpet work at all the top awards shows, The Oscars, The Emmys, The Golden Globes as well as the MTV Music and MTV Video awards shows.
Earlier this year she continued to challenge herself during the quarantine and designed to launch her own clothing line called Grey Hayes. Its message t-shirts, hats, and masks are all inspired by the lockdown. The clothing, sporting phrases like Stay Home, Worst Birthday Ever, Essential, Back The F#CK Up and Mental Distanced, have been selling like hotcakes.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Rebecca and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now to all you future stylists out there, get out your pens and paper and pay close attention to what Rebecca has to say in this podcast. Her tips and tricks are a masterclass on not only how to become a successful stylist, but also how to stay on top in Hollywood.
In the fashion world, there are a handful of times that you run across an up and coming designer that is so earnest, articulate, and talented that you make a secret wish in your heart that you hope they’ll make it big. That is exactly how I felt after talking with the 28-year-old designer Kevin Germanier for this podcast.
I had seen his work before first hand at press day presentations in Paris. And Kevin’s vibrant, beaded, and bold designs always stood out. But what also made them stand out in my mind was when I discovered that his garments were of the luxury upcycled variety. Kevin’s made to measure and limited edition collections are as far away from the hippy hemp and organic cotton, Birkenstock wearing image - that sustainable fashion is still strongly associated with- as you could get.
This Swiss-born designer, who graduated from Central Saint Martins and launched his signature line in 2018 while still a junior designer at Louis Vuitton, found a way to make sustainable fashion look sexy. Look feminine. And look fun. His sculptural silhouettes and love of embellishments firmly place his work in the “statement dressing” category. But isn’t it nice to know that his commitment to conscious design sees his garments covered in shimmering upcycled crystals from Swarovski and the fabric comes from offshoots that are getting a second lease on life.
Not surprisingly Kevin’s vivid designs have already been worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, Björk, and K-pop star Sunmi. He was also shortlisted for the 2019 LVMH Prize for young designers. And the leading fashion e-commerce platform MatchesFashion picked up his debut collection for its site, which it has been carrying ever since. So it looks like he is off to a very strong start. And maybe that secret wish of mine might actually come true.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Kevin and I did our interview over Zoom video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now come with me to discover the glamorous, colorful, and eco-friendly world of Kevin Germanier.
A self-described “supply chain nerd” Hillary France, the CEO and co-founder of Brand Assembly, is helping fashion creatives focus on crafting their visions of the future while she and her team take on the day to day, back of house fundamental tasks that any growing small business has to master if it wants to become successful. Her full-service BtoB business does everything from bookkeeping, warehouse management, and running e-commerce operations to creating costing sheets, merchandising and sales plans, and even social media and global marketing strategies.
But Hillary, who founded her company in 2013, wanted to do even more for her clients. She also organizes trade shows and created a co-working space called The Square, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, for people to meet up and hopefully collaborate on the next big thing. She also hosts monthly panels and workshops to help her clients stay on top of the latest innovations taking place in the industry.
Before branching out on her own, Hillary, who is a graduate of Duke University, cut her retail buying and wholesale teeth at marquee brands like Diane von Furstenberg, Kate Spade, Guess and Kimberly Ovitz. And was even behind the launch of the Rachel Zoe brand for the Li and Fung company.
Today, just like thousands of other fashion-focused companies Hillary has had to pivot her business working model post-pandemic as the world continues to maintain social distancing practices. Brand Assembly is launching later this month its first ever virtual tradeshow platform with two portals: one for Brand Assembly Show called Pages and one for Reassembled Show called Grid.
Brand Assembly is also adding other forms of virtual content such as panel discussions, workshops and showroom walk-throughs on Zoom on the dates they would usually have had their in-person trade show, from June 22nd through to June 24th.
The tag line for Brand Assembly is “Our mission is simple: help brands reach theirs”. It is clear that Hillary has taken this message to heart and has no intention of letting something like a global pandemic or a corona economy keep her from giving brands the support they need to become the successes they always dreamed of.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Hillary and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now let’s listen to Hillary talk about how she sees the future of fashion shaping up, as she takes on the topics of seasonal collections, markdown cycles, and the growing power of the digital space for fashion brands.
It says something about a brand that when you click on the about page on its website to get the backstory on the designer, a YouTube video of her boxing in the center ring at Madison Square Garden pops up. Showing her winning her title fight in front of a sold-out crowd. If nothing else the footage clearly illustrates that designer Nellie Partow knows how to roll with the punches and has no intention of ever being down for the count.
Which is a good thing considering that her independent label finds itself in that ambiguous middle ground of no longer being a new brand on the rise nor one that has achieved world domination. Partow, which the designer launched in 2011, is one of those sleeper hit fashion houses. You know the ones I am talking about. The brands whose names you whisper in the ears of only your closest friends when they ask you where you got that amazing relaxed fit purple suit or the dress with architectural pleating on the bodice or strategically placed cut-outs. Partow’s aesthetic is one of modern minimalism. Where the use of color and structural detail work help to elevate the understated foundation to a more refined realm.
Nellie’s design approach is perfectly understandable considering that - after graduating from Parsons - and just like with her boxing training, she put in the hours, days, months, and years learning her craft. Working at Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and John Varvatos for a cumulative 10-year stint before she hung up her own shingle.
Her slow but steady wins the race philosophy to fashion has worked well for Nellie. Only three years after launching her brand she found herself making a profit. Something that is almost unheard of in the industry. In 2015 she became a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, AKA the CFDA. And 2019, according to the designer, was her best year yet - as she started to scale up her label adding in new categories to her staple “work as hard as the woman wearing them” designs. Even the pandemic hasn’t stopped her from moving forward with the launch, this month, of an e-commerce component to her website.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Nellie and I did our interview over Zoom video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues and the sound of Nellie’s very friendly dog Mika barking with excitement while we chat. Also if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now, for all you future fashion designers out there my advice would be to take a page out of Nellie’s playbook. She launched her brand in the wake of the 2008 recession but since then she has continually been punching above her weight to create a knockout brand that has the potential to go all the way.
I have known JJ Martin for my entire professional career. And yet, until this podcast interview, I hadn’t realized just how much our lives were parallel. We are both California girls, we both left the United States to follow our hearts to Europe, and we both became top fashion journalists in international fashion capitals.
Now all of this is a fun side note to this interview. But the real reason I wanted to speak with JJ is to finally learn the how and why behind her choice to launch her company, La Double J, in 2015. If ever there was an inspirational story about how to be fearless when it comes to pivoting and creating a second act for your career, it’s JJ’s story.
But I am getting a bit ahead of myself. In this podcast, you will hear all about how JJ was able to start to follow her passion for fashion through the fields of advertising and marketing. How she ended up living in Milan, not speaking a word of Italian. And how a chance meeting with the renowned fashion journalist Godfrey Deeny put her on the path to becoming one of the top fashion writers in Milan, eventually spending 15 years on staff at publications like The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar and *Wallpaper.
Today, however, JJ’s love of fashion, and more specifically bold prints and great Italian artisans, has manifested itself into one of the industry’s most beloved independent businesses. La Double J is an e-commerce website that extols all things vibrant and vivid. Her curated selection of vintage patterned prints on easy to wear dresses, pants, and tops have made her site the go-to place for anyone who loves to be the center of attention when they walk in a room.
Better yet, JJ has smartly evolved the company to become an avenue for her to highlight the work of Italian artists and brands that she feels need to be celebrated, such as the porcelain company Ancap, the Venetian glassmaker Salviati, the luxury handbag company Valextra and Acqua di Parma, by creating collaborations that blend their work with her own uniquely colorful universe.
More recently JJ has expanded La Double J even further into the lifestyle brand space with a new focus on the world of wellness and helping women around the planet find their inner goddess. In the section on her site dedicated to living like an Italian, JJ discusses topics like the power of color on the psyche, chakras, and the movement practice of Qi Gong.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that JJ and I did our interview over Zoom video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now get ready to be inspired by JJ’s story. How she was able to manifest the career she wanted through passion, determination and hard work should motivate all of us. now more than ever, to start following our dreams.
The world is starting to get back to work which means many women are turning to shapewear brands to help counteract the last few months of comfort food consumption. So I thought this would be a perfect time to chat with Jens Grede. Jens is the partner and board director of Kim Kardashian West’s shapewear brand SKIMS. And this Sweden native is a savvy fashion executive whose eclectic career path has given him quite a unique and clear-eyed perspective on the industry.
After a stint working at the interior design magazine Wallpaper* at the start of his career, at the tender age of 25, Jens decided to start Saturday, a London-based creative agency. He launched it in 2003 with his business partner Eric Torstensson. The organization quickly grew to include a stable of companies focused on everything from brand management, public relations, and art direction to talent brokering, e-commerce, and publishing - in the form of the highly respected Industrie magazine. Later renamed Saturday Group, with offices in the four fashion capitals, the business eventually also dove into the apparel side of fashion when, in 2012, it debuted the well regarded California lifestyle brand FRAME.
Today, along with his duties as co-executive chairmen and co-executive creative director of FRAME, Jens also has taken up the task of scaling the shapewear phenomenon that is SKIMS. The brainchild of Kim Kardashian West, the company has seen exponential growth since its launch in September of 2019. Its inclusive approach to shapewear with its broad size range and extensive skin tone color options has seen the company sell out of most of its stock within the 24 hours of a drop and has garnered an enviable loyal client base with 38% of first-time shoppers becoming returning customers.
During our Zoom video call, Jens and I talked about the difficulties of trying to break into a market that is dominated by a single player. How hands-on Kim is with the creative direction of the company, the clear advantages of e-commerce focused business built on transparency, and how Jens plans to expand the growing SKIMS empire into new categories.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that because Jens and I did our interview over Zoom video you might pick up on a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Ok, now it's time to discover just how Jens sees the future of both fashion and SKIMS.
