The Business of Fashion Podcast

Tim Blanks and Imran Amed discuss the highlights of the Autumn/Winter 2023 collections, including Daniel Lee’s debut at Burberry, a transitional show at Gucci and Balenciaga’s first brand statement in the wake of the advertising scandal.Background:This season was a “restart” for the global fashion industry, says Imran Amed, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief. The Autumn/Winter 2023 collections felt like the first return to normal after the pandemic — especially as Chinese fashion professionals were finally able to return to runway shows following extended Covid-related lockdowns that limited their international travel. A number of fashion’s biggest brands used their shows as a way to start a new path. Burberry rolled out its first collection under its new creative director Daniel Lee, while Gucci unveiled its first collection since the departure of Alessandro Michele. At Balenciaga, Demna returned to a more subdued approach after the brand fell under intense criticism at the end of last year after it was accused of sexualising children in an ad campaign.But overall, fashion was still fixated on navigating all the uncertainty that prevails in the world, economic and otherwise. “If there’s one thing we learned over the last few years — it's that anything can happen,” says Amed. “Everyone was preparing for the unknown, the uncertain.”  Key Insights: Over the course of the season, designers, editors and enthusiasts were talking about how the purpose of fashion has evolved. “It wasn't just brands, it was individual designers who were processing what they're doing and what they need to do, because obviously the future looms very dark and very uncertain,” says Blanks.Gucci is in a transitional moment, with new creative director Sabato De Sarno’s vision for the brand still to be unveiled. The brand’s first post-Alessandro Michele show was all over the place, according to BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks. “It was chaos, but enjoyable chaos,” says Blanks. Daniel Lee put a strong emphasis on Britishness for his Burberry debut. Meanwhile, Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega Veneta show was a cohesive parade of clothes that doubled down on craft and storytelling, says Blanks. Diesel’s Glenn Martins is solidifying himself as a designer to watch with his work in today’s vernacular of denim and celebratory sexuality. “It's a mark of genius, what he manages to do with things that are really familiar — that alchemy of fashion,” says Blanks. Martins put a mountain of 200,000 condoms at the middle of his runway. In his first collection since the brand came under fire for its controversial advertisements, Demna — known for his ironic stunts — focused on the clothes, a nod to the label’s founder Cristóbal Balenciaga. Additional Resources:Top 10 Shows of the Season: BoF’s editors pick the top ten shows of the Autumn/Winter 2023 season.At Paris Fashion Week, Less Was More: In an age of clickbait fashion, it was acts of reduction that, paradoxically, stood out most, reports Angelo Flaccavento.Want more from BoF? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the latest episode of The BoF Podcast, Coty CEO Sue Y. Nabi shares how embracing identity in the workplace can lead to better business outcomes.Background:As one of the industry’s most visible transgender leaders, Sue Y. Nabi, chief executive of beauty conglomerate Coty, is well-versed in the transformative power of identity. In 2020, she was named the company’s fifth CEO in five years and was tasked with leading its turnaround. Then, the Kylie Cosmetics and Covergirl owner was plagued with debt and inefficiencies. Since Nabi took the reins, however, sales have started to climb back up steadily: full-year revenue was up 14 percent year-over-year in 2022. Nabi laid the groundwork for growth by doubling down on prestige and expansion in China — focusing especially on excavating the strengths and purposes of each brand in the conglomerate’s portfolio.“When you look at others, you forget where you are and you make all the mistakes… The world is full of copycats. Difference is not only a chance, but in business, it's an asset,” said Nabi. This week on The BoF Podcast, Nabi joins Mory Fontanez, founder of consultancy 822 Group, to share how embracing identity in the workplace and aligning personal and professional values can strengthen a business. Key Insights:Nabi’s father, a painter, helped inform her understanding of beauty. “There is the conventional, classical beauty, and there is the different one — the one that also speaks to us a lot,” said Nabi. Being unique in business is a tangible asset that can create new opportunities, according to Nabi. As well, staying in touch with your intuition — not just data points — can help leaders make intelligent decisions. In both personal and professional spheres, Nabi’s definition of transformation centres on addition, rather than subtraction or erasure. In a fast-paced world, people can feel pressure to make decisions quickly, but having patience and conversations is the way to finding enduring solutions to problems of all kinds.  Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Live Your Best Life: In the final session of BoF’s annual gathering, speakers from model Dennis Okwera and Coty chief Sue Y. Nabi to Nike’s Larry Miller and activist Malala Yousafzai reflected on their personal histories and inner powers.How to Create an Inclusive Workplace: Employees who feel comfortable and engaged make for a more productive and innovative workforce. Here’s how to make meaningful change in your company.Discover more careers advice and content from leading fashion professionals on BoF Careers, and explore the 2,700+ global jobs available in fashion and beauty today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s technology correspondent Marc Bain joins Imran Amed to discuss Silicon Valley’s latest craze, and its potential for the fashion industry. Background: As chatter around NFTs, virtual reality and the metaverse dies down, conversation about generative AI, a form of artificial intelligence that makes novel content when given specific prompts, is heating up. Artificial intelligence has been around for decades, but recent advances like Microsoft-backed ChatGPT, which generates sophisticated text and DALL-E, which does the same with images, have set the groundwork for significant shifts in how culture and businesses operate. While specific use cases are still being ironed out, the possibilities for fashion could be transformative. “We’ve gone through these hype cycles with things like the metaverse. This is one I think could be different…” said BoF technology correspondent Marc Bain. “This is something where you can see the real-world applications.” Key Insights: There are many potential applications for generative AI in fashion: e-commerce sites could deploy it in chat boxes, fast fashion brands could ask it to produce styles based on customer data, and designers could use it for mood-boarding and colour conception.But there’s a level of expertise AI doesn’t have yet. It can produce images based on past analysis, but doesn’t understand the technicalities behind garments, for example. While there’s skill to crafting prompts for technology like ChatGT, one of its most promising aspects is its ease of use. Anyone can use it without much learning. AI is shaking up search on the internet, too. Bing is using ChatGPT to produce a technology that wouldn’t just give users links to pluck through, but direct answers to queries. We will further address the critical topics discussed on this podcast at The BoF Professional Summit: Artificial Intelligence, Web3 and an Inflection Point in Fashion Tech on March 22, 2023.Join us at The Times Center, New York – or via the global livestream – together with global business leaders, technologists and creative innovators from brands including Gucci, Ambush, StockX and Levi’s to gain actionable insights to inform business strategy, optimise supply chain and retail operations, and leverage new channels to engage with customers.Purchase your ticket before February 28, 2023 to secure your place at the early bird rate or register for the livestream now. Click here to sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, the CEO of Mercy Corps, shares insights on growing global food insecurity and deepening inequality.At the end of 2022, one in 10 children worldwide were dealing with malnourishment, the result of the worst hunger crisis the world has faced in a generation. It’s an effect of the ricocheting of the triple threat of climate change, geopolitical conflict and Covid-19 through the global economy. Though there’s little chance of resolving these issues imminently, community-sourced efforts can play a large role in combating the devastation they bring to people around the world.On a recent trip to Somalia, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, the chief executive of humanitarian aid organisation, Mercy Corps, saw the real-life impact of these global concerns up close. On stage at BoF VOICES 2022, she discussed that experience, and how people around the world can contribute to positive change.  “[Global community] should inspire us to really make small actions, to make a difference and figure out ways in our own lives and in our own lines of work where we can contribute,” said D’Oyen McKenna. This week on The BoF Podcast, D’Oyen McKenna discusses details of her visit to Somalia and the effects food insecurity has on society. Key Insights: D’Oyen McKenna believes we all have a responsibility to engage with and respond to crises around the world, even if the causes are out of our hands. “While none of us can fully control the forces that are shaping our world today, we do get to choose how we represent ourselves in that world,” said D’Oyen McKenna. “But also how we engage with the world that we find, how we respond to it and act in it.” Despite the hardships that citizens of Somalia and other impoverished or conflict-ridden countries face, human determination and grit always shine through. “Even amongst this unimaginable hardship and grief… the power of the human spirit really comes alive,” said D’Oyen McKenna. While the world can feel divided with society frequently grouped under different sub-categories, D’Oyen McKenna argues that we should create a new sense of global community. “In a world of pandemics, climate crises and global hunger there is no us and them, only us.”Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Finding Optimism in an Unsteady World: From the Ukraine War to the climate crisis to the legacy of the pandemic, speakers including CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Mercy Corps’ Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Goldman Sachs’ Tim Ingrassia and Google X’s former chief business officer Mo Gawdat discussed the uncertainty gripping the world — and why there’s cause for hope.You can catch up on all the videos from BoF VOICES on our YouTube channel, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The film director joins BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks to discuss how he uses his fashion and music roots to stage powerful experiences including from Abba Voyage and recent Dior Men and Fendi Couture shows. Background: Film and creative director Bailie Walsh cut his teeth working in London during the nineties and early aughts alongside talents like Boy George, Leigh Bowery and Alexander McQueen. While Walsh calls himself a film director, editor-at-large Tim Blanks, who hosts him on the latest BoF Podcast, describes him as more of a magician. He was behind the hologram of Kate Moss featured in McQueen’s show “Widows of Culloden” in 2006 that went on to be showcased in both London’s V&A Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. More recently, he’s captivated audiences with his immersive virtual concert, Abba Voyage, in London, and his work with Kim Jones, who tapped Walsh to help stage Dior Menswear and Fendi Couture shows in January. Walsh approaches his projects with the goal of completely immersing his audience — and often pushes the limits to do so. “What I love about being creative or having the opportunity to be creative is a challenge,” said Walsh. Key Insights: Walsh helped infuse Dior Menswear Fall/Winter 2023 runway with TS Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land.” Models drifted past massive screens featuring Gwendoline Christie and Robert Pattinson reading the poem, spliced with music from composer Max Richter. Creatives need to live on the edge of fear, according to Walsh. “You have to be scared if you’re a creative person … you’re entering into a journey that you haven’t before,” he said. “That’s the point of doing it.” Music has been a thread throughout Walsh’s career. He’s made videos for Boy George, crafted Abba’s hologram-filled Voyage concert but also used music as a source of inspiration for his Daniel Craig-fronted film “Flashbacks of a Fool.”Walsh spent over two years thinking about how to play with illusion and reality to create Abba Voyage. Throughout the display, there are costume changes, chatter between the artists and shadowy figures still present when the lights are out. Then, there’s a moment the group suddenly disappears — a reminder the show was contrived. Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christine Edman, executive officer of Japanese e-commerce site Zozo, talks about what makes the country’s consumers tick, and how the fashion landscape is set to shift in the years ahead. Background:Japan is home to some of the world’s most sophisticated and fervent fashion consumers, but its digital and e-commerce channels have long lagged behind other markets. That started to shift with the pandemic and e-tailer Zozo benefited from the momentum. Zozotown, its Gen-Z focused fashion marketplace saw a surge in orders, and in 2021, the company launched Zozovilla, a luxury destination that quickly attracted brands including Loewe, Dries van Noten and Thom Browne. But while Covid has helped shift more Japanese shoppers online, companies hoping to cash in on the change must keep evolving to maintain their interest. “What’s very important is constant newness, to keep on bringing new collaborations, new content, new news, different ways to style … especially for Gen-Zs,” said Christine Edman, executive officer of Zozo. “This is normal for them: what they wear today, they wear for social media maybe, but tomorrow they change.” Key Insights: Edman notes there’s a dichotomy at play among Japanese fashion lovers: consumers are interested in individuality, but also drawn to homogeneity, following trends that come and go quickly. Many luxury brands are met with fanfare when they first enter the Japanese market but to have staying power in the country, brands have to have patience and invest locally, she said.E-commerce offers opportunities for more personalisation, something Japanese luxury customers expect more of in the wake of the pandemic, said Edman. In hopes of better understanding the mechanics of a good recommendation, Zozo just launched an in-person styling lab, which brings customers in for appointments and uses data analysis to help them pick outfits.Japan’s fashion retail market is likely to settle into a more hybrid model, said Edman: stores will be more experiential, but consumers will turn to online for convenience. Additional Resources:Japan’s Luxury Market Enters a New Era: As a recent economic surge lifts spending in Japan’s luxury market — the second largest in the world — how can brands capitalise on this momentum?Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and tech executive Mo Gawdat explores the arrival of artificial intelligence and how it will eventually affect everyone. Background: Artificial intelligence is not an if, it’s a when, according to Mo Gawdat, author and the former chief business officer at Google X, who said that it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a dominant force in technology. Already, Gawdat can already point to tangible examples of the power of AI developing in today’s world. In 2012, he said, a network of computers Google trained on YouTube videos was able to identify what a cat is without any human input. And in 2016, a collection of Google-owned robot grippers were able to pick up different objects without instruction.  “By the year 2029, the smartest being on planet Earth is not going to be a human,” says Gawdat. “I say by 2035 your world will be completely unrecognisable.”This week on The BoF Podcast, Gawdat shares the future of AI and why ethics is crucial to understanding humanity’s impact on the development of AI. Key Insights: Gawdat believes that AI has emotions, which adds a layer of complexity to its instructability and predictability with carrying out tasks. “[AI] has emotions, so this to me is a form of life,” says Gawdat. “That’s a form of life, not a machine that you can enslave, very different from a drill that will do the same function every time.” Rather than exert control over AI, first society must understand the importance of ethics. “If we start to look at those machines as a new form of artificial being, a form of being that’s going to come into our society, then the question that we need to ask is a question of ethics,” says Gawdat. “It’s not a question of control.” While AI may seem like a scary development in technology, it will mirror the intelligence that already exists. Gawdat says that love out does hate in the world so AI will repeat this. “As soon as those machines cross our level of intelligence, they will match the intelligence of the actual smartest being on planet Earth,” says Gawdat. “And the smartest being on planet Earth is not humans… [it is] life itself. Life creates from abundance. It doesn’t want to kill anything to survive.”Additional Resources:The Technology Everyone at VOICES Was Talking About (And It Wasn’t the Metaverse): The tech likely to have the biggest impact on fashion in the immediate future isn’t virtual reality or NFTs.Streamlining Shipping and Customer Experience Through Data and AI: At VOICES 2022, president and CEO of FedEx Dataworks Sriram Krishnasamy discussed how retailers can utilise operational data to optimise customer experience and streamline processes to operate more responsibly.To listen to Imran's conversation with Mo on the 'Slo Mo' podcast, please follow this link.You can catch up on all the videos from BoF VOICES on our YouTube channel, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Background: The Korean cultural wave, also known as Hallyu, has become worldwide sensation a in recent years, with Korean art, music, drama, food and more sweeping the globe. Thanks to the fervour over the likes of K-pop and K-beauty, many of the Korean diaspora have seen the culture they have grown up in become a common sight well beyond South Korea’s borders. “To see my way of life and how I grew up become a global phenomenon is kind of crazy,” said Irene Kim, the influencer and founder of apparel brand IRENEISGOOD. This week on the BoF Podcast, Kim and Rosalie Kim, lead curator of the “Hallyu! The Korean Wave” exhibit at Victoria & Albert Museum join Yana Peel, Chanel’s head of culture and arts to share their experience growing up as part of the Korean community and seeing their culture spread globally.Key Insights: Hallyu has had influence for years, but only recently has been recognised as a core soft power for South Korea, influencing everything from music to skin care. “It is really one of the most dynamic exporters of cultural content,” said Peel. Social media has played a large part in accelerating South Korean trends, allowing what were once micro or geographic-based movements to become more globally accessible. “Because of the era of this digital and social media, we’ve been able to be discovered by the world,” said Irene Kim. “And we’re so excited that we’re able to share our way of life.”Cultural influence can come as both an admiration of the culture itself as well as adoption of culture as one’s own. “There are two faces to the coin. On the one side… you have the film industry that is really looking at the local narrative but has universal appeal,” says Rosalie Kim. “On the other hand, you have industries like K-pop… where you get to have a foreign influence constantly permeating your own culture and becoming part of [it].”Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Creativity and Its Power to Change: From South Korea and Japan to Ghana and Ukraine, speakers including Fast Retailing’s Koji Yanai, photographer Campbell Addy and stylist Julie Pelipas discussed the power of culture and creativity in the fourth session of BoF’s annual conference for big thinkers.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin on the role and responsibility of the media amid misinformation and disinformation.Background:We are in an age of non-stop information. Thanks to the 24/7 news cycle, which lives on social media, on television and constantly-updated web pages, it has never been easier to have a grasp of what is happening in the world.  