Episodios

  • The Marni Evolution: Francesco Risso's Story

    The Marni Evolution: Francesco Risso's Story
    Jul 29 2024
    Italian fashion designer Francesco Risso is renowned for his offbeat, innovative approach to contemporary clothing. He learned how to cut and sew from the age of eight with any fabric he could find, going on to study fashion at Florence’s Polimoda, New York’s FIT, and London’s Central Saint Martins. As creative director at Marni since 2016, Risso gained prominence by infusing the brand with vibrant colors, eclectic patterns, and playful aesthetics. His charming exuberance and unique ability to blend craft with modernity sets him apart and captivates audiences worldwide. What he sees as contemporary now is simple and uncontrolled by trends and a fast-paced industry: food and sex. Episode Highlights: Risso’s early years were spent not talking in a hectic and blended family home in Genoa, where he communicated by making things with his hands. At 8 or 9 years old, he began making clothes, scavenging clothes from his grandmother’s closet to cut and sew. Studying the classics and art, Risso “escaped” from his loud family by moving to Florence, knowing he would make clothes. He found in the dance, clubbing, and rave scenes a way to escape from the constrictive traditional forces in Italy at the time when he considered himself goth and an outsider. “Provocative, and visceral, and obsessive.”: Risso talks about how he accepts a darker side of his outlook as a complement to his lighter and romantic side. He notes one of his mentors, Louise Wilson at Central Saint Martins, taught him to base a world around a garment without using typical fashion references. Risso read a Virginia Woolf piece in which she invites her friends to the countryside and tells them not to bring clothes, as to leave behind a kind of social structure, and this inspired him to lose reference points. On the secret of merging creative freedom with commercial success, Risso champions trust, pleasure, and courage,and living in the moment rather than for the final product. Marni Jam is one example of interdisciplinary creativity that Risso works into the brand, expanding music into fashion. To Risso, what’s contemporary now is “sex and food”—two exchanges he finds beautiful in that they build community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    32 m
  • Pierre Rougier on Vision, Trends, and Challenging the Algorithm

    Pierre Rougier on Vision, Trends, and Challenging the Algorithm
    Jul 22 2024
    Pierre Rougier, a distinguished fashion publicist and founder of PR Consulting, boasts a career spanning several decades. After studying political science in Bordeaux, Rougier honed his skills in Paris and London with Hermès, Yohji Yamamoto, and Maison Margiela before making his mark in New York in 1993. There, he directed communications while representing icons like Helmut Lang and Alexander McQueen. Establishing PR Consulting in1997, he catapulted emerging talents like Narciso Rodriguez and Nicolas Ghesquiere, then at Balenciaga, to prominence, also fostering brands like Proenza Schouler and Hood By Air. Renowned for discovering and championing young designers, Rougier continues to hold the opinion that a strong vision and sometimes counter-trending codes are often the precursors to a designer’s success. Episode Highlights: Rougier grew up far from the front of culture, and though his interests in fashion were indirect at first until he moved to Bordeaux—a larger city—to study. He started his work in fashion boxing Hermes products before moving to London, still employed at Hermes, learning English and partaking in ’80s gay club culture there. Yohji Yamamoto employed Rougier to work a PR position, giving him his first taste of serious work and long hours associated with the industry. Using his London connections, he opened his own PR firm as the Antwerp Six were coming into the spotlight, and worked under Martin Margiela for four years, until he felt that his aesthetic and vision were too overwhelmingly connected to that one house. Moving to New York, Rougier worked as communications director for a company that held brands like Vivienne Westwood, Helmut Lang, and Michael Kors. Rougier speaks on learning that the antithesis of what's trending is always on the precipice of an arrival. He says the conversations in fashion are less now about what designers like and more about what designers find that works, and is successful. Before the internet, there were few photos of shows and most people waited to see items in stores to determine the zeitgeist; now, Rougier says, the urgency of marketing makes everything “extremely transactional.” He says it’s fair to say that in fashion, elitism has trended out with a shift to exclusive community identities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    26 m
  • The Evolution of Media: Insights from Willa Bennett