I have been following the career of Belgian fashion designer Olivier Theyskens pretty much from the beginning. I have seen him grow from a wunderkind, whose dark goth-like gowns were being worn by the likes of Madonna to the Oscars when he was just 21 years old, into the established and well-respected artist he is today. A designer who has come up with a signature style of dark romantic ensembles that are formed from rigorous attention to construction, precise tailoring, and meticulous fabric choices.
Olivier has never been one to bend to the ebb and flow of fashion. Instead, his work stands like beautiful sartorial rocks, which the world of fashion crashes up against but never erodes away. His singular vision could be felt in each professional chapter of his career. During his years as the artistic director at Rochas, he single-handedly came up with intriguing new silhouettes for the house. Shapes that instantly put the brand back on the fashion map and garnered him the title of Best International Designer by the CFDA in 2006. Then as the artistic director of Nina Ricci, he developed even further his feminine yet sensual aesthetic creating sculptural dresses and statement suiting.
Next up was a stint in America where the designer’s couture talents were put to great use in the world of contemporary fashion as Olivier teamed up with the brand Theory to become its artistic director. Elevating the label’s global profile and also injecting its offering with sartorial sophistication. But the call of his inner voice to relaunch his own label eventually became too strong for Olivier to ignore any longer, and in 2016 he returned to Paris to relaunch his fashion house.
Over the past four years, Olivier has methodically and systematically grown his company. Taking his time to be strategic about his choices and focusing on once again giving voice to his unique and uncompromising vision. A vision that is so singular that he is one of the youngest designers in the industry to have already had not one- but two- retrospectives of his work put on display.
With all of the groundwork laid out for his own brand’s success, this past February Olivier also took on the role of artistic director at Azzaro. A fashion house with over 50 years of archives for the designer to wade through before presenting his first collection of couture and ready-to-wear pieces during the Paris haute couture presentations in June.
I spoke with Olivier via Zoom video about his impressive career, how he will balance the workload between the two brands he now oversees, and how he plans on presenting his debut work for Azzaro now that the haute couture shows had been canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What is clear is that this is one designer who is looking to the future with a cool head and an open heart.
Now more than ever start-up fashion labels are in need of a guiding hand when it comes to best practices for the new normal corona economy the world is entering. That is why it made perfect sense to speak with one of the industry’s leading experts in the field, Alison Lowe.
For close to two decades Alison has traveled the world consulting emerging fashion labels about how to make it in an industry saturated with competition. Most of it with bigger budgets, wider reach, and international awareness. Her calm, plan talking guidance and overall positive attitude has helped countless labels carve-out practical and sensible approaches to running a business. One that is able to find that sweet spot balance between creativity and commerce.
Alison isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and do the heavy lifting if it means helping someone fulfill their life long goal of becoming a designer and running their own business. It's something she can relate to on a personal level as well, seeing as she currently owns and runs not one, but two fashion support agencies she started from scratch.
Her commitment to lifting up budding fashion labels earned Alison a meeting with HRH Queen Elizabeth, who awarded her an MBE for Service to the Fashion Industry in 2017.
After years of public speaking, lecturing at fashion universities, and consulting clients Alison finally decided to publish a book last year that pulls together all of her institutional knowledge in one handy tome. Aptly titled “How to Start Your Own Fashion Label”, the book is a step by step guide for those wanting to follow their fashion dreams. Already a best-seller, the book has quickly become a bible for designers wanting to wade into the volatile world of fashion while holding onto a level headed lifeline.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that Alison and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Now let’s listen to Alison’s advice for young brands trying to break into the business in 2020. I think you will be encouraged by her vision.
Burak Cakmak, the Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York is a man with a mission. His entire career has been in the pursuit of making the fashion world more streamlined, socially responsible, and sustainable.
Born in Turkey during a time when the country was a closed market and under a single-party rule, Burak saw first hand what it was like to live and survive with minimal options in front of him. As the country opened up, so did Burak’s eyes to what the outside world had to offer, and through education, he grabbed it with both hands. Studying political science and getting an MBA. His thirst for knowledge pulled him towards California and the tech world. But the impact of his formative years led him down a different path, one headed towards the field of sustainability.
During his career, he has helped to shape the social responsibility strategy for Gap, Kering, and the Swarovski Group. Each job bringing forth new challenges and opportunities to educate and enlighten some of the fashion industry’s biggest movers and shakers.
Then in 2016 Burak decided that instead of trying to change the current state of sustainability at established brands, he wanted to go to the true source of the fashion supply chain and became the Dean of Fashion at Parsons. This is his first role in the world of academia and over the last 4 years, he has reworked the school’s fashion focus, giving it a broader and more inclusive vision. And he challenged traditional customs with innovative thinking to help ignite a fire of social responsibility in his students. Students who will, of course, be the fashion leaders of the future.
I particularly wanted to talk with Burak now, as the world is facing a pandemic paradigm shift. To hear from him how he sees the future of fashion taking shape. And it was a relief to me to hear someone who is such a realist being so optimistic about where we go from here.
Just on a technical side note, I did want to let all you listeners know that - as is the new normal these days - Burak and I did our interview over Zoom Video. So don’t be surprised by a couple of very minor audio issues. And if you happen to be more of a visual learner, feel free to head over to my signature YouTube channel to watch the video version of this podcast in action.
Ok, now let’s listen to Burak let us in on what the future holds for us.
Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele has always been a woman who follows the beat of her own drum. She speaks her mind. Follows her gut. And has an unparalleled eye when it comes to making unexpected sartorial combinations work.
The godmother of the high/low fashion mix, she famously and fearlessly combined the most basic pair of stonewashed denim jeans with a Christian Lacroix haute couture top that featured a beaded and bejeweled cross for Anna Wintour’s very first American Vogue cover as the magazine’s editor-in-chief, back in 1988. It was a watershed fashion moment that people point to as the harbinger of modern fashion. Where wearing off the rack garments with custom pieces is not just permitted, it is expected and encouraged as a way of expressing one’s true character through their clothing.
Carlyne made the street not only chic but cool.
Born in Saint-Tropez in the south of France, as soon as she could, Carlyne got herself to Paris, the heart of the fashion action. There she let her innate sense of style speak for itself, first at Marie Claire then at Elle, before she left for the United States to work at American Vogue.
She is an instinctive layerer - I know that isn’t a real word but Carlyne is famous for making up her own so I am sure she would approve. She loves to pile on the accessories and clothing until a look is just right. Even if that means very little layering at all. Her career is also multilayered. She is a stylist, fashion director, and creative consultant all rolled into one slender powerhouse.
She has worked with the best photographers and designers in the business. From Irving Penn and Richard Avedon to Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Meisel. Helmut Newton even captured her on film at her most dramatic. And she shaped the iconic visual identity of both Versace and Chanel during the 1990s, and today gives Jeremy Scott’s Moschino collections her unique polish.
Carlyne and I caught up over tea in the heart of Paris, just off the rue saint honoré in a busy little cafe. And while there are lots of things I admire about her, perhaps what I admire most is that even after so many years as an insider at the top of the fashion pyramid she still sees herself as an outsider.
She calls it like she sees it. And what an eye she has.
Michelle Elie is a fashion aficionado who has elevated the concept of a collector to dizzying new heights. The American-Haitian born jewelry designer and former fashion model literally walks the walk and talks the talk when it comes to her profound love of the work created by one of fashion’s most avant-garde designers, Rei Kawakubo.
For decades Michelle has not only collected, but regularly wears, some of the most envelope-pushing pieces Kawakubo has ever created for her Comme des Garçons brand. Not surprisingly she is an evergreen favorite of street style photographers outside the shows during Paris Fashion Week. While inside the show venues guests who are seated next to Michelle are often in for quite an experience as they try to co-exist with her often voluminous, three-dimensional Kawakubo designs.
Let me just say that the smart fashion PRs know to always seat Michelle at the end of a row.
However, for Michelle, wearing Comme des Garçons isn’t about attracting the attention of others, rather for her, wearing the clothing is a very personal statement. In particular, she connects on a fundamental level with the pieces that exaggerate or deform her body when she wears them. They speak to her own body image issues and have helped her to become more accepting of her own natural curves, a subject she struggled with during her years as a model.
Die-hard Comme des Garçons fans are in luck because Michelle has finally decided to fling open her closet doors. On April 3rd, the opening of the “Life doesn’t frighten me, Michelle Elie wears Comme des Garçons” exhibition will take place at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany. There 50 pieces from the over 70 Comme des Garçons garments Michelle has collected over the past twenty-five years will be on display for the fashion-loving world to enjoy up close.
And the always inventive Michelle is not letting the global quarantine stop her from sharing her exhibition. She will be doing a virtual tour of the exhibit so people around the globe can see it in all its digital glory. Thankfully the exhibition is open until August 30th, which should give fans of Michelle and Rei’s work plenty of time to make the trek to Germany.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle during the most recent Paris Fashion Week and was enchanted by her story and also blown away by her pure dedication to fashion and her passion for Comme des Garçons.
https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de/en/visit/exhibitions/michelle-elie-wears-comme-des-garcons/
Dana Thomas is a dyed in the wool, true blue journalist. She lives it, breaths it and consumes it every day. She is the Woodward and Bernstein or the Ronan Farrow, if you will, of the fashion industry. Her deep dive, investigative books into the inner workings of the fashion world have earned her the respect of her peers and I am sure, when she comes knocking, a few shivers of fear down the spine of at least a couple of CEOs during her career.
In 2007 she published the New York Times bestseller, "Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster" which explored the dark side of the multi-billion-dollar business and exposed the hidden secrets that luxury brands didn’t want to have see the light of day. Then in 2015 she published “Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano”. In that book, Thomas explored how two of the most creative and influential designers of the past 30 years cracked under the pressure of the 24/7 incessant demands of a business built on always coming up with the next big thing, must-have accessory and the designer as superstar approach to creating a global fashion powerhouse.
And now Thomas is back with another timely and on-point book called “Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes”. This time she examines the damage wrought by the global clothing industry and the role that sustainably, accountability, fair trade and transparency must take if the world of fashion wants to stay viable in the coming decades as the needs of the consumers and the climate both change.