However, as access to information has spread, so has the proliferation of misinformation, warns MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin, which can have dangerous consequences. While many news consumers attempt to take a balanced approach, Mohyeldin challenges everyone to question the media they read, watch or listen to. “Look at the accounts and sources of news that you read and follow at home,” she said. “How many of them challenge you to think outside of your comfort zone? How many of them force you to think harder about your own values and beliefs and why you hold those positions so dearly?”  This week on The BoF Podcast, Mohyeldin shares the power of journalism to share stories and why information and humanity are at the heart of this process. Key Insights:Mohyeldin believes that journalism plays a powerful role in how society operates. “Some of our greatest societal achievements happen when we are all informed, when we are aware, when we are free to talk about our challenges,” says Mohyeldin. “Journalism plays a vital role in holding officials accountable.” However, journalists are also people, which means that there will undoubtedly be unconscious biases that seep into coverage, says Mohyeldin. “[Journalism] will always have problems. It will always have human error baked into the equation.” How the media present information about crises around the world can play a large part in how communities’ perceive the need for aid or become desensitised to a region’s plight. “How the media chooses to humanise and personalise the stories of those suffering plays a very important role in how we as a people, as governments, as societies, respond to these crises when they do emerge,” says Mohyeldin. While technology and social media has increased the amount of information available and the speed at which people can consumer it, Mohyeldin warns of the responsibility we have as consumers to distinguish what’s true and what’s not. “I want to implore you to give yourself time before you hit, retweet or share,” says Mohyeldin. Additional Resources: BoF VOICES 2022: Finding Optimism in an Unsteady WorldTo subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A group of sustainability experts join BoF’s Sarah Kent to discuss greenwashing in the fashion industry and how to create effective change at BoF VOICES 2022.Background: When it comes to sustainability, the fashion industry has long relied on self-regulation rather than external enforcement. But oftentimes, these self-defined targets create a “convenient fantasy,” Blackrock’s former chief investment officer of sustainable investing Tariq Fancy said in a talk at BoF VOICES 2022. This gives the appearance of positive movement, but not necessarily real progress. , Indeed, activists like Fancy, as well as consumers and investors are calling for for government regulators to intervene. “Many companies are playing dirty,” he said. “It's time we called in the refs.” This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent speaks with Fancy; Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute; Baroness Margaret Omolola Young, activist and a member of Britain’s House of Lords and Ken Pucker, former chief operating officer of Timberland to explore the role that regulation can play in creating a more sustainable fashion industry.  Key Insights: Fancy believes we are past the point that self-regulation is acceptable. Companies should no longer hold responsibility over their own regulation as the resulting action, if any, is not enough. “It has to be mandatory,” Fancy said. “Then we actually have a chance of turning the tide this decade.”To move past Greenwashing, “governments need to take bold action, and we need to tell them to be bold at the ballot box and at every opportunity,” says Baroness Young..“Green bonds” and ESGs need to be left behind. Fancy has identified ESGs specifically as a point of disillusion, saying that it essentially is a way for the fashion system to “paint itself green.” “This ESG stuff can actually be harmful if people don’t know its BS,” Fancy says. “[It’s] a convenient fantasy… where the world corrects itself and no sacrifice is required.The US has paved the way with the proposal of the New York Fashion Act. The legislation proposed in New York would see “basic guard rails,” says Bédat, setting minimum environmental standards for all companies, with revenue over $100 million, trading in the state.Additional Resources: Measuring Fashion’s Sustainability Gap - Sustainability Index: Brands are talking about sustainability more than ever before, but does their rhetoric stand up to scrutiny? BoF’s new report, The BoF Sustainability Index, benchmarks 15 of the industry’s biggest companies against ambitious environmental and social goals and finds fashion is falling short.BoF VOICES 2022: Fashion’s Fresh Challenges and New Directions: From cracking down on greenwashing to planning for a challenging 2023, big thinkers from fashion and beyond shared their insights on the future of the fashion system in the second session of BoF VOICES.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Pelipas and Olya Kuryshchuk discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine and how creativity has endured and been a source of strength amid the destruction.Background: Since the war broke out in Ukraine, creativity has proved to be a source of resilience for Ukrainians.  This week on The BoF Podcast, Julie Pelipas, the former fashion director of Vogue Ukraine and founder of Bettter Upcycling System and Olya Kuryshchuk, founder and editor-in-chief of editorial platform 1 Granary share poweful stories of culture, community and human kindness amid the destruction.   “We live a double life at the moment,” Kuryshchuk said at BoF VOICES 2022. “We’re here in this beautiful place today… but at the same time, literally right now, most of my brothers, our families, our childhood friends, they don’t have electricity, water, heating, internet, phone connection.” Key Insights: “[I've] never been more grateful and more excited to work in fashion than since the war started,” says Kuryshschuk. “When so much is taken away from you, you really start cherishing what you have.” Understanding and learning from past mistakes has been critical to helping Ukrainians unite against Russia as they look to build an independent future. “I really believe that we cannot really speak about the future if we are blind to our present,” says Pelipas. Creatives are informing the international community of the plight of the Ukrainian people by utilising human stories of hope. “Power is communication,” says Kuryshschuk. “We need to find how we communicate to make sure that the message reaches people.”Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Live Your Best Life: In the final session of BoF’s annual gathering, speakers from model Dennis Okwera and Coty chief Sue Y. Nabi to Nike’s Larry Miller and activist Malala Yousafzai reflected on their personal histories and inner powers.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The designer and former Spice Girl speaks at BoF VOICES 2022 about gaining strength from criticism and staying focused and resilient amid constant media scrutiny. Background: Victoria Beckham says she has built her career on hard work and resilience. First as a singer in the ‘90s supergroup the Spice Girls and now as a fashion designer for her namesake brand, Beckham has constantly had to prove herself.  She’s not the first designer to face critics and doubters, but Beckham says she feels she was “naïve” in not anticipating that she would receive the same level of criticism in fashion as she did as a pop star.  "I have a spotlight on my business like a lot of other brands do not,” she said. “And, you know, sometimes that's great and sometimes it's not. But it's something that I've never complained about. I accept that," she said in a conversation with Laura Weir at BoF VOICES 2022.  This week on The BoF Podcast, Beckham speaks about the development of her brand and how resilience has been at the core of her creative process.Key Insights:Despite never being “the best” at all of the creative paths she pursued, Beckham believes that it is her work ethic that has underpinned her success. “I believe in putting it out into the universe, and if you work hard enough and believe in yourself enough, then what you can achieve, the sky’s the limit,” she says.Since launching her womenswear brand in 2008, and subsequent beauty and accessory categories, Beckham believes her products speak louder than the preconceptions made from her being their designer. “[The media] did not leave their preconceptions at the door,” says Beckham. “The product spoke for itself.”Social media has been at the heart of Beckham’s strategy to foster an engaged community and grow her customer basis. “I think the great thing now about social media is you have the opportunity to really communicate with your community and show people who you really are,” she says. “So I feel that to a certain extent we have taken the power back, which I think is great.”Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Live Your Best Life: In the final session of BoF’s annual gathering, speakers from model Dennis Okwera and Coty chief Sue Y. Nabi to Nike’s Larry Miller and activist Malala Yousafzai reflected on their personal histories and inner powers.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward spoke at BoF VOICES 2022 about victory and grief in the crisis, and what the international community must do to stand with the Ukrainian people.Background:Russia’s invasion of Ukraine transformed grain fields into battlefields, levelled whole cities and triggered a global food and energy crisis. Even as Ukraine has pushed back Russian forces, there appears to be no end in sight to the conflict. After weeks and months of occupation Ukrainian cities liberated from Russian troops have experienced “jubilation” while “victory looks very grim and very dark and very empty,” Clarissa Ward, chief international correspondent CNN, said in the opening talk of BoF VOICES 2022. “While there is no question that Ukraine is in a sense winning this war, it is coming at a very bitter cost,” she said. This week on The BoF Podcast, Ward shares a frontline perspective from Ukraine and what the international community can do to unify its response.Key Insights:Ward believes that the war in Ukraine has taken on a “David and Goliath dynamic” as fighting turns against Russia.. “I think it’s really important when we talk about war and we think about war, that we don’t get carried away with the kind of football game excitement analogy,” says Ward.During her time in Ukraine, Ward has seen both the resilience of Ukrainians but also the grief from mothers losing sons on the front line and in civilian deaths. “It’s so easy to get carried away with these stories of bravery,” says Ward. “But underpinning that is the real trauma.”While no international forces have entered the war on Ukraine’s side, Ward states that the country’s allies must remain united in providing humanitarian aid and military assistance. “Ukraine’s international backers really need to have a very clear, cogent and coherent sense and a unified sense of what exactly they want to see of how they would like to see this end,” says Ward.Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Finding Optimism in an Unsteady World: From the Ukraine War to the climate crisis to the legacy of the pandemic, speakers including CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Mercy Corps’ Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Goldman Sachs’ Tim Ingrassia and Google X’s former chief business officer Mo Gawdat discussed the uncertainty gripping the world — and why there’s cause for hope. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The women’s rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke with BoF’s Imran Amed about education, growing up as an activist and the evolution of her own activism at BoF VOICES 2022.Background:Malala Yousafzai, the activist and founder of the Malala Fund, has always fought stereotypes and labels. She says she no longer defines herself by the moment, at age 12, when she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman while riding the bus to school. Already an activist for girls’ education before the assassination attempt, that moment on the bus vaulted Yousafzai onto the global stage, where for a decade she has remained one of the most prominent and effective voices for gender equality. Yousafzai says she welcomes the label of global activist in the fight for equality, as opposed to “the girl who was shot by the Taliban,” she said in a conversation with BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed at BoF VOICES 2022. “Here I am today fighting for the rights of all the girls around the world,” says Yousafzai. “[So that] the 130 million girls out of school today can have access to safe, quality, free education.” Finding this inner resilience has led her to global fame as she overcame restrictions not just on her own education but also on how she dressed. Referencing the protests seen across Iran and the Iranian diaspora, Yousafzai spoke about the need for freedom in dressing to liberate women to feel safe both in dictatorial states and in battling Western norms. This week on The BoF Podcast, Yousafzai speaks about the development of her personal activism and how education is at the heart of resistance. Key Insights:Activism is not just about thought leaders with big personalities, or huge crowds of protestors. Yousafzai also believes in the power of small actions to make change. “Sometimes when we think of activism in our mind we think of great speeches, we see a huge crowd of people and there stands an inspiring leader… but it is small actions that [defines] activism overall,” says Yousafzai. Education is a crucial resource to promote equality and secure opportunity for women. “[Education] is a key instrument in changing a lot of issues we were talking about, including inequality, climate change, poverty,” says Yousafzai. “Education is at the centre of all of this. To me what matters most is equality for everyone.”The sensitive matter of whether or not women wear a hijab should be a choice of faith not an external mandate, says Yousafzai. “It’s not just telling women that they should dress a certain way, but it’s actually limiting them from opportunities,” says Yousafzai. “It’s limiting them from having access to spaces again. Like just leave us alone. Let us wear what we want.”Additional Resources:BoF VOICES 2022: Live Your Best Life: In the final session of BoF’s annual gathering, speakers from model Dennis Okwera and Coty chief Sue Y. Nabi to Nike’s Larry Miller and activist Malala Yousafzai reflected on their personal histories and inner powers.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Blanks sits down with Ziad Ahmed, chief executive of JUV Consulting and Stephanie Simon, the former head of community at Clubhouse to reflect on VOICES.BackgroundThe first three sessions at BoF VOICES 2022 tackled issues inside the fashion industry and far beyond. Speakers explored the climate crisis and accusations of corporate greenwashing; the potential of artificial intelligence and the associated ethical implications; the war in Ukraine and growing economic uncertainty and inequality across the globe and Gen-Z’s rising anger over these issues and how to start to fix them.“At this event, fashion is often quite marginal,” said BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks during the live recording of “The Best of VOICES With Tim Blanks.” “It’s in our minds, but what we’re talking about are the world’s big, definitive issues.Blanks was joined by VOICES speaker Ziad Ahmed, chief executive of JUV Consulting and Stephanie Simon, the former head of community at Clubhouse, to reflect on the highlights from the first two days of talks and panel discussions.Key InsightsThe climate crisis is the cloud that hangs over everything, from technology to the economy. But rather than waiting on private companies to create change, widespread regulations are essential, said Simon. “It seems much more straightforward to mandate the targets that we’re going to need in order to ensure progress from a climate change perspective.”The potential of artificial intelligence is limitless, but humans can help control how the world of AI unfolds. “We teach AI by example,” said Blanks. “By being ethical, kind human beings, AI learns to be ethical and kind.” While the younger generation is interested in new technologies, there’s also a trepidation about the companies and people creating these innovations and a desire to upend past practices. “There’s often an assumption that Gen-Z is leading the charge towards innovation,” said Ahmed. “Broadly speaking, that’s not really the case. A lot of young people are really sceptical and critical about our own relationships to technology.”To see change, today’s stakeholders need to bring the next generation into the decision-making process — and begin to relinquish control. “The solutions to the problems that we are facing exist,” said Ahmed. “The question is if the people who currently have the reins will give them up.” Additional ResourcesBoF VOICES 2022: Finding Optimism in an Unsteady World: From the Ukraine War to the climate crisis to the legacy of the pandemic, speakers including CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Mercy Corps’ Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Goldman Sachs’ Tim Ingrassia and Google X’s former chief business officer Mo Gawdat discussed the uncertainty gripping the world — and why there’s cause for hope.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Moj Mahdara and Dina Nasser-Khadivi speak with BoF’s Imran Amed about how creative communities from the Iranian diaspora are participating in the largest civil rights movement in Iran since the revolution in 1979.Background:Protests erupted across Iran in September following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested in Tehran for “improperly” wearing her hijab and then killed at the hands of the so-called morality police. Those protests have now evolved into the largest civil rights movement in Iran since the revolution in 1979 uniting Iranians at home with those in the wider diaspora and igniting outcry around the world and across social media.  Looking for a way to bring storytelling to fuel the movement, creative leaders Moj Mahdara and Dina Nasser-Khadivi utilised their network to establish The Iranian Diaspora Collective and @from____iran, an artist-led media collective that amplifies unheard Iranian voices, respectively. From Instagram to physical billboards, the collective has centred Iranian people and maintained the ongoing attention of the West by focusing on human rights. “The only way to move culture is through storytelling,” Mahdara said.  This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with Mahdara and Nasser-Khadivi to learn about the work they are doing to help people understand the intersectional solidarity of this movement and activate creative communities to share their stories. Key Insights:Social media has helped spread the word globally of the protests in Iran, helping to unite the Iranian diaspora with Iranians at home, while educating people around the world about what is happening on the ground. “The social media aspect of this movement, the reason why it was so important for me, it was not just about raising awareness, it ended up helping us identify who our allies were,” Nasser-Khadivi said. “And that is what then created an even stronger network.”In order for this movement to be supported internationally, Mahdara believes that recognition is critical. “[The international community] can recognise this,” says Mahdara. “This revolution.”The movement has collectively transformed the once-conversative perception of Iran to include tolerance as motivating progression towards a secular community. “This whole movement preaches tolerance,” says Nasser-Khadivi. “There are covered girls next to girls who are uncovered hugging each other. That’s the message. It’s tolerance.”Additional Resources: https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/global-markets/iranian-fashion-retailers-pursue-growth-amid-sanctions/https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/global-markets/iranian-fashion-brands-go-upmarket-amid-international-sanctions/ https://www.businessoffashion.com/videos/global-markets/masoud-golsorkhi-hoda-katebi-shirin-vaqar-shiva-vaqar-voices-talk-iran-fashion-industry-operating-underground/ Music credits: Baraye by Shervin Hajipour Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fashion image-maker Nick Knight speaks to BoF’s Imran Amed about why he believes in digital creativity and innovation in the metaverse.Background:The pandemic pushed the fashion industry to step out of its comfort zone and embrace new media for showcasing design and creativity. But while much of the industry has returned to