    The Evolution of Media: Insights from Willa Bennett
    Jul 15 2024
    Willa Bennett, a trailblazing force in media, is the editor-in-chief of Highsnobiety, steering the publication to new heights of innovation and influence. A Forbes 30 Under 30 luminary, her journey began at Seventeen, pioneering its queer vertical before igniting social strategies at GQ, and championing diversity as Condé Nast's global co-chair. The American Society of Magazine Editors recognized her for social media excellence and video programming, and her leadership at Highsnobiety garnered recognition in the Digiday and Muse Awards. Highlighting the importance of authentic narratives in connecting with young audiences, what she sees as contemporary now is pushing the boundaries and shaping the future of media—even if that means tuning out the background noise and tapping into real community. Episode Highlights: Bennett grew up in LA, balancing two passions: masculine menswear magazines and hyper-feminine ballet practice. Talking about her early passion for vintage finds and retro styles, Bennett says experimenting with styling became another medium for her, “like writing.” She grew up reading publications like Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Nylon, and Dazed—publications she says understood young consumers and which she still keeps a few print copies. Bennett moved up through various roles in the industry at a time when social media marketing was in its more raw, early stage. Her role at Highsnobiety gives her creative freedom in that it moves with the youth culture and its fast-paced, creative, adaptive, and reactive workplace environment. Bennett is ahead of the curve, balancing personal perspective with editorial consideration and curation. Her team at Highsnobiety pushes a particular and intentional editorial vision, championing designers and talent that they want to carve out a space for. Some of Bennett’s favorite cover stars have been Billie Eilish, Andre 3000, and Pamela Anderson, though she felt strongly about the Dries Van Noten cover. Bennett has spoken about forming real connections as a priority over solely professional relationships, despite how “transactional” the industry can be. Under Bennett’s eye, Highsnobiety’s niche is to move in tandem with the zeitgeist instead of against it, never telling readers what to do or who to wear. Bennett considers real-life events crucial to foundational community building, saying, “that to me is a way bigger metric of success than like any influencer with 16 million followers posting one slide that everyone’s going to skip over anyway.” She’s published poetry collections benefitting The Audre Lorde Project for queer youth. For Bennett, deleting social media is what’s contemporary now, surprisingly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    37 m
  • Driven by Curiosity: Erik Torstensson on Brand Building

    Driven by Curiosity: Erik Torstensson on Brand Building
    Jul 8 2024
    FRAME cofounder and chief creative director, Erik Torstensson, is a pioneering figure in the fashion industry. He created Mr. Porter, co-founded and led creative agencies Saturday Group and Wednesday Agency, and co-founded and helmed Industrie magazine. With a keen eye for branding and digital strategy, Torstensson has successfully deployed unique marketing and communication approaches across his roles. He’s driven FRAME's global reach through culture-catching campaigns and collaborations, often fronted by top talents like Gisele Bündchen, Karlie Kloss, and Amelia Gray. As an outside-of-the-box thinker, he shares insights into conscious design, digital strategy, brand partnerships, and his recent obsession with AI. Consistently setting new standards for what’s contemporary, Torstensson advocates for curiosity, naivety, and the restless courage that comes from using an outsider's perspective to his advantage. Episode Highlights: Growing up as an only child on a farm in the Swedish countryside, Torstensson remarks on the importance of boredom to his creative development and the necessity of simply finding something to do. Slow-paced life didn’t suit him. He began to enjoy traveling, dancing, and skateboarding, which held both collaborative and independent creative potential. After working at interiors magazine Wallpaper, Torstensson helped launch Industrie and Man About Town magazines—the former had cover stars like Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful, and Naomi Campbell. Outside of quantitative efforts in brand identity, ad campaigns, and editorial work, Torstensson says, “It’s not really about you. It’s about who you work with, who you surround yourself with.” FRAME was a community-led “passion project” stemming from Industrie. It was built not necessarily on denim but on the idea of perfecting any single product with a particular aesthetic in mind, in this case, “the FRAME woman.” Working on a budget to produce and market FRAME’s aesthetic has led Torstensson to think out of the box. Torstensson discusses a brand’s life cycle and its different versions, from starting out as a hot newcomer to becoming more organized and productive to later cutting through the media landscape with more sensational marketing. On the level of scale and production, AI gave Torstensson a great new tool he likens to Photoshop, making him quicker and more effective. Having a strong team, a partnership with Jens Grede, and the luxury of slowing down have gone hand in hand with an increase in confidence in his work over the years. He foregrounds the importance of knowing your strengths and leaning into them, going with your personal passions—“Just do it.” Torstensson recommends reevaluating what’s contemporary and what will last every five years or so, not being afraid, and learning to evolve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    36 m
  • Breaking the Mold: Throwing Fits on Independence, Influence, and Irreverence