After a year in Paris working as a model, Thomas moved back to the United States to start her award-winning career by cutting her teeth in journalism writing for the Style section of The Washington Post. She then returned to Paris and was, for fifteen years, a cultural and fashion correspondent for Newsweek in the city of light. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and Architectural Digest, just to name a few. And in 2016, the French Minister of Culture named her a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.
I met up with Thomas in her home in the 7th arrondissement in Paris. There, surrounded by her collection of rare and out of print fashion books, with her dog Daisy at her feet and her daughter Lucie studying in the next room, we talked about her new book, her life long love of fashion and her ability to spot a seminal story before anyone else.
Casey Cadwallader is a man with a mission. As the artistic director of Mugler, he is building the brand for a new generation of women and showing the world how sexy, sensual and strong clothing can also be very inclusive. Already he has generated quite a buzz around his runway casting which has included models of all shapes, sizes, ages and colors.
Having singer Cardi B sit front and center at his first show helped set the tone for this new era at the house. A house that has struggled, until now, to find a designer with a clear enough vision to take on the potent DNA of the brand and reinterpret it in a modern way for women living in the body-positive, female empowerment, post #Metoo age.
Born in New Hampshire, Casey studied architecture at Cornell University before landing an internship at Marc Jacobs that sent him on a whole different career path. From there he progressed to become Narciso Rodriguez’s right-hand man, was the head of womenswear at Loewe and most recently was designing at Acne Studio before taking on the top spot at Mugler.
Since he arrived at the house in 2017, Casey has presented collection after collection of body con ensembles, cut with a scalpel tailored suiting and second-skin dresses that hug the body in all the right ways. Casey says that he looks to both haute couture and strippers to guide his design aesthetic.
I met up with Casey right before the latest Fall/Winter 2020 shows were about to take place in Paris. We spoke about a wide range of topics in his office at his headquarters, which is just steps away from the famed Opera Garnier. Everything from the origins of his name, the fashion dos and don’ts that his expansive career has taught him over the years and, perhaps most importantly, how he now intends to refocus the Mugler house into a brand where creativity and bold ideas lead the way.
After our discussion, what I came away with from our time together is that Casey is that rare self-aware designer who has a head for business, an innovative heart and a soul that sings with creativity.
I think few people in the fashion industry would argue with me if I said that Sara Sozzani Maino is one of the hardest working women in fashion.
Sara is the head of Vogue Talents and Italian Vogue’s deputy editor for special fashion projects. And pretty much no matter where I am in the world or what event I am attending, I invariably seem to spot Sara, with her lion’s mane of black hair, her monochrome - usually black - attire and her practical footwear, which is a must since she is in constant motion. I see her working the room, wherever she is, and make sure to say hello to everyone. She is always giving kind words of support and encouragement to the young designers who are endlessly seeking her out and she is forever crisscrossing the globe on the hunt to discover new talents to celebrate within the pages of Italian Vogue and Vogue Talents.
Sara grew up surrounded by strong women passionate about fashion. Both her mother, Carla Sozzani, who is the founder of the famed fashion concept store 10 Corso Como in Milan and her aunt, Franca Sozzani, the iconic editor in chief of Italian Vogue, from 1988 until her death in 2016, showed her what a strong work ethic can achieve and how powerful and transformative fashion can be on a global scale.
Initially, Sara didn’t have a particular interest in fashion. She worked a bit in the early 90s, when she was just out of school, at the newly opened 10 Corso Como before getting a job as an intern in 1994 at Italian Vogue. Over the years she worked her way up through the ranks of the magazine and found her own niche, that of spotting up and coming talents that she would bring to the attention of the rest of the editorial team. Not surprisingly, in 2009 Franca put Sara in charge of the newly created Vogue Talents project. It was her mission to unearth the future designer diamonds in the rough in the worlds of womenswear, menswear, accessories, and fashion photography.
And she has quite an eye for spotting those that have what it takes to make it to the top of the fashion pyramid. Designers like J. W. Anderson, Simone Rocha, Marco de Vincenzo and Glenn Martens, just to name a very few, were clocked by Sara very early on in their careers. It’s no wonder that every young talent fashion jury on the planet is clamoring to get Sara on their committee.
2019 marked the 10 year anniversary of the launch of Vogue Talents and I caught up with Sara right after that momentous milestone. And to give you an idea of just how busy this woman is, we ended up recording our podcast in the back of her black town car in between two fashion shows.
All you have to do is listen to this podcast to know that Sara is one of those amazing people who you know you can always count on. She wants everyone to be a success, and if she can help you get there, she will pull out all the stops to make it happen.
Vikki Kavanagh is the Global Buying and Merchandising Director at THE OUTNET, the sister e-commerce website to Net-a-porter and Mr. Porter. And the reason she has held that venerable position at the company for almost three years now is because she is a true buyer’s buyer.
What I mean by that is that she has the art of buying coursing through her veins. Since she was a teenager she has been fascinated by this aspect of the fashion industry. And it was right out of school, at her first job working in a House of Fraser department store, where she first laid eyes on the glamours women who were crisscrossing the world ordering up the stock that would line the shelves of the store in the season to come, that she knew that being a buyer was going to be her calling.
She liked the idea of finding just the right products for the people who frequented the store she worked for, be that online or within the walls of a storefront. To find for them both the things she knew they would need, but also those they didn’t know they needed until she found it for them and those items that they didn’t need at all, but wanted, and couldn’t live without.
Over the years, she has proven herself to be very skilled at being in tune with her customers. Be that buying for Fenwicks, House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols, the fashion e-tailer Very Exclusive or The Outnet. THE OUTNET, which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary, has become so much more than just a place where the end of season stock goes on sale.
In fact, today 90% of the stock is sourced directly from the brands on buying trips Vikki makes with her team to the fashion capitals of the world. She has helped build deeper relationships with brands which has lead to exclusive partnerships like a recent one the company did with Mary Katrantzou as well as unexpected collaborations.
Vikki helped put into place a collaboration between the brands in house line - Iris and Ink, which - by the way - consistently ranks in the company’s top 5 selling brands on its website, with the style icon, model and entrepreneur, Julia Restoin Roitfeld – A first for the company.
Today, for Vikki, being a fashion buyer means being nimble, using data to help hone your choices but, making sure to still leaving room to follow your gut. In our conversation, Vikki talks about what it takes to be a great buyer, the evolution of the luxury consumer and the new landscape of seasonless shopping as well as THE OUTNET's role in a circular economy and why she will never understand the appeal of bicycle shorts.
There are some fashion insiders who call Alexandre Mattiussi “a one in a generation” fashion designer. And I would have to agree with that assessment. He is a bit of a fashion unicorn in that, not only is he a down to earth, friendly and gregarious guy who happens to be a very talented fashion designer, he also has a real head for - and a love of - both the business of fashion and the theatricality of it.
Born in 1980 in the Normandy countryside, Alexandre studied at the Duperré fashion design school in Paris and decided to specialize in menswear design as he astutely saw that the market was much less saturated than the womenswear market at that time.
Early on, back in 2002, he tried his hand at starting his own business, selling t-shirts he had designed but decided to press pause on that adventure to really learn his trade inside the walls of established menswear brands before stepping out on his own. To this end, he worked at Dior’s “30 Montaigne” menswear line and then joined Givenchy where for five years he built up real-world experience as he led the menswear design team before the arrival of Riccardo Tisci at the house. Following that, he had a stint designing for Marc Jacobs Men.
It was while at Marc Jacobs, as he was working on some ultra-luxury menswear items, that Alexandre had his sartorial epiphany. The beautiful things he was creating, though he would never be able to afford to buy them, he wanted to create clothing that he would see being worn on the street –clothing that would make people happy as they went about living their lives.
And so, in 2011 his brand, AMI, was born. The name, which means friend in French but is also the composition of his initials and the last letter of his last name perfectly encapsulates both the designer and his designs. He seems to be friends with everyone and everyone wants to be friends with him. And his clothing does act like friends for those who wear them. This is a brand filled with staple wardrobe pieces; the perfectly cut pair of trousers, the great chunky sweater and the evergreen outerwear– menswear that was so well done that women wound up flocking to his work, and also wearing his designs.
Today, AMI has over 300 stocklists across the globe and online and has freestanding stores in Paris, Tokyo, London, and China. And last year he finally launched a “menswear for women” line in response to the high demand for his designs by women around the world.
I caught up with Alexandre at his headquarters in Paris after he and I had both just returned from a whirlwind tour of Asia. I was attending Shanghai Fashion Week and Tokyo Fashion Week and he also happened to be there as well. He was showing his first collection outside of Paris in Shanghai at the same time as its fashion week, and then held an event in Japan during its fashion week. All of it was a way to thank his Asian customers and friends who have become a very big part of his business.
What did I tell you, Alexandre, a savvy businessman, but an even better friend.
When I began to do some research on Joey Zwillinger, the co-founder of the sustainable footwear brand Allbirds, it was hard not to notice the pull quote from Time magazine on the company’s website that referred to its Merino wool sneakers as “the world’s most comfortable shoe”, or when Refinery 29 said “we won’t blame you if never wear any other shoe ever again”.
Clearly, the brand that Zwillinger, a biotech engineer, created with Tim Brown, a former football player from New Zealand, has fans, including the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio who invested early in the company – raising 2.7 million dollars in seed funding before it officially launched in 2016.
Since then, Allbirds has become a shining example of sustainable style at its finest .
The breathable temperature-regulating wool used to make the company’s signature sneakers uses 60% less energy than a typical sneaker. But, the brands sustainable initiatives do not stop there –It turned to recycled plastic bottles to craft the shoe’s laces. Allbirds came up with a brand new material that they call SweetFoam, which is an eco-friendly alternative to the traditional petroleum-based shoe soles, made from sugarcane off shoots. The company’s revolutionary material is an open-source technology so that other brands can also take advantage of the carbon negative material. Oh, and even the shoe boxes the Allbirds footwear comes in are made from 90% recycled cardboard.
Currently, the company, which reportedly is now a $1.4 billion dollar business, is moving quickly to expand out from its original direct-to-consumer selling strategy. It already has 12 stores across the globe and intends to open another 20 in the next year. It has also expanded its inventory range, launching a weather-resistant collection called Mizzle that is also crafted from all-natural materials and the cleverly named Sole Mates socks that are made from TrinoTM –a new proprietary yarn that blends together the natural fibers of the brand’s Tree and Merino materials.
Without a doubt, the company is riding the crest of the current sustainable fashion wave. But after speaking with Zwillinger, there is no question that building a globally successful business isn’t his primary goal but instead, helping to build a better world for the future is.
The first thing you notice when you meet Arthur Arbesser, besides his head of floppy hair and big round glasses, is his upbeat attitude. He radiates nothing but positivity and you get the impression that he always has a sunny side view on the world. It’s a perception that is further supported by the fashion he creates – which is colorful, often with graphic motifs, and rich with artistic references that span many different fields, from architecture and painting to sculpture and ballet.
His sartorial style is eclectic and original and it perfectly dovetails with his own creative history as a designer born and raised in Vienna, Austria, to go on to study at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College in London, and for many years now calling Milan his home.
Arthur’s talent was right off the bat. Shortly after graduating from college, he was hired by Giorgio Armani and worked alongside the famed Italian designer for 7 years before deciding to launch his own signature brand in January 2013. That same year he was a winner of the “Who Is On Next?” competition in Italy, which is designed to highlight talented young designers. From this, Arthur’s work began to generate positive reviews by the likes of Suzy Menkes, and in 2015 he became an LVMH Prize finalist.
Today, Arthur is balancing two creative hats on his head; not only does he design for his own brand but since September 2017, he has held the position of creative director of the esteemed Italian brand, Fay.
In fact, we met up in the headquarters of Fay in Milan to do this podcast interview just as he was preparing for his next presentation for the house. It was there that he opened up about just how deeply architecture and design influence his old world approach to fashion and how not being an Italian designer helped make his mark in Milan, as well as what it takes to simultaneously design for two fashion houses.
After our chat, what I took away from our conversation was that as much as Arthur is an upbeat fun loving person, he takes his work and his love of fashion very very seriously.
I first met Law Roach in early 2018 at a Tommy Hilfiger show in Milan when he came up to me to say how much he liked the 60 Second Fashion Reviews I did on Instagram. I was instantly charmed by his warmth, his openness and, off course, his amazing outfit. I soon realized, although I didn't know it at the time, that I was a fan of Law as well. I had been appreciative of his work over the years as the stylist for actress Zendaya and more recently Ariana Grande, as well as Tiffany Haddish and Tom Holland. Additionally, I was most definitely impressed with the way he transformed Celine Dion into style icon almost overnight.
For those who aren’t avid followers of the inner workings of the fashion industry, or didn’t spot him during his time as a judge on America’s Next Top Model, you’re first true glimpse of Law was most likely this year on the Met Gala red carpet where he, quite literally, was Zendaya’s fairy godfather. With a wave of his wand, Law turned the actress’ dove gray custom made Tommy Hilfiger Cinderella gown into bright blue lit up confection. But that is what Law has been doing for years now, transforming his clients into the sartorial best version of themselves.
Ever since he moved from Chicago, where he ran a vintage clothing store, to Los Angeles to follow his dream to be a stylist, Law has been ingenious in how he gets his clients notices for all the right reasons. He has come up with some of the most original and eye-catching statement looks of the past decade. But more than that, he has also helped his clients connect with leading fashion brands and was key in brokering partnerships, most notably Zendaya for Tommy Hilfiger and Ariana Grande for Givenchy.
Now after 10 years in the business, Law is looking for his next move. He is ready for his own transformation and during our conversation over breakfast at the busy Royal Monceau hotel in Paris, he looked back over his career and it became crystal clear that this is a man who will not only make it because he has got talent, but also because he has such a big heart.
Jeremy Langmead is the Brand and Content Director of MR PORTER. Full disclosure, I have known Jeremy for over a decade and I have watched in amazement as he create, launched and grew the MR PORTER website into an award winning e-commerce platform created for men looking to have access to both the best fashion in the menswear market and the best editorial content designed to help those men relate to their sartorial choices on a deeper level.
The platform’s “5 ways” series and “how it” articles have helped men around the globe educate themselves and given them the tools to make them more savvy shoppers and dressers. And now Jeremy is behind the new MR PORTER Health In Mind initiative, which is dedicated to helping men lead happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Jeremy is focused on creating an overall brand vision for MR PORTER and since he first joined the company in 2010, he has been able to find the sweetspot between great content and great commerce by blending product updates with MR PORTER’s weekly shoppable digital magazine, The Journal, its bimonthly newspaper, The MR PORTER Post, and its buzzy, ever updating, digital news source, The Daily.
Before he worked at MR PORTER, Jeremy was editor-in-chief of Esquire from 2007-2010 and before he held the same job at the interiors magazine Wallpaper from 2003-2007. And I can confirm that his love of interior design is still strong, you just have to look at the interiors of his own home to realize that. And he also had stints working as the Life & Style editor of the London Evening Standard and as an editor of The Sunday Times Style magazine. Basically the guy knows fashion and style like the back of his hand.
In 2014 Jeremy left MR PORTER for Christie’s auction house, where he developed editorial content for the e-commerce, digital and communication departments before returning to MR PORTER after a year to take up his current role at the company. And since then he has seen the menswear industry evolve drastically. Between the blurring of gender lines, the mixing of styles that see athleticwear and street style blending more and more, tailoring and the new trend towards menswear collections being shows with womenswear, well there was lots to talk about with Jeremy.
So I took the Eurostar over to London to interview him at his company’s headquarters, where a tour of the building included looking out over a whole new section that had just been allotted to the ever growing MR PORTER team. And as we talked inside one of the glass walled conference rooms, the hustle and bustle of the busy company whirled on behind us was further proof that MR PORTER, and Jeremy, are heading into fashion’s future full steam ahead.
I have followed the career of designer Marco de Vincenzo since his very first show when he started his brand back in 2009. And it has been a privilege to watch him grow into one of the most exciting Italian fashion designers working today.
If you are doing the math, you now know that this year marks the 10 year anniversary of the launch of the Marco de Vincenzo brand. It also happens to be the year Marco turns 40 and the year he launches his first menswear collection. Somthing he will do later this month at Pitti Uomo in Florence. And beside running his own signature label he also juggles his gig as the creative head of leather goods at Fendi alongside his mentor Silvia Venturini Fendi.
Marco’s aesthetic is very distinctive. The rainbow has almost become the trademark of his designs. Or maybe it's fringing. Or perhaps Lurex knits. Actually now that I think about it… it is all three of them. He is also very good at coming up with accessories that have launched a thousand copies. What is it they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? But besides those designer building blocks Marco’s work also has other important fundamental features like his true artisanal understanding of how to manipulate and craft leather goods and his ability to constantly revisit his Italian heritage in his designs in new, unexpected and heartfelt ways.
The fashion industry’s confidence in Marco’s talent as a designer is underlined by the fact that LVMH signed a partnership deal with the designer back in 2014, taking a 45% stake in the company and this year a new partner, Marco Panzeri, has acquired a 35% stake in the business, with Panzeri coming in as the new chief executive officer of the company.
All of which is to say I felt that now was the perfect moment to sit down with Marco for a good long chat. To take the time to reflect back on the first decade of his business, the challenges and the successes, and to lay out his goals for the future of his vibrant and upbeat fashion label.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the stealth wealth luxury brand Moynat. And just like the company, which is thought to be one of the oldest heritage French trunk-making houses in the world, the man behind the brand, creative director Ramesh Nair, is someone who likes to let the quality of his work speak for itself.
But don’t let Ramesh’s soft spoken, unassuming appearance fool you. He might not be a designer who craves the fashion limelight but he is a man with a clear vision for Moynat - and he has the fashion chops to make that vision a reality. During his career he has worked with some of the most talented and creative designers living today. Not only did he work with Yohji Yamamoto and Christian Lacroix he spent 11 years as senior designer at Hermès soaking up everything he could from his legendary mentor Martin Margiela and later incomparable Jean Paul Gaultier. All of this before he was chosen in 2011 by Bernard Arnault, the chairman and ceo of LVMH, to breath life back into the Moynat brand, which had laid dormant for 35 years.
Ramesh has had quite an impressive career considering that fashion design wasn’t a childhood dream and that he pretty much fell backwards into fashion when he applied to study at new branch that had opened up in India of the FIT New York, back in 1986, as an alternative to joining the army. Even he was surprised when he was accepted, and during his time at the school he learned that he loved how fashion could be used as a form of visual expression of self and he discovered that he was actually pretty fluent in the language of fashion and luxury.
I had the honor and privilege of speaking with Ramesh inside the Moynat flagship store on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. A location that is like an oasis of calm at the heart of the bustling city. And just like the company he represents Ramesh is the epitome of refinement and grace. He is all about celebrating the best that life has to offer. Be that great food, great conversation or great design…life is too short for anything less.
Robin Meason is a woman who has lived quite an amazing, globe-trotting existence. And the reason she has had such an adventurous life is because she always follows her heart.Following her heart is also what happens to make her one of the best fashion PR’s in the business. Robin was born and raised in Texas, where she studied European civilization at Texas State University, but she always had a thing about France, and Paris in particular. She might have lived in London, Los Angeles, Athens and Australia, over the years but she has always come back to Paris.It is in Paris that she launched her PR agency, called Ritual Projects, in 2013. And while in the past following her heart had Robin traveling the world, today her heart (and her head for business) is what makes Ritual Projects such an interesting company.Think of it like the rebellious cool kid at school, who always seems to know what is going to be the next big thing before anyone else does. The brands that Robin represents are the ones that are generating buzz for their creativity and are on the cusp of blowing up. They are also very loyal to Robin as she nurtures them from the jump - while the grow into brands, like Y/Project, GMBH, Ottolinger and AREA, that are coveted by those in the know in the fashion industry.But as good as Robin is at promoting her brands, she is not someone who likes to talk about herself. So getting to sit down with her, to hear her life story and get insights into how she works and how she spots talent, was such a rare treat, and I am so happy I get to share this moment with you.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the MSGM brand founded by Massimo Giorgetti. But when you meet the Rimini born Italian designer, it is hard to believe someone so open, outgoing and honest has been at the helm of a successful and growing fashion company for a decade, without getting jaded.
But that is the case for this self-taught designer, who originally got a degree in accounting and spend his youth as a DJ, before he launched his company in 2009. He quickly made a name for himself- and his brand thanks to his use of bright and bold logo-clad clothing that had price points that made them accessible luxury to younger streetwear fashion lovers. Just a year in and MSGM had already won the prestigious Vogue Italia AltaRoma “Who Is On Next” award and then over the next five years the company gre into a 45 million dollar business with over 600 points of sale around the world.
Giorgetti’s winning fashion formula garnered attention from investors and in 2018 he got a new minority investment from the private equity fund Style Capital. With this new influx of funds the designer has big expansion plans in mind with goals to double revenues over the next three years, making a big push into the Asian market and expanding the brand into new product lines.
Case in point, and perfectly in keeping with the youth-centric focus of the house, Giorgetti debuted earlier this year a new line of MSGM underwear for men and women and there are plans on the horizon to unveil a full activewear capsule collection in June and a footwear line is also in the works.
I caught up with Giorgetti at his headquarters in Milan. He is a man full of energy, ideas and positive attitude, which all bodes extremely well for the future of the MSGM brand.
If you are a devoted follower of street style then you know that there are just a handful of photographers who you want to take your photo as you arrive at a show. Or at the very least stand outside at a show pretending to be super busy on your phone. One of them is the Brazilian born, Australia based, photographer Lee Oliveira.
His visual signature is one of discretion. Unlike those concrete catwalk photographers that have you to walk across the same crosswalk over and over to get a shot, or ask you to stop and pose for them, Lee is more of a stealth snapper. Often you don’t even know that he has taken your photo until it appears in the Thursday style pages of the New York Times or on the newspaper’s official NYTimesfashion feed on Instagram.
Just like the iconic Bill Cunningham, who was the godfather of street style photography, Lee isn’t interested in taking photos of celebrities, or head to toe branded outfits worn by influencers. Instead it is the composition of the image itself, how someone’s outfit is framed by its surroundings and environment that intrigues him.
I caught up with Lee while he was in Australia covering Australia Fashion Week. And I have to warn you…and apologies…for the sound quality of the recording of our phone conversation. It’s really not the greatest…but what Lee has to say about his work and the fashion industry as a whole certainly is worth the effort.
Let me tell you about the white hot Spanish designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo. You have probably already heard about his brand Palomo Spain – which he launched in 2015 – because of Beyoncé. She famously wore one of his floral menswear pieces for her first official photo with her newborn twins, Rumi and Sir.
Palomo calls himself a menswear designer, that is what he studied during his time at the London College of Fashion, and yet his theatrical outfits can easily cross gender lines. His clothing is not so much focused on a person’s sex, but rather their level of sartorial daring. There is a boldness to Palermo and a joyful abandonment to his well-constructed designs. His imagination is overflowing with ideas, but also there is a meticulousness and attention to detail to his work.
Think John Galliano, Alexander McQueen or Jean Paul Gaultier.
In fact, being a fashion designer was always what Palomo knew he wanted to do. Growing up in the small town of Córdoba, in the South of Spain, he admitted that by the age of six he already was a big fan of dressing up Barbies, he religiously watched fashion shows on TV and was sketching incessantly. And then one day his father made the very smart suggestion that he study to become a fashion designer.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Alejandro right after his Spring/Summer 2019 collection at Madrid Fashion Week, where part of the invitation to his show was a drop of his own blood on a specimen slide, and the show itself was inside the Museum of Natural Sciences, surrounded by taxidermy stuffed animals and an array of curiosity cabinet pieces, that - just like the essence of the Palomo brand – brings disparate ideas together to create something wholly original.
Glenn Martens is the creative director of the brand Y/Project. He is also one of the most talented young designers working in Paris today. His Spring/Summer 2019 show was a seminal collection that beautifully underlined the real breadth and width of his conceptual creations. Designs that have their foundation in streetwear but their execution is of a couture level.
Born in Bruges, Belgium, Glenn was not one of those designers who dreamed about fashion from an early age. Instead he studied interior design and just by happenstance ended up applying to the prestigious - and famously rigorous - Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where in the end he would graduate at the top of his class.
From there Glenn landed a gig as a junior designer for the women’s pre-collections at Jean Paul Gaulter and he also spent time working as the first assistant to the founder of Y/Project, Yohan Serfaty. Then in 2012 Glenn launched his own signature brand before being asked by Serfaty’s business partner to come back to the Y/Project brand as its creative direction when Serfaty passed away in 2013.
From that moment until today Glenn has produces collections that are filled with shape shifting clothing. Pieces that appear sliced and diced together, have intriguing appendages or layers that make them look both familiar and fantastical. And the fashion world has taken notice of Glenn. In 2017 he was awarded the ANDAM prize, winning $280,000 and a year-long mentorship from Francesca Bellettini , the CEO and president of Yves Saint Laurent.
I spoke with Glenn just a few weeks before he presented his latest menswear collection at Pitti Uomo in Florence. Forgoing a Paris showing for the prestige and the honor of presenting his clothing in an arena that celebrates the best that menswear has to offer. But what I love most about Glenn is that none of his burgeoning fame, nor the growing number of accolades he receives have gone to his head. He is just a great guy you would be happy to grab a beer with and talk the night away.
Klaus Stockhausen is the contributing fashion director at Zeit Magazine and is a fixture of the fashion scene. This is a man who has really lived life to the fullest, and has done it with lots and lots of laughter. In fact, I don’t think I have ever laughed as much in an interview as I did with Klaus. He is honest and playful. Self-deprecating and just the right amount of catty so you know it’s all in good fun. Just to give you an idea about who Klaus is. He started his career as a DJ in Germany. Something he did for 15 years and he is created for introducing house music to the country. He was also in a boys band called Boytronic that had a top 10 hit song called “You”. He was doing street style long before that phrase even existed in the fashion lexicon. And not only was he the personal stylist for Naomi Campbell he was also the mastermind behind all of John Galliano’s extraordinary outfits that he wore to take his epic bows at the end of each of his Christian Dior and Galliano shows. Sufficed to say Klaus has got a lot of great stories to tell. As well strong opinions about the current crop of models, how to handle divas on a photo shoot and some key insights into how to be a successful stylist. We spoke together right after the month of fall/winter 2018 fashion shows had wrapped.
The fashion industry is buzzing about the Spanish designer Johnny Coca. Everyone wants to know how, in just three years, he has turned the Mulberry brand around. A big part of his success comes thanks to his innovative business strategy, his inventive and exuberant collections and some seriously covetable bags and accessories.
Mulberry made the right call when they hired Johnny. And I am guessing that decision was pretty much a no brainer for the brand, considering that Johnny spent years working alongside Phoebe Philo at Celine. He was head of the design studio when it came out with the brand’s iconic Trapeze bag. And before that he was coming up with winning accessories for Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton.
The man just knows how to make great accessories! And now is turning those design skills towards womenswear collections, all of which so far have garnered warm reviews from top fashion critics.
It was a real treat getting to know Johnny during our conversation. By the end of this interview I was bowled over both by his warm and open nature and his bold clear vision for the future of the Mulberry brand.
Gabriela Hearst is a self-taught designer, who only launched her signature label three years ago. This year she was nominated for the CFDA womenswear designer of the year award, just opened her first flagship store in New York, debuted a permanent showroom in Pars. She is also currently on track for being profitable by the end of the year.
But Hearst is no overnight success. She has years of experience in the fashion industry. However, it was her conscious decision to shift to only creating clothing using the best materials she could lay her hands on, to focus on versatile timeless garments and to design pieces with multitasking women in mind that made all the difference. In an industry built on the idea of the accumulation of things, Hearst is finding her global success with a less, but best, philosophy.
When we spoke she had just signed her lease for her store and her nomination for her CFDA award was still very fresh in her mind. But even though she had a lot of exciting news about her nascent company, it was when she spoke to me about the core message of her company that I really felt I got a better and deeper understanding of this exceptional business woman.
The rise of Brian Phillips, the President of Black Frame, to the top echelons of the fashion industry, is both well-known and impressive.
Instead of working his way up through the ranks of PR companies he founded Black Frame after having made fashion inroads at the cult magazine Visionaire straight out of college, worked at the now defunct production company Fatal Art Syndicate, and built up a close knit group of friends who just happened to work in the fashion industry. Friends that including Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, the duo behind Opening Ceremony (which Brian helped promote from the start) and who also are also now designing Kenzo – a deal that Brian was instrumental in brokering for the duo.
But, perhaps the most mythic fashion war story from Brian’s early career years happened when, while he was in-between jobs, Hedi Slimane came knocking. Brain had worked with the iconic designer on a project a year earlier, the results of which apparently stuck in Slimane’s brain. When Slimane reached out to Brian again, he just happened to be the creative director of Dior Homme. After a meeting with Sidney Toledano, the then CEO of Christian Dior at that time, Brian had a deal with the brand.
Thus, at the tender age of 24 Brian launched Black Frame. His first two clients.... Dior Homme and Visionaire.
Since then he has nurtured the creative careers of designers and brands like Rodate, Delfina Delettrez, Helmut Lang, Eckhaus Latta, Woolrich, Dion Lee and Nike. Launched a sister company called Framework that focuses on “developing concepts for innovative brand experiences” and more recently became the creative director of the cult biannual publication Garage Magazine.
I have known Brian for many years and what strikes you about him, besides the breadth and width of his cultural knowledge, is his no BS way of doing business. In an industry where schmoozing and sucking up has become almost an art form Brian doesn’t suffer fools or is looking for acolytes. He is all business, pretty much all the time. You better bring you’re A-game and offer up an interesting challenge if you want to get his attention.
And Brian is a pretty interesting guy in his own right. I promise that if you can bear with the background hum of the air conditioning fan in this interview, that finally shuts down at about the 4-minute mark of our conversation, you will be rewarded with an insightful and informative discussion in which Brian really lays out his business philosophy and creative strategy. Honestly, I just asked my questions, sat back and let Brian run with it.
Next year shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of his signature label.
When he started out, during the heart of the 90s era of minimalism, his sexy, vibrate footwear was in stark contrast to anything else on the market And since then he has built up a reputation for creating shoes that are closely linked to the world of music (another one of his passions) as well as using innovative materials and eye catching embellishments – all of it grounded in old school artisanal craftsmanship. A powerful combination that today means the Zanotti brand is a global entity, with almost 100 stores worldwide, that has expanded from women's footwear into luxury handbags, mens shoes, children's footwear and a smattering of ready to wear.
Zanotti was born in San Mauro Pascoli, Italy, a village that was just down the road from Rimini, which has a long tradition of shoemaking. It was there that he learned first-hand his trade, designing footwear freelance for small, artisanal shoe companies. Besides whipping up imaginative shoe designs, Zanottti spent much of his after hours during his youth as a radio DJ. Bringing nightspots to life with his impressive musical knowledge and ability to set a party mood. And it was the covers of those LPs that he played that often acted as inspiration for his designs in his early days.
Interestingly, it was celebrities who were first draw to Zanotti’s work almost from the start, with Madonna an early fan. Now the list of his high profile clientele probably reaches a mile long, with stars like Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Charlize Theron, and Cameron Diaz buying up his designs.
Men too; with Kanye West not only a collector of his mens shoes, he also regularly collaborates with the designer. In fact, Zanottti got in on the collaboration game much earlier that most luxury brands. Working with both celebrities and up and coming fashion designers, supply the shoes for their seasonal collections, long before many of his competitors.
That is the real take away you get from Zanotti when you talk with him. He is an artist who enjoys the creative and collaborative process of bringing his hand draw sketches to life. And when I say life, I mean seeing them being worn on the street by real people who love to stand out, get noticed and blaze their own path.
Giambattista Valli is an extremely talented Italian designer, who was born in Rome and has now built up his own empire. A fashion empire, dedicated to creating romantic, feminine and beautiful clothing for women who want to look and feel special.
Valli has done something that very few modern designers have been able to accomplish. He spent years honing his craft alongside great designers like Roberto Capucci and Emanuel Ungaro, before making the bold choice in 2005 (when most of his peers were becoming designers for big name fashion houses) to launch his own signature label. In fact, he reportedly famously passed on taking over at Valentino to start his own company. Which, as anyone in fashion will tell you, was a pretty ballsy move.
Since then he has slowly and meticulously grown his brand. Supported by devoted gaggle of beautiful fashion plates, that have been affectionately called Valli Girl; that include Bianca Brandolini d’Adda, Charlotte Dellal, Lee Radziwill, Queen Rania of Jordan, Diane Kruger and Giovanna Englbert.
He even had the backbone to take on the rarified air of haute couture, launching his line in 2011. He now counts more than 250 points of sales around the world in over 40 countries across the globe. Oh, and did I mention, beside building his own brand, Valli was behind the Moncler Gamme Rouge womenswear line, designing it for a decade.
So the man knows how to multitask. He is also fiercely independent and, until this past year, rebuffed any offers from groups to bring the Valli brand into a luxury fold.
But last year Valli teamed up with François Pinault and signed an agreement with Artémis, the French holding company of the Pinault family, which acquired a minority stake in the house. This means that the Valli brand is currently in the throes of some major expansion, as the designer plots out the future of his namesake label.
One other thing you need to know about Valli, he loves beauty. He surrounds himself with it, hunts it out wherever he goes and uses it as a benchmark for everything he does. So it shouldn’t be surprising that instead of doing our interview in a sterile office setting he invited me to tea at his hotel, where - sitting by a pool and overlooking a glorious vista - we talked about his past, present the exciting future he sees for his house.
Tamu McPherson is lovely inside and out. In the world of fashion, she is known as much for her joyful, friendly and outgoing nature as she is for her exquisite taste in clothing and her talent as a photographer.
The Jamaica born, digital talent, is the woman behind the website All the Pretty Birds, and first got noticed back in 2006 when she was a budding street style photographer, who had left her job as a lawyer for a Hedge fund in New York and moved to Milan. While she was photographing all of the stylish guests attending the fashion shows her fellow photographers turned the camera on Tamu because, well she just naturally oozes from every pore of her body a modern chic style that most women would kill for.
Over the years Tamu has come out from behind the camera more and more. Staring in photos shoots for a number of fashion magazines, acting as a host for industry events, collaborating with brands and contributing to publications and websites like Glamour, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Refinery 29 all the while charming her over 200 thousand Instagram followers with her IG stories and images. Tamu is an open book to her fans, she invites everyone to watch her take a dance class, prepare a healthy breakfast for her son and travel vicariously with her to some of fashion’s most glamourous events.
All of which is to say, trying to pin Tamu down for an interview is a tall order. For this podcast we ended up setting up the mic in the back seat of her town car and chatted while we waited for our next fashion show to start. And, fair warning, Tamu was a bit under the weather, but she was such a good sport and soldiered on, giving me a wonderful interview between her bouts of coughing.
But that’s Tamu for you. She will do anything for a friend. And in the world of fashion everyone is her bestie.
If there is one person more dedicated to fashion coverage than me, it might just be photographer Phil Oh (AKA Mr. Street Peeper) who is a fixture outside pretty much every fashion show under the sun. He is there (alongside Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman) rain or shine, morning or night, fall, winter, spring or summer. You can’t miss him with his long black hair, dark rimmed, slightly geeky glasses and one colorful, eye catching outfit after another.
Also eye catching are the photos he captures on the concrete catwalk. Phil has a tendency to snap his subject in action, on the go and in a hurry. Less posed than the work of most of his colleagues, his photos harken back to the oeuvre of the great Bill Cunningham – the grandfather or godfather (depending on who you ask) of street style photography.
On a personal level what makes Phil such a fun person to hang out with during the shows, besides the fact that he barley ever sleeps so he is always reachable, is that he has no filter. He says what he thinks and doesn’t care who hears it. Phil is a true free spirt, with a fantastic sense of personal style and a brilliant eye for capturing fashion moments as they happen with unforgettable images that will mark generations of fashion lovers as visual signposts of how the world dressed up for life.
I am particular proud of this podcast because, if you look online to learn about Phil, well there is not a lot out there, he is not a big fan of self-promotion. But even so, I hope with this interview you will be able to discover for yourself why he is such a worthwhile member of our global fashion family.
You know that classic line…about looking up a word in the dictionary and you would find a photo of a particular person there, as an embodiment of said word? Well, in the case of Ines de la Fressange if you looked up the words Parisian chic in the dictionary you might actually find a photo of her there. She is so linked to this idea that she even wrote a worldwide best selling book on the subject, which of course was called Parisian Chic. It has already produced a few equally clever and easy to read offspring.
But calling Ines an author is to limit her. She is so very many things. A global brand ambassador for the French luxury accessories company Roger Vivier. She has a store in Paris that bears her name that is filled with all of her favorite things, which she has hunted out on her travels around the world. But also pieces that are oh so French that they make for some great keepsakes and gifts for tourists looking to capture the je ne sais quoi French Style for themselves. She also is behind highly successful clothing collaborations with Uniqlo and Aigle. And she even has a capsule line of Citroen DS3 cars named after her that featured a few of her favorite things and colors.
Ines, who is a slender 5 foot 11 and 60 years old, is also a world class model. A muse for many years of Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel as well as Jean Paul Gaultier, she just recently walked in both their shows. She is also the mother to two amazing girls, runs her own eponymous company and has a fantastic blog called Lalettredines where she writes about all of her latest discovers that span the whole chic lifestyle spectrum.
Basically Ines is one of those women you end up having a girl crush on…while you endlessly wonder…how does she do it all. In our chat she lets me in on a few of her tricks to having it all..and doing it in style.
Eugenia de la Torriente is the incredibly articulate and fashion savvy editor in chief of Vogue Spain and is considered to be one of the most respected fashion voices in Spain. Before she got her current gig at Vogue last year, she was editor-in-chief of the Spanish edition of Harper’s Bazaar, as well as fashion editor of El Pais, and editor of El Pais Semanal. Eugenia has also worked as a professor, regular speaking at leading luxury and fashion conferences and has published several books on fashion.
She arrives at Vogue Spain at a pretty important time in the history of the magazine. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Spain edition of the internationally respected publication. It is also a time when Spanish designers, like Johnny Coca, Palomo Spain and Ana Locking, are generating some serious international buzz.
In this podcast she talks about how Vogue Spain is supporting these budding designers, the challenges they face and what advice she would give any young brand starting out that is looking to make a name for itself in the saturated fashion market. Her answers are insightful and informative and the takeaways she offers up in this podcast can be applied to designers around the globe.
In the world of fashion editor in chiefs….Eugenia is one to watch.
IKEA is a brand that is no stranger to collaborations. It’s a company that loves to elevate everyday item to artwork, while still making those designer home designs something accessible even for the first time home owner, young adult or student setting out on their own.
Spearheading the company’s latest collaboration is Henrik Most, who is the Creative Lead at Ikea. Most is the one who is working hand-in-hand with white hot designer Virgil Abloh, who just presented his first collection as the menswear designer of Louis Vuitton, on a line of cobranded Ikea items.
I interviewed Most at the Fashion Tech Forum conference in Los Angeles right after he finished a round table talk with Abloh. At the conference they discussed what the home items they are creating together, which will drop early next year, would look like.
Called The Markerad collection, the designs are all about elevating the anonymous, everyday pieces that we use without noticing and giving them a subtle pop-art inspired twist. Iconic staple and functional items have been injected with a modern designer polish that makes the familiar feel fresh and new.
The perfect example of this thinking is the standard white Ikea rug that Abloh re-envisioned. In a very meta move the designer transformed the white rug into an oh-so-familiar white Ikea receipt (bar code et all) that actually showed printed on the rug the price of the rug itself.
But instead of me trying to explain what it is like to work with Abloh on a creative collaboration, I am going to turn it over to Most to tell you more about this exciting adventure in interior designs.
Marcelo Burlon a fashion designer somehow seems so limiting. This is a man who doesn’t shy away from a challenge and, more importantly, whatever project he is working on he comes at it with such a sense of positivity, playfulness and joy that it’s no surprise that he has been so successful.
Today Marcelo is perhaps most famous for being the mastermind behind the Marcelo Burlon: County of Milan brand. A company that he started in 2012 as just a cool t-shirts label inspired by his native Patagonia, that garnered a cult following for its 180 euro a pop designs, has now grown into a global business. A brand that today counts a 40 million euros per year turn over and is sold in more that 400 stores worldwide. It’s a company powered by bold streetwear culture and Marcelo’s keen ability to spot what’s hot before the rest of the industry has even begun to feel the heat.
It’s a skill that this autodidact designer has put to good use in other areas as well. For example, organizing events for top brands like Gucci, McQueen or Raf Simons, shaping the mood at parties with his renowned DJing skills or use his talent for embracing innovative avenues of communication when working the PR angle for brands like Nike, Coca Cola, Prada or Versace.
A practicing Buddhist, and moved with his family to Italy when he was a teenager to work in a shoe factory and cleaned hotels with his mother to help make ends meet, Marcelo does not take his success for granted and is keen to support others to reach their dreams. He has invested in Virgil Abloh’s brand Off White, Palm Angel and Ben Taverniti Unravel Project via The New Guard Group that he co-founded in 2015 and now counts over 170 employees. Together these brands are creating a sartorial paradigm shift in the industry.
There is no doubt that Marcelo’s impact on fashion is reaching far beyond clothing.
Stephanie Phair, the chief strategy officer at luxury online marketplace Farfetch, has been in the news lately because she was just appointed as the new Chair of the British Fashion Council, succeeding Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet, who stepped down in December 2017 after five years in the role. Stephanie will basically be overseeing core events that the BFC puts on, most notably London Fashion Week and The Fashion Awards, while at the same time still doing her day job as CSO at Farfetch.
The Chairmanship of the BFC is a seriously big side hustle, but I have no double that Stephanie is up to the task. Bacially because when we spoke at the Fashion Tech Forum in Los Angeles Stephanie was so fired up about all the new projects she was working on for Farfetch and jazzed about the future of online and offline shopping in the luxury sector.
I mean just to give you some perspective, Farfetch has raised over $700 million in funding and has partnered with JD.com in China and Chalhoub in the Middle East. Two major deals that are part of a global expansion ahead of an expected initial public offering later this year that could value the company at greater than $5 billion, according to some reports.
Stephanie is in the fashion pole position right now and is clearly going full throttle into the future.
I was lucky enough to be a moderator of a panel that Adam Pritzker, the Chairman and CEO, Assembled Brands, was on at the famed Fashion Tech Forum conference that took place in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by the renowned Karen Harvey, who founded the Karen Harvey Consulting Group and is known for her ability to make high level connections between fashion and tech companies around the globe.
It made sense that Pritzker would be speaking at Karen’s conference. He co-founded and raised millions for his tech-education platform General Assembly, which – among other things became known for its great coding bootcamps and got him on Forbes 30 Under 30 list when he was 28. Then in 2013 he launched Assembled Brands, which is a next generation holding company of niche fashion and lifestyle brands like The Line, Khaite, Pop & Suki, Protagonist and Margaux.
Pritzker, who it is worth pointing out is the scion of the Hyatt Hotels family, dove into the world of fashion because he saw an opening that needed filling in the circle of life of modern day fashion brands. He wants Assembled Brands to be the place where this growing number of targeted smaller fashion labels can come and build their business thanks to the infrastructure and support his company will be able to provide them. Thus leaving the creative entrepreneurs who start these labels room to focus their energy on building their unique product. When we spoke about it at the conference he compared the concept behind Assembled Brands to Y Combinator, a respected accelerator for nascent tech startups.
We spoke about all of this in the somewhat noisy backstage green room right after we had finished our Fashion Tech Forum’s round table talk in a quick and precise interview that proves Pritzker has a clear vision of the future of fashion, where creativity is supported and elevated by lifting the burden of the business side of the industry off the shoulders of talented designers.
Once you have finished this podcast you might just want to get in touch with Pritzker about becoming part of the Assembled Brands family yourself.
Let me tell you a bit about Ms. Paula Cademartori. The first thing you notice about Paula is her smile. It is always there...from ear to ear…honestly she is one of the most positive, up beat people you are likely to meet working in fashion. And her colorful headquarters in Milan, where we did this podcast interview, beautifully reflects her personality. As do her vibrant shoes and her eye catching bags, with their very distinctive clasp.
Paula originally moved to Italy from Brazil (where she earned a degree in industrial design,) back in 2005 when she was just 21 years old. She wanted to both reconnect with her family’s native country and study Accessories Design at the Istituto Marangoni.
By 2009 Paula was spotted by Italian Vogue and competed in the magazine’s Vogue Talents award. That recognition motivated Paula to launch her signature accessories brand in 2010, which right away stood out for its great design, colorful pattered leather combos and the instantly iconic metal buckle clasp she had designed after being inspired by the symbol for Pi. And I can tell you from first hand experience that once Paula’s bag line was launched…every fashion it-girl on the planet was clamoring to get there hands on one.
But as the company grew, to include a line of shoes as well as small leather goods, Paula always made every client feel special. She was, and is, famous for sending hand written notes to her customers in the mail. And by 2016, it came as no surprise that the Fashion Group Only The Brave, which is run by the charismatic Renzo Rosso, would come knocking on Paula’s door and would end up acquiring a majority stake in her company. A move that has given her start up accessories company the support it needed to super charge its global expansion.
Paula now finds herself in the pole position to become a world wide household name in the luxury accessories market. And who knows, maybe one day in the not too distance future, fashionable women will be able to wear Cademartori designs from head to toe.
Fausto Puglisi is a designer who embraces life with both hands. Born in Sicily he is one of fashion’s big personalities. Everything he does he does with 100% passion and creative fire. From his visceral and vibrate fashion shows to his friendships- Fausto is a man who clams the center stage with an open heart and a desire to inspire the women he dresses and the fashion world at large.
Fausto career started auspiciously…working with the famed stylist Patti Wilson in New York before he headed West and in LA he wooed big names like Jennifer Lopez and Whitney Houston with his sexy an ornate that had an Italian swagger that was undeniable. So it comes as no surprise that designers Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana spotted him and added his creations in their concept store in Milan and Stylist Anna Dello Russo became one of his biggest ambassadors and muses wearing his creations often in front of the street style photographers who documented her every move.
Fausto’s clothing often references his southern Italian heritage, and there are religious references as well as some biker bravado usually built in – pieces that Madonna proved to be a big fan of.
But when we spoke in his Italian showroom, where you can almost hear his Italian hand gestures and you do hear him pound the table where the mic was sitting when he was making a point. He had just presented one of his most reserved and reflective shows in the history of his signature brand…inspired Carolyn Bessette Kennedy –an icon of minimalistic dressing. The collection was mostly in shades of white and black with lace being the embellishment of choice. It marked a new direction for the designer…that was well received by the press.
I’ll be honest what I love most about Fausto is that he is such a creative raw nerve. He always speaks from the heart, feels things deeply. Sometimes that can get him into trouble but I think for Fausto…that might just be part of the fun of it all.
Late last year I was honored to be asked by Karen Harvey, CEO of Karen Harvey Consulting Group and founder of Fashion Tech Forum to participate in the latest Fashion Tech Forum conference in Los Angeles. And besides speaking on the center stage of the forum I had the all access privilege to interview some of the key speakers at the event.
So backstage, between presentations, round-table talks and motivational speeches I got to pick the brains of some of the leading minds in the fashion and tech industry. The first chat from this series of interviews that I want to share with you is with Jeff Carvalho. He is the managing editor of one of the coolest, street savvy and innovative fashion websites online today – Highsnobiety, which counts a global audience of 12.5 million monthly readers.
Jeff is also a partner at Titelmedia, which owns Highsnobiety. He joined in 2007 when the company’s founder and CEO David Fischer brought him on board not only to oversee the website but also develop other print and online content and brand partnerships. The company has worked with some of the hottest brands of today- from Louis Vuitton and Nike to Mercedes-Benz and Levi’s.
Jeff is considered to be an expert in the street wear culture and is often asked to comment by the New York Times and The Business of Fashion on this growing market and its influence on fashion and luxury on a broader scale. And I have to tell you I understand why those publications want to hear from Jeff.
We spoke right after he had interviewed designer Virgil Abloh and Henrik Most, Creative Lead at Ikea about the Ikea and Off White collaboration that will soon debut.
In rapid fire, well thought out answers to my questions Jeff proved himself to be a skilled speaker, who wasn’t distracted in the slightest by the background noise at the venue or the fact that Virgil, Will.i.am and Joe Zee were milling about.
I basically just sat back and let him loose to explain the success of his site, explore the idea of jet stream influencers and discuss how the way we use and consumer products and news is continuing to evolve.
So hold onto your seat and get ready for a ride into the future.
If you are a woman working in fashion today might I suggest Ruth Chapman, the co-founder of Matchesfashion.com, as a role model. Not only did she build up her fashion empire with her husband Tom from scratch, with a single brick and mortar store in Wimbledon, in southwest London, 30 years ago, she turned it into one of the leading independent luxury e-commerce players in the industry.
Under her guiding hand Matches Fashion.com became known for its nurturing and dedicated support of young designers, with a healthy dose of national pride in highlighting home grown British brands… as well as a highly curated and clever selection of some of the most influential international luxury labels from around the globe. A selection that directly reflected the desires of a clientele that is also very international and endlessly looking for new discoveries and high quality designs.
All of which is very admirable indeed, but what is perhaps just as indicative of who Ruth is…. is the warm and family like working environment she fostered within the company over those three decades. Which saw more than a few staffers starting out as interns and moving up through the ranks of the company as it grew into a global player.
In 2017, the company released its financial results for the first time, revealing a 61 percent year-on-year growth and full-year revenues for 2016 at an impressive £204 million pounds. Also last year Ruth and her husband decided it was time for new challenges and they sold their majority stake in the company to private equity firm Apax. Although the exact amount they sold the company has not been disclosed the rumor on the street is that it was in the region of 800 million pounds.
I spoke with Ruth while she was in Paris attending a few fashion shows during the latest ready to wear collections. We talked about what it was like to leave a good job to follow a dream, how building a great team is the best way to be successful and what she wants to do with the next act of her life.
After our chat I felt like Ruth was living proof that women really can have it all, and look absolutely amazing doing it.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the governing body of Italian fashion. During that time the industry has gone through quite a lot of changes, but arguably no more so than in the last decade. Fashion shows have become far more than just an industry affair attracting editors and journalists, but a consumer-facing event that are powered by social networks and digital technology, which has helped democratize the industry. There has also been a growing self-awareness within the industry about its impact on the environment leading to the rise of more sustainable fashion. The blurring of sartorial gender lines and brands grouping their menswear and womenswear shows together have changed the landscape even further. All of this has transformed the way the world interacts with fashion.
Helping The Camera, as insiders like to call it, weather these profound changes is its president Carlo Capasa. Appointed in April 2015, Capasa has, in the space less than three years jumpstarted to the way The Camera operates. Dusting off the institution and putting into overdrive new initiatives designed to build a global engagement with Milan as a fashion capital.
His strategy has been to focus on three key areas:
Promotion and supporting emerging Italian design talent with initiatives like MILANO MODA GRADUATE, which highlights the best young talents coming out of the most prestigious Italian fashion schools.
The Green Carpet Awards, designed to underline the importance and wide reaching potential of sustainable fashion.
And he introduced a new Digital strategy that saw The Camera’s website get a facelift, its social media platforms also became a priority and a powerful tool for promoting Italian fashion online. The Camera’s Instagram feed alone now counts more than 150 thousand followers.
Capasa, who has a love of black perfecto biker jackets, has been a fixture on the Italian fashion scene for years, having spent the bulk of his career as the chief executive and co-creator of Costume National, a brand he founded with his brother — and the company’s designer — Ennio Capasa in 1986, until the brothers announced their resignation in March 2016. But here he talks about his plans for the future of The Camera in a fashion world that is more fluid, flexible and forward thinking than ever.
There are some people who work in fashion that you could just listen to for hours. Their knowledge about the industry, both institutional and anecdotal make them treasured sources of information and education. And if there is one person working in fashion today who does this, pretty much better than anyone else its Stephen Jones.
Stephen has been a milliner for 40 years and during that time he has become the go to hat maker for…well…just about everyone. From fashion designers and celebrities to rockstars and royalty, Stephen has created the finishing touch for thousands and thousands of outfits. Clients include everyone from Boy George, Mick Jagger and Madonna, to Beyoncé, Victoria Beckham and Rihanna. Not to mention all the royals who have donned one of his designs including Diana, Princess of Wales.
But it is via his numerous collaboration with fashion designers that Stephen has been able to let his creative imagination really run wild. The hats he crafted for John Galliano during his Dior years, the headgear he has created for Thom Browne and headpieces he has concocted for Rei Kawakubo to complete her Comme des Garçons collections are the stuff of legends. They are often gravity defying designs that are objet d’art in their own right.
Stephen’s talents have been recognized by Her Royal Highness, Queen Elisabeth II. She bestowed on him an OBE for his services to fashion, and his work has been the subject of fashion exhibitions around the world.
But as extraordinary as all his hats are, Stephen himself has a very distinctive look. Yes he is always dapperly dressed, but it’s his balled head, which he started shaving back in the 1980s, that makes him instantly recognizable in a fashion crowd. Stephen decided to make this dramatic choice when he discovered that his head was the perfect stock size, which instantly made it easy to test out all of his hats…on himself.
Getting to chat with Stephen about his life’s work as a milliner was such a treat for me. And I know you will be tipping your hat to him too by the end of this podcast.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Angela Missoni’s reign at the head of the family owned Missoni house. During those two decades she has proven over and over again that there is always room for creativity, even within the confines of a house that has such an iconic DNA. In the case of Missoni, the brand’s hallmark colorful knitwear, in zigzag shades, has been the upbeat foundation for countless collection. Each one a master class in color blending, knitwear innovation and feel good fashion. Speaking from first hand experience, having attended pretty much every single show that Angela Missoni has done over the past two decades, I can attest to the fact that she has been incredibly agile and adept at adapting the signature style of the house to the ever evolving fashion tastes. But what I appreciate even more is how this matriarchal house, founded by Angela’s mother and father Rosita and Ottavio, has flourished in her hands and how her own children have also joined the family company. Bringing with them the knowledge of a third generation that are digital natives and are helping bring the brand’s message to crop of consumers. Angela has also become something of an activist and has focused her energies on finding ways, including her own Missoni take on the Pussy Hat revolution, to empower women. Something that in today’s climate, is resonating even more profoundly than ever. I spoke with Angela at the Missoni headquarters in Milan as she was in full swing of preparing her commemorative 20th anniversary show. It was a time for reflection for the designer, where she took stalk of everything she has accomplished so far. But also a moment for making plans and getting clear about what she wants to do next.
Belgian designer Cédric Charlier is about to celebrate two milestones in his life, the 5th anniversary of his brand and his 40th birthday. Both dates have kind of snuck up on him. This is because he is a designer who is so incredibly focused on the work.
In fact, this has always been the case with Cedric, who studied at the famous La Cambre fashion school in Belgium and worked on the design teams at Celine during the reign of Michael Kors and perfected his craft alongside Alber Elbaz during his Lanvin years. From there he became the artistic director of Cacharel before the Italian fashion giant Aeffe came knocking at his door making him the dream offer to back the launch of his own signature brand.
Since then Cedric has built up a name for himself not only for his beautifully cut garments in attractive graphic designs that made real world clothing look and feel special, but also the way in which he approaches the fashion system itself. He presents his menswear and womenswear together, and has made the conscious decision to only product two collections a year…instead of the endless slog of pre-collections, runway collections, capsule, cruise or resort collections that have filled up every waking hour of most modern designers’ lives.
Instead he takes the time to be inspired, find interesting partnerships to build creative collaborations with, like his new t-shirt collaboration with Fruit of the Loom, and his choice shows his clothing in a presentation format so that buyers and journalists can have an up close and personal interaction with his work all underline that Cedric has his own elegantly understated approach to the business of fashion.
I caught up with Cedric as his favorite French bistro to talk about his career, the choices he has made and why being a fashion designer might not be a lifelong pursuit.
Designer Julie de Libran has breathed new life into the iconic French fashion house Sonia Rykiel since she became the creative director of the brand in 2014. Her ability to reinterpret the codes of the label for a new generation of empowered women has made her one of the few designers who is able to honor a house's past while blazing a bright path into the future. During this interview, Julie opens up about a childhood split between France and California, what she learned from working with designers like Gianni Versace, Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada, before joining Rykiel and what her goals are for the house.
Leaf Greener is a fashion force of nature.
To the ill-informed she might be seen as just another concrete catwalk celeb with a bright smile and bubbly personality who looks great in her eye catching outfits. But Leaf is so much more than this.
After a six years as the senior fashion editor of Elle China She launched her digital magazine " LEAF", which she publishes on the leading Chinese platform WeChat. A move that helped transform her into one of China’s most influential independent fashion editors.
She is endlessly being courted to consultant leading western luxury houses on how to work in China and has made a business out of educating her compatriots on the art of fashion while she continues to fight for more creative freedom in her home country.
But what I like most about Leaf is how unabashedly frank she is. She speaks from the heart and says what she thinks…damn the consequences…which is a rare and refreshing thing in our industry.
So get ready to experience a real fashion treat as, between puffs on her cigarette in her hotel room, Leaf lays down the law about what is working and not working in this industry that we both love.
Joanne Palmaro is a budding actress of Italian and German descent who looks like a modern day boho version of Peggy Lipton with just a soupçon of Bridget Bardot. This twenty-something is in the ingénue phase of her career having had just a few acting roles under her belt in some short French films like "Errance" and the TV mini series "Addict". And she has been featured in short films for brands like Miu Miu, Armani, Jour/ne and H&M.
But like any good contemporary feminist she is taking her future into her own hands. She has already written a short film called “Fille Dentaire” in which she stars and co-directs. And she has also started working on a new script for a full length film, where again she plans on playing the protagonist.
We sat down to talk about her career, how fashion effects what she does and the impact her grandmother had on Joanne’s choice to become an actress.
Marie Cabirou is the talented woman behind the fledgling French fine jewelry house Marie Mas. She has the pedigree and the skills to become a leader in luxury jewelry design. Cabirou studied at the prestigious École Duperré and the IFM (French Fashion Institute) in Paris. And you probably already love her work, if you took a shine to the artistic and asymmetrical jewelry that was a hallmark feature of the Dior shows during the reign of Raf Simons at the house.
On the eve of the 85th anniversary of Lacoste, the company's creative director, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, talks about the special place Lacoste has within the fashion world, Novak Djokovic, the brand's new ambassador, and why he decided to close his signature label to focus all his energy on the renowned French house.
Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain, talks about his new collaboration designing costumes for the Paris Opera house, the debut of his make-up line with L'Oreal, his childhood, his friendship with Kim Kardashian and where he wants to take the Balmain brand.