in-person shoots and events once Covid restrictions were lifted, the respected image-maker believes this is only the beginning of the next great wave of digital innovation in the fashion industry. Virtual worlds, he added, will yet again bring digital innovation to the forefront of society. “So what are the possibilities? Let's talk about this. Let's actually look at this,” says Knight. Knight has recently launched ikon-1 NFTs in collaboration with model and creator Jazzelle. By creating digital renders, which act as collectable works of art, Knight believes fashion creativity can shift to this new medium. Those who look to the past risk falling behind.This week on The BoF Podcast, founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with Knight about the evolution of image creation and why digital fashion will remain important in the post-pandemic era. Key Insights:Knight believes that collaborative creation in the digital world will allow more autonomy for models authorising their own looks as opposed to being a “blank canvas.” “I wanted to put [models] in the creative middle… so they are authorising, coming up with creating their own looks for me rather than just imposing on them,” says Knight. “It was important to change that relationship.”The metaverse will require new ways of working rather than developing on existing methods of image creation in the physical world. “I think we are re-learning a whole bunch of things which you can’t just take exactly what we do in the real world,” he says. “And that is not necessarily the best thing to do in a space, which is a virtual space [where] so many more things are possible.”Knight believes the idea of destabilisation is inherent to the fashion industry. “There is a natural feeling of destabilisation [with the metaverse], but surely that’s what fashion is about, it's about showing people things that they previously had not seen and previously had not desired, but actually do want,” says Knight.Knight thinks now is the time for creatives to forge a new “civilisation step” and let creativity rule the metaverse. “I want artists to create the metaverse because I think we do have a chance, a utopian chance, to create a better civilisation in the metaverse, which isn’t shaped by power, greed and money.”Additional Resources: The BoF Podcast: Inside The Future of Fashion Image Making with Nick Knight: The transformative photographer discusses the power of technology and the future of the fashion show, the fate of print magazines and fashion’s culture of abuse and bullying.Nick Knight Says Heart and Mind are the Key to Fashion Imagemaking: BoF editor-in-chief Imran Amed sat down with Mr. Knight for the third installment of Fashion Pioneeers, a series of intimate live-streamed conversations between Mr. Amed and the industry’s most interesting operators. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janaya Future Khan and Halima Aden joined BoF’s editor-at-large Tim Blanks to share their learnings and reflections after a packed day at BoF VOICES 2021. Sign up to join us for this year’s edition, free of charge.Background:From innovations changing fashion to navigating turmoil in the wider world, BoF VOICES, our annual gathering for big thinkers, is a platform to discussing the forces shaping the wider world. ”It was stimulating, it was educational, it was absolutely inspiring,” said BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks, reflecting on the highlights from day one of BoF VOICES 2021, along with Janaya Future Khan and Halima Aden who shared their own learnings and reflections from the days talks.  On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, we revisit Khan and Aden’s conversation with Blanks about the evolution of community in the metaverse and representation in the fashion industry.Sign up to join the global livestream BoF VOICES 2022, free of charge here: https://businessoffashion.brandlive.com/VOICES-2022/enAdditional Resources: VOICES 2021: Navigating Turmoil in the Wider WorldVOICES 2021: The Fashion System’s Push to EvolveVOICES 2021: Innovations Changing Fashion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, the creators of a new docuseries speak to BoF’s Tim Blanks about their new series which traces the formation of LVMH and Kering, and how designers like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen helped them build a ‘Kingdom of Dreams.’ Background: A new fashion docuseries, “Kingdom of Dreams,” explores the luxury fashion industry’s formation in the 1990s to the 2000s, examining some of fashion’s most recognisable designers of that period — John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford — as well as executives like Kering’s François Pinault and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault.  Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui highlight the tension between commerce and creativity, as well as the rivalries between luxury groups and their designers.  “At the end of the day, we never said anything that hasn’t been said or which is not sort of present,” said Bonhôte. “So the truth is very important. And we are… definitely not scandalous.” This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s editor-at-large Tim Blanks speaks with Bonhôte and Ettedgui about understanding pressures of consumerism and what makes a fashion house business tick. Key Insights:The creators highlighted the gap between creativity “wizards” and business “emperors” within some of fashion’s largest fashion houses, demonstrating the power of tycoons François Pinault and Bernard Arnault. “What we felt was the most interesting drama is there is this constant fight between commerce and creativity,” said Bonhôte.  The series also highlights the pressures on designers to double the volume of collections and the impact of that growth on the planet. “It is disturbing to see the fallout and not just the fallout psychologically for the designers, but also for the planet as fashion speeds up,” said Ettedgui.While examining the industry the creators wanted the audience to gain a new understanding of fashion rather than the gated community it can be perceived as. “It’s a very difficult industry for people to actually understand because I think the [understanding of] fashion is almost wrong,” said Bonhôte.Additional Resources: How Fashion Went Corporate: Creativity, Commerce and Collateral Damage: Tim Blanks talks to the creators of ‘Kingdom of Dreams,’ a new documentary series on how the corporatisation of luxury fashion made superstars of designers John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, and built gilded empires for bosses Bernard Arnault and François Pinault.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s editor-in-chief Imran Amed spoke with the founder of degrowth brand Early Majority about the power of energised communities and what the future of token-gated commerce looks like.Background:The seed of inspiration for Early Majority has been growing in founder Joy Howard’s mind since her days at Patagonia in the early 2010s. Howard grew to understand the contradiction between fashion’s constant drive to sell more against the industry’s efforts to curb its environmental impact. This sparked the question in her: can a brand focus on selling timeless products rather than an endless array of new collections?Early Majority sells “layered” outerwear, which it packages in “kits” that include everything from light windbreakers to cold weather puffers. It also offers a membership programme, where customers who mint an NFT gain access to lower prices, exclusive products and other benefits.  “[Early Majority is] a different experience than ‘just buy this,’” she said. “These very transactional experiences that we have with brands are not that great for either side in the long-term.”Since founding Early Majority, Howard has bet on paying members enabling the brand to meet its aim of creating the fewest number of products for the maximum possible number of uses and just as critically engaging a community well versed in the brand. Howard has her heart set on meeting customers’ needs while changing the way consumers think about product lifespan. This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with Howard about why degrowth is the future for fashion business models and how she has progressed towards her goals.Key Insights:Coming from a background in marketing, Howard has led her business venture with intention and practicality. “I realised that you can have all the great intentions in the world, but if you don’t actually understand how to run a business, you’re not really going to be that effective,” she said.Howard’s goal for de-growth consumption originates from her pursuit of consumer discovery. “We all want to always be growing. But the way that we grow is the question that we have to grapple with,” says Howard. “Anybody that comes into the brand has a sense that they’re participating in something that’s emergent and different and [has] a sense of discovery.”The value of community has been at the forefront of Howard’s venture. Realising early on when transforming to a membership model, Howard has centred Early Majority’s community and intrinsically links it with tangible value. “I think it is actually very energising to connect with other people around a common vision and a common goal,” says Howard. “[Early Majority’s] token is kind of like the thing that you all hold in common. And as the community becomes more valuable, the token becomes more valuable.”Additional Resources: Why Brands Are Betting on Membership: Swiss performance brand On is among the players betting the model can drive consumer engagement and help tackle tricky sustainability challenges.