    Breaking the Mold: Throwing Fits on Independence, Influence, and Irreverence
    Jul 1 2024
    James Harris and Lawrence Schlossman, hosts of the podcast Throwing Fits, are influential figures in menswear with decades of fashion and media experience. Hailing from New Jersey and Manhattan, respectively, Schlossman and Harris lend their understanding of men’s fashion to those in the know, with their podcast featuring guests discussing current fashion trends and personal style. As makers, they’ve begun designing sought-after garments like mesh shorts and cut-and-sew overshirts. Well-known for their chemistry, they describe themselves as yin and yang, with Harris joking and Schlossman sharing insights. Their personal styles reflect their expertise and passions—a sexy Scandinavian look for Harris and a unique take on heritage brands for Schlossman. They both value quality and investing in well-made items, and prioritize organic experiences, exploration, curiosity, and discoverability. Episode Highlights: Schlossman and Harris’s origin story of work and personal partnership was born of necessity and involved building a social calendar around whatever was available to them. They worked together at Complex, “failing upwards,” with a fashion video show that took off based on their dynamic before moving on to more strategic and brand partnerships roles. As they moved up the ladder, both felt creatively constricted by red tape and constrained by creating content that catered to advertising dollars. Schlossman and Harris started their podcast in January 2020 with a sense of having zero stakes—and they say this mentality is what paid off. Retaining their independence is important to them in a clinical media landscape; it keeps their listeners interested in their irreverence voice. Now that they make their own designs and collaborate with their favorite brands, such as Our Legacy, Schlossman and Harris contrast their well-made designs with “guys who get dressed for the internet.” Their audience is “incredibly enthusiastic and incredibly savvy and smart,” Harris says, and respects their underdog style and pursuits. They cite a robust list of favorite brands, like Eckhaus Latta, Connor McKnight, Angelo Urrutia, Stoffa, Sunflower, and Our Legacy as references and masterful brands of the moment. When asked what’s contemporary now, Harris offers “the fragmentation” and “the challenge of how people can eventually find their people,” while Schlossman says “motivation and doing things because they actually make you feel good,” which is inherent to his interest in dressing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    42 m
  • Robin Givhan: Bridging Fashion Criticism and Cultural Commentary

    Robin Givhan: Bridging Fashion Criticism and Cultural Commentary
    Jun 24 2024
    Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Robin Givhan renowned for her insightful fashion commentary, seamlessly integrates fashion into broader cultural discussions. She started as a writer on the Detroit techno scene beat before making her way into fashion journalism. Emphasizing the importance of being a generalist, Givhan talks To Christopher Michael about her early experiences in fashion and how they continue to shape her trajectory and approach today. She speaks of political representation and fashion’s crucial ties to identity, underscoring the need in today’s landscape for a higher standard of reporting in fashion journalism. By exploring the intersection of politics and fashion and the balance between storytelling and crafting, Givhan reveals profound insight and a unique perspective as an influential voice in journalism. Episode Highlights: Talking about her childhood in Michigan, Givhan loved reading and writing and stumbled unintentionally into the fashion sector after writing about Detroit's techno scene. Covering menswear was "a very gentle entry point" into fashion and allowed her to focus on the details, quality, endurance, and longevity of garments. Describing her entry into womenswear as marked by gatekeepers—who were frankly mean—Givhan was stubbornly determined and interested in the fashion scene's character-driven nature rather than its more consumerist elements. Givhan is careful to distinguish between general interest reporting and the reviewing that is natural to "a fashion ecosystem." Givhan notes that she doesn't necessarily have a stake in what's happening, which makes her a good critic. There is a difference between social media influencers, who are engaging, and actual historians, who can give information to journalists, and critics, who can "connect the dots" for the public at large while being held to higher standards. The way people consume media is changing, though Givhan is optimistic that voracious readers will always exist. She sees significant progress in some political realms; the pendulum always swings, oscillates, and zigzags. Givhan outlines sociopolitical fashion as a tool for education, a kind of shorthand for identity, and a means of representation. Is fashion dependent on anchors or hooks from the culture at large? To Givhan, it's engaging enough to stand on its own, while fashion as an industry tends to rely on mainstream media for support. Givhan contrasts companies like Dries Van Noten and Versace, which remain inside the fashion realm, to labels that use celebrities to inspire growth. What's contemporary now is being comfortable in the gray spaces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 m
  • Style, Stoicism, Optimism: Daphne Guinness's Perspective

    Style, Stoicism, Optimism: Daphne Guinness's Perspective
    Jun 17 2024
    Daphne Guinness is a style icon and creative force. Heiress to the Guinness brewing dynasty, she transcends her lineage as a fashion muse, designer, and philanthropist. Renowned for her avant-garde fashion sense—and her extraordinary couture collection—Guinness seamlessly blends artistry and eccentricity, distinctly weaving past sartorial narratives into the contemporary. Her collaborations with designers like Alexander McQueen and Gareth Pugh have left an indelible mark on the fashion world. But beyond fashion, she is a musician, and writer with a flair for the dramatic and the unexpected. A self-described pessimistic optimist, Guinness is an enigmatic persona and a captivating perennial figure in both high society and artistic circles worldwide. Episode Highlights: Guinness says her formative years were a mixture of “art, stoicism, military thought, and surrealism.” She’s interested in philosophy and the Stoics and calls herself happy to be an outcast. As a child, she lived in a monastery in Spain with no other than Salvador Dali as a neighbor— “he put me up to make some of my best pranks as a child.” On the pre-1999 era of Daphne Guinness, she says she was never a society wife, only a mother, hermetic. Her friendship with magazine editor Isabella Blow, her relative “in spirit,” exposed her to things and people most people would only ever dream of or see in a film. Guinness’s otherworldly aura and fantastical upbringing seems perfectly normal from her perspective. She was mentored by David Bowie, who spotted her as a singer. She recently released “Hip Neck Spine,” which has a music video directed by the legendary Nick Knight. Philanthropic efforts are crucial to her; Guinness sponsors a CSM scholarship every year. She considers herself a pessimistic optimist, exhausted by putting her heart and soul into her art and music—she sees what’s contemporary as pessimism, but she’s “Team optimism.” She sees the beauty in human error and process, saying, “I like to do things the old-fashioned way.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    25 m
  • Katie Grand on Magazine-Making: “I like Observing Change”

    Katie Grand on Magazine-Making: “I like Observing Change”
    Jun 10 2024
    Editor-in-chief, stylist, and creative consultant Katie Grand is renowned for her relentless creativity and influential contributions to the fashion and print industries. Born in the UK, Grand’s visionary approach propelled her to the forefront of fashion journalism, where she served as the editor-in-chief of renowned publications, such as POP, Conde Nast’s biannual Love magazine,and most recently Perfect. Her collaborations and innate ability to spot emerging talent landed her roles as a creative consultant for major fashion houses and solidified her status as a tastemaker. Long at the forefront of what’s contemporary and experimental, today, she continues to shape the landscape of contemporary fashion with a perspective that often upends the industry’s cyclical norms. Episode Highlights: Grand is a marathon runner; she sees fitness and endurance as ways to expand her interests outside of fashion. She came into “nerdy” or “outsider” friendships in Birmingham, growing up ice skating and attending cultural events together; through this scene, she found out about publications like The Face and i-D. Her father brought her to London as a child to shop. What’s kept her on the pulse of the fashion world—from social media revenue to the evolution of print magazines—has been following her instincts and respecting when she finds herself feeling bored with something. Grand talks about balancing the support of working under a big corporation with a need to collaborate with people who share her lack of rigidity and need for freedom. She discusses the difference between magazines like Dazed, The Face, and i-D, biannuals, and monthlies, and working on different production timelines. Grand cites putting Beth Ditto on the cover of Love as something akin to putting Kendall Jenner on a Marc Jacobs runway, in that both changed the industry dramatically and immediately. Highly invested in social media engagement and quantitative measures of viewership, Grand notes that the evolution of print has been toward more and more careful renderings of the medium, down to the investment in paper quality. Speaking about future generations in fashion, Grand remarks that she’s optimistic about their opportunities given social media’s reach but cautious and concerned about the use of AI cutting artists out of their work. When asked what’s contemporary now, Grand says, “AI.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    35 m