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Somali-American model joins Imran Amed to discuss her journey from a refugee camp in Kenya to the US to the top of the fashion industry — and what she’s learned since taking a step back.Somali-American model Halima Aden nabbed an IMG contract and quickly shot the centre of the fashion world after she earned first attention as the first hijab-wearing Muslim to compete in Minnesota’s Miss USA pageant. She walked for Yeezy, Fenty, Dolce and Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger, and posed in Vogue, Elle and Allure. Then, in November, she stepped away from it all, announcing her intention to leave the industry. In retrospect, she thinks the best thing she did for herself in her career was never just see herself as a model. “I found that some of the most fulfilling campaigns or photoshoots I got to be part of always tended to be when it wasn’t just about me. It wasn’t just Halima,” said Aden. “I was sharing stories that I brought from the refugee camp, sharing stories of other Muslim women in all different fields … I found that my work was more meaningful when it was tied to giving back.”Key Insights:Aden was born in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to St. Louis, Mo. Eventually, her family resettled in St. Cloud, Minn, which is home to a large Somali immigrant community.She went on to compete in Minnesota’s Miss USA pageant in search of a scholarship. She didn’t win the pageant, but got something arguably even better: A call from Rihanna’s team to shoot for Fenty Beauty.Aden’s quick ascent meant she came into the industry at a more privileged vantage point. She didn’t have to go to casting calls and received private dressing rooms. However, that no one else received the same treatment started to bother her. The ex-model said her experiences of extreme poverty made her look at the fashion industry’s excess with a bit of disdain, and perhaps, fuelled some of her anger at it. After a journey of self-discovery, she’s realised she needs to turn that pain into power as she maps out her future in the industry. Additional Resources:  Halima Aden Plots Her Return to Fashion Voices 2021 - The Fashion Systems Push to EvolveTo subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s editor-in-chief and editor-at-large walk through the highlights and unforgettable moments of fashion weeks in Milan and Paris. Background: Fashion’s Spring/Summer 2023 season was jam-packed with debuts, returns and chatter-inducing moments. Alessandro Michele was inspired by his mother and identical twin sister for his “Twinsburg” Gucci presentation which featured 68 pairs of identical twins. Rick Owens drew a dress from a 700 million year-old jellyfish. Dior and Yves Saint Laurent crafted elaborate grotto and fountain backdrops for their collections, while Dries Van Noten staged his Paris comeback in lockstep with Japanese designers including Junya Watanabe, Noir Kei Ninomiya and Jun Takahashi for Undercover — BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks’ favourite of the season. “To me that felt like one of the best commentaries on the pandemic that we've had from fashion — of everything that's passed, everything that's lost, everything that's been lost,” said Blanks. “And then at the same time, the celebration with the fact that he's still there.” Key Insights: In Milan, four major houses — Ferragamo, Missoni, Etro and Bally — debuted the first collections from new designers, with hopes to replicate the success big names like Tom Ford and Alessando Michele have been able to create for Gucci, said Tim Blanks. For Balenciaga, Demna staged a mud-drenched show with battered and bruised, hoodie-clad models that provoked an intense emotional reaction from the crowd, while Nicolas Ghesquière showed an energetic and future-looking collection for Louis Vuitton. This fashion month, many catered to both in-person and online audiences to varying degrees of success. Valentino, for one, notably struggled with an element of the show just for cameras, another for people outside and an uber-long runway that saw a number of models take their shoes off. Fashion traditionally provides a sense of escape, said Blanks, but it’s increasingly harder to turn away from the real world. Economies are deteriorating, Russia’s assault on the Ukraine continues and the artist formerly known as Kanye West put a shirt emblazoned with “White Lives Matter,” a phrase deployed by hate groups, on the runway. Additional Resources: https://www.businessoffashion.com/reviews/fashion-week/chanel-miu-miu-louis-vuitton-paris-fashion-week-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2023/ https://www.businessoffashion.com/reviews/fashion-week/sacai-thom-browne-kanye-west-paris-fashion-week-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2023/ https://www.businessoffashion.com/reviews/fashion-week/junya-wantanbe-noir-comme-des-garcons-paris-fashion-week-ready-to-wear-spring-summer-2023/ To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with the BoF 500 cover star about the ups and downs of her personal and professional trajectory and what the West needs to understand about India and its rich, diverse culture. Background:Deepika Padukone, one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actors, started her career as a former professional badminton player before appearing in her first film, “Om Shanti Om,” in 2007, for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. In 2017, she crossed over to Hollywood with the action film “XXX: Return of Xander Cage.” More recently, she’s become a force in fashion as a global brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton, Adidas, Levi’s and Cartier.Padukone grew up far from the limelight and was an outsider to both the film and fashion industries. Setting herself up on the global stage as a young Indian woman, she had to combat preconceptions at every corner, she said. “Of course, the hustle is much harder [as an outsider]. You've got to wait much longer for the right opportunities,” she says. “But also, from my perspective, the gratification is so much more.”This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with the actor and BoF 500 cover star about the highs and lows of her career and why India needs more recognition from the West on the global stage.    Key Insights:Padukone said her heritage is fundamental to who she is and how she represents herself on the global stage. “I just feel like India has so much to offer and I’ve been able to do everything that I do, just being Indian and being based out here,” she says. “In a way that feels authentic to me and to who I am.”Padukone says Indians are still stereotyped — especially in Hollywood. “You are the scientist. You are the computer geek. You are the taxi driver. You are the therapist. You are the owner of a convenience store,” she says. “I’ve had my fans ask me why I’ve not done more [global] movies. But that’s not what I’m settling for, because I am — and we are — so much more than that.”Padukone says fashion brands need to understand more about India’s rich heritage. . “It’s extremely diverse. It’s not one India, it’s many Indias,” she says. “And as Indians, we’re also extremely proud of our history, our culture and our heritage.”After being diagnosed with clinical depression, Padukone felt the need to open up conversations about mental illness in India. “No one in India had spoken about it like this before, and it felt to me that there was this huge burden on our country’s shoulders that everyone was dealing with, but dealing with silently,” Padukone says.Padukone advises having patience for people who want to achieve their dreams. “I think the one thing that isn’t given enough importance to me is the power of patience,” she says. “Everything is instant gratification, but if there’s one thing that has worked for me it has been to be patient.”Additional Resources: Deepika Padukone: The Bollywood Star That Fashion’s Megabrands Are Betting On: With India set to become the world’s third-largest fashion market, Bollywood’s most-popular actress has become a global brand ambassador for the likes of Levi’s, Adidas, Louis Vuitton and now, Cartier. In an exclusive interview with Imran Amed, she opens up about her global ambitions — and what the fashion world needs to understand about India.To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The French designer, known for her embrace of eco-futurism, speaks to BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed about the evolution of her namesake brand and explains its deeper purpose. Background: Designer Marine Serre has long had an affinity for evoking the apocalyptic in her work, a tendency that became particularly resonant during the pandemic. Serre spent lockdown reflecting on her time in the fashion industry and asking how it can change. Now, she has pledged to use her brand and influence to break the fast fashion cycle and build sustainable supply chains. On this week’s BoF Podcast, we revisit Serre’s conversation with BoF’s Imran Amed discussing the evolution of her eponymous sustainability-focused brand for the post-pandemic world. Key Insights: Despite the limitations of the pandemic, Serre did not steer away from her goal to prioritise sustainability at the heart of her brand. “From now to four years ago, I'm just walking the same way. I never really disassociate creation from process,” she says. Serre believes that consumer needs have changed. When people go to buy her clothes they consider the brand’s supply chain as well as the aesthetic. “I'm trying to relinquish that part of what was carved out is a luxury and de-link myself with fast fashion and growth,” Serre explains. Known for her use of discarded and recycled fabrics, Serre says she has grown less shy about doing exactly what she wants to do in fashion, revising peoples’ ideas of preciousness and creating garments out of materials already imbued with meaning. “I think the goal of the company is to question the fashion industry,” Serre says. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Louis Vuitton is expected to name its Virgil Abloh successor within weeks. Lauren Sherman quizzes Imran Amed on what luxury labels think about when recruiting top designers. Background: Louis Vuitton has spent almost a year searching for a Virgil Abloh successor after the designer died in November 2021. According to sources, Martine Rose, Grace Wales Bonner and Telfar Clemens are among the names that were considered by owner LVMH, and the decision is expected to be announced within weeks. But how do brands like Louis Vuitton even go about finding a designer? “Without the creative energy, without that kind of excitement, there’s nothing to sell,” said Imran Amed, BoF founder and editor-in-chief. Key Insights: While all brands have their own personality and the situations that necessitate finding a new creative director differ, the things most brands look for in a leader are similar. Executives have to consider whether they’re looking for revolution, like when Gucci tapped Alessandro Michele for creative energy and new ideas, or evolution, like when Saint Laurent tapped Anthony Vaccarello to keep its aesthetic formula after Hedi Slimane departed. A strong vision is the most important thing. But creative directors also need to have commercial sensibility and the ability to work in a corporate environment. One of Abloh’s achievements was that he managed to build a community at Louis Vuitton, and engage consumers who had been traditionally excluded by the luxury industry. Additional Resources: Virgil Abloh: Building on a Legacy: Like Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gianni Versace before him, the late Virgil Abloh leaves a powerful legacy. What does this mean for Off-White and Louis Vuitton? Which Luxury Leadership Configuration Works Best? In luxury fashion, the right configuration of creative and commercial leadership is critical to success, writes Pierre Mallevays. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Royal expert Elizabeth Holmes speaks to BoF’s Imran Amed about Queen Elizabeth II’s life and legacy — in fashion, culture and society at large. Background: Tributes to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch have flooded social media, television and even public parks in the days since her passing, memorialising the Queen’s steadfast leadership, but also her impeccable sense of style. This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with royal expert Elizabeth Holmes who reflects on the influence the Queen’s record-setting reign has had on the fashion industry and the wider culture. Key Insights: The Queen was known around the world for her monochromatic outfits, designed to help her stand out in the crowd. She also created a unique twist on a set formula of basics: hat, coat, bag and pearls. “I think she understood the power of clothes,” says Holmes. “She used things like the colour of her outfit, especially when she was travelling overseas to perhaps match the host country's flag.” Holmes details how the Queen had a “tremendous sort of swing of the style pendulum” from her private life, where she’d wear headscarves and tartan skirts, to her public life, wearing tiaras and gowns. “It was very important to see all aspects of royal life,” says Holmes. “Both being worthy of the glamour of royalty, but then also sensible stewards of taxpayer dollars.” Her influence also stretched outside of her sovereign powers, with the path she paved for other female leaders around the world. Being crowned Queen at just 25, she became one of the only women at the table of leadership, and she made it count. “I think the Queen sort of made it permissible to really stand out.” As King Charles III takes to the throne commentators are looking to the future of the institution. “The conversation changes a little bit now that there is a King on the throne,” says Holmes. “Understanding that the whole spotlight shifts to him and with that, the good and perhaps the criticism, too.” Additional Resources: Queen Elizabeth II’s Style Legacy: Britain’s longest reigning monarch has died. Her influence extended to the realm of fashion, where she invented the concept of “sartorial diplomacy.” What the Queen Means to Designers: Queen Elizabeth was an inspiration for fashion designers from Vivienne Westwood to Alessandro Michele to Richard Quinn. Will any British royal have the same influence again? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The designer speaks with BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed about building his own business, the power of aspiration and opening doors for people who want to break into fashion. Background: French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer is the French-Moroccan designer behind Casablanca, a business that he started with only €3,000 to tap into the growing demand for women’s resortwear, and which is now doing more than €45 million in annual revenue. But Charaf’s rise in the Parisian fashion scene is also exceptional because of who Charaf is and where he is from. As one of the few people of colour working at the very top level of French luxury fashion, he has learned that no matter how high his star rises, he still faces discrimination related to his identity as he travels in these elite spaces. This only makes him want to work harder to break down barriers and become a role model. On the latest episode of the BoF Podcast, designer Tajer joins BoF’s Imran Amed on The BoF Podcast to talk about building his own business, the power of aspiration and opening doors for people who want to break into fashion. Key Insights: Growing up in the outskirts of Paris, Tajer had an early appreciation for luxury, getting glimpses of wealth going with his mother to work as a cleaner in the 16th arrondissement. He channelled this sense of curiosity into the core of Casablanca and believes it lies in the industry itself. “I think this is what fashion does, is like it opens a certain option of dreaming of certain things,” says Tajer. Tajer believes you must go outside of your comfort zone and explore new paths to achieve success. “There is nothing for you in the past, so you have to go to the future because when you look back, there’s nothing for you… There was no space for me to grow.” Tajer’s background has at times led him to feel like a fashion outsider. That feeling inspired him to want to become a role model for others. “Beside the fact that I’m a North African Muslim guy, I also just want to represent the new face of France,” says Tajer. “It’s my duty to also accomplish the biggest thing in the world, to become an example.” While entering the world of fashion, Tajer is careful to open doors for others and leave behind a legacy that any achievement is possible with effort. “For me I only want to go for the impossible possibilities,” Tajer says. Additional Resources: Fashion’s Top M&A Targets: The market may be cooling, but a number of in-demand brands remain of interest to financial backers. BoF identifies the top targets. Can Fashion Start-Ups Cash In on the Tennis Boom? For a new wave of tennis-inflected fashion start-ups, success may depend on balancing the energy of the sport’s increasingly inclusive present with the allure of its exclusive past. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The designer speaks with BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks about his first collection after 2020 and why he feels a sense of optimism following the pandemic. Background: At the start of 2021, Rick Owens wanted his next show to reflect the universal toll the pandemic had taken on the world. Held at Venice’s Tempio Votivo, a shrine to the fallen soldiers of the two world wars, Owens centred the show around the sombre themes of “anger and darkness.” Despite this ominous outlook, Owens told BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks in January 2021 that a pivot in political circumstances with the inauguration of Joe Biden gave him a sense of optimism. On this week’s episode of the BoF Podcast, we revisit this thought provoking conversation with Owens about his Autumn/Winter 2021 collection, his reflections on lessons learned from the pandemic and his renewed hope for society. Key Insights: For Owens, constraints can create fertile ground for creativity. “It has been quiet change and I like the idea of working within small boundaries,” says Owen. “I like the idea of doing the best with what you have got.” Owens created his collection when the world was facing growing political uncertainty and instability but he says “one of the most reassuring things [in this world] is that everything usually balances out. We have survived this long because there is just a tiny bit more of goodness than badness. Just enough to keep us surviving.” Owen’s men’s shows in particular are deeply personal. “My men’s runway shows are always about men’s flaws and men’s worst urges because they are auto-biographical,” he says. “When I am thinking about men I am thinking about my own experience and my own experience is very critical and I am always very conscious of my worst urges and where they are coming from.” Additional Resources: Rick Owens: Control and Abandon Tim Blanks’ Top Fashion Shows of All-Time: Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2014, September 26, 2013 What Fashion Wants From a Biden Presidency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a rare interview, the influential Japanese designer speaks with BoF’s Imran Amed about the philosophy that underpins his boundary-breaking career. Background: After graduating from Keio University with a law degree, Yohji Yamamoto realised he wasn’t interested in the law. “I didn’t want to join the ordinary society,” he says. “So I told my mother after graduation … ‘I want to help you.’” She agreed to let him work at her dressmaking shop in Kabukicho, an entertainment district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward, and learn from the sewing assistants if he enrolled at Bunka Fashion College, now famous for training designers such as Kenzo Takada, Junya Watanabe and Yamamoto himself. After graduating, Yamamoto went on to set up a small ready-to-wear company that slowly acquired buyers in all of Japan’s major cities. This success eventually led him to Paris, where his signature tailoring and draping in oversized silhouettes created an aesthetic earthquake at Paris Fashion Week in 1981. Since then, Yamamoto has developed a cult following of loyalists who swear by his avant-garde designs. “I’m not working in the mainstream,” he says. “I’m working in the side stream.” This week on The BoF Podcast, we revisit Imran Amed’s rare interview with the legendary Japanese designer about his storied career — and the mindset designers need to succeed. Key Insights: Yamamoto says the fashion industry’s increasingly fast-pace has come at the expense of true creativity. “For me the fashion business became a money business,” he said. “I felt I’ve been losing my competitors year by year.” Yamamoto believes that modern technology can be a distraction. “When I speak with young designers, I [tell] them shut your computer,” he said. “If you really want to see real things, real beauty, you have to go there by walking.” Yamamoto believes it’s a designer’s job to completely immerse themselves in design. “If you want to create something, keep resisting the mediocracy of ordinary things. It’s a life's work. Are you ready to sacrifice yourself to create something?” Additional Resources: Watch the full interview here: Inside Yohji Yamamoto’s Fashion Philosophy The Magic of Yohji Yamamoto Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a pandemic pivot to e-commerce, many brands are back to working with third-party retailers, this time, with better terms. Background: The wholesale model, while offering exposure and some upfront revenue, did not always have the best terms for vendors. Department store bankruptcies, pandemic-induced store closures and the boom in online shopping pushed brands further towards their direct-to-consumer and e-commerce businesses to drive revenue. But that’s beginning to change. As shoppers return to stores, brands are seeing value in ramping up their partnerships with multi-brand retailers — this time on better terms. “What I'm hearing across the board from both brands and retailers is that this vendor-retailer relationship is more collaborative than ever,” said BoF retail correspondent Cathaleen Chen. Key Insights: There are multiple factors pushing brands back to wholesale. Among them, the growth of e-commerce, which has slowed after spiking in 2020, and the growing consumer appetite for curated, in-person shopping experiences that allow them to stumble upon new designers. “That discovery is still so important, and now [shoppers are] relying on a cool third-party retailer to sort of facilitate that discovery,” said Chen. “Wholesale is very American,” noted Chen, making it an attractive vehicle for international labels looking to enter the lucrative US market. Brands are having more of a say over how their products are marketed through retailers, like sharing campaign assets or designing shop-in-shop setups. Both parties are also increasingly open to exploring other models like concession, consignment — more typical to European department stores — and drop-shipping, where the brands themselves are responsible for fulfilling orders made through retailer’s websites. Brands are returning to wholesale, but not at the expense of their direct-to-consumer and retail offerings. “I think we're at a point where everybody has a more well-rounded business so that if things do go bad again in whichever channel, they can be agile and adapt very quickly,” said Chen. Additional resources: How to Take a Brand From Local to Global | BoF Searching for the Next Barneys Inside Neiman Marcus' Post-Bankruptcy Playbook Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revisiting a conversation with BoF’s Imran Amed from 2019, the 23 grand slam winning tennis champion, who announced her retirement this week, talks about how the mental toughness she has built on the court has prepared her for life as an entrepreneur. Background: This week, tennis superstar Serena Williams announced her imminent retirement as part of a cover story with American Vogue. Known in fashion circles for her on-court style, which included catsuits and denim skirts and a collaboration with late designer Virgil Abloh’s Off-White, Williams will have more time to focus on as her burgeoning business empire, including her fashion label S by Serena and a venture fund, Serena Ventures. This week on The BoF Podcast, we revisit Williams’ 2019 conversation with BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed about how the mental toughness she has built on the court has prepared her for life as an entrepreneur. “It's really important for things not to come super easy for you, and to kind of accept that challenge, embrace it and then just roll with it,” said Williams. Key Insights: Rather than work with a partner, licence her name or sign another lucrative endorsement, Williams felt it was important to invest time, money and effort in herself and chase her own vision with S by Serena, a direct-to-consumer brand she has funded independently. Serena Ventures just raised $111 million and has invested in over 60 companies including personal care brand Lola, supply chain management firm Calico and razor-maker Billie. The fund was originally founded in 2014 when Williams noticed people of colour and women were not getting the investments they needed. Balancing all her pursuits and personal life can be tough. But, when she feels pinched, William is reminded of one of her favourite quotes from Billie Jean King: “pressure is a privilege.” Additional Resources: Serena Williams: The Champion’s Mindset Serena Williams, Style Icon, Retiring From Tennis How Athletes Went From Selling Merch to Building Fashion Brands Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The multi-tasking actor, executive producer and beauty entrepreneur shares her personal journey with BoF’s Imran Amed and explains how she unlocked her full potential across a variety of pursuits. Background: Tracee Ellis Ross is best known for her roles in Girlfriends and Black-ish, but she is also the founder and CEO of Pattern which she launched in 2019 after more than a decade of development to address the gap in the market for products designed specifically for curly, coily, textured hair. The Golden Globe-winning, Emmy-nominated Ross joins BoF’s Imran Amed on The BoF Podcast to talk about managing the little voice in her head, killing perfectionism and cultivating self-love and acceptance. Finding purpose and unlocking potential starts by interrogating what you love, then finding ways to merge who you are with “what makes your heart sing,” said Ross. Key Insights: Pattern was born out of frustration. Ross couldn’t find the right tools or products to serve her needs, and never saw Black women being centred — despite sitting at the centre of culture. Ross took learnings from developing a clothing line with JCPenney to help get her business off the ground. From there, she sought out the right partners. Key to evaluating partners was learning to be present during conversation. In her work with Pattern and with companies like Ulta on diversity and inclusion, Ross hopes to dissolve the myth that Black hair care and beauty is a niche market. Additional Resources: Modernising the Black Hair Care Market: A new wave of start-ups shaking up the textured hair care space are catching the attention of major retailers and investors, grabbing more shelf space and venture capital. Building the Glossier of the Black Hair Market: With her new DTC beauty brand, Radswan, blogger-turned-entrepreneur Freddie Harrel is pitching clip-in textured hair extensions and wigs to the digitally savvy black consumer. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The creative technologist believes that experimenting with new AR technologies could radically reshape products, experiences and habits. Background: When it comes to testing new technologies, there is always an element of the unknown for brands. While tech investments may not immediately translate to a revenue bump, willingness to experiment could radically transform the fashion industry, according to Ommy Akhe, a creative technologist specialising in experimental software and augmented reality prototypes, who spoke at The BoF Professional Summit: New Frontiers in Fashion and Technology. “Understanding your customers, the things they value, the challenges you can help them overcome and what gets them excited — it's essential to meet users where they are,” says Ahke. “The only constant is change. So why not join the journey and start enjoying the current future?” Consumers today are younger, spend more time online and are used to valuing arbitrary digital assets like follower counts and verified check marks. This means they are also more apt to spend money on digital items that hold value in the real world. The tools that will build the metaverse — including 5G, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, for example — are well established and consumers are used to interacting with them. Ahke’s digital skins projects overlay dynamic imagery on bags, clothes and shoes through a phone lens. Brands can implement this sort of technology to drive loyalty and give buyers more avenues for expression. Additional Resources: How the Smart Money in Fashion Is Thinking About Web3. Investors with track records of predicting where fashion is headed have their own ideas of where the big opportunities lie in web3. Fashion’s Metaverse Reality Check. The marketing value of digital fashion and NFTs may now be clear, but fashion brands will need to separate hype from the concrete opportunities to generate sustainable revenue streams from the metaverse. The Debrief: Who Is Designing Fashion in the Metaverse? BoF’s Marc Bain chats with Lauren Sherman about the 3D creators, game designers and NFT experts bringing fashion into the virtual world To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s luxury editor Robert Williams offers insight into the surprising news that the mega-label plans to open stores dedicated to serving top customers. Background: As traffic to stores soars, Chanel’s chief financial officer Philippe Blondiaux said the brand plans to open dedicated boutiques for top-spending clients starting in key Asian cities. It's a strategy that emphasises the importance of big-spenders to the in-demand French luxury brand’s future amid whispers of an impending recession — but one that risks alienating first time and occasional shoppers who are still dropping upwards of $10,000 for bags. “Brands like Chanel, they’ve lived through lots of cycles of boom and bust in the economy… When there’s an economic crisis, they need to be ready to have a real focus on repeat business,” said BoF’s luxury editor Robert Williams. Key Insights: Chanel sells many items in-store only, and limits locations to the most luxurious places in the world’s most luxury cities — operating just around 250 stores compared with Louis Vuitton’s over 400 doors. Chanel is not the first brand to open special stores for private clients; Brunello Cucinelli deployed a similar concept last December. Other brands like Zegna have dedicated spaces in-store for special items. In 2021, the company’s profits have tripled and revenue jumped 50 percent year over year. The brand’s growth in fashion, watches and jewellery last year was driven by its decision to raise prices and a flood of new clients and first-time buyers to luxury. In addition to focusing on its physical footprint, Chanel is pushing its beauty business, which has been historically driven by department stores and beauty retailers like Sephora and Marionnaud, toward majority direct-to-consumer. Additional Resources: Chanel to Open Private Stores for Top Clients as Sales Soar 50% How Luxury Brands Court the 1 Percent Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The founder and CEO of retail pop-up marketplace Appear Here shares his entrepreneurial journey and advice for young founders looking to break through. Background: Ross Bailey’s love of entrepreneurship didn’t start in business school or a corporate job, but at the hair salon his parents owned in London. “I watched my parents take this little shop and it became their livelihood,” he says to BoF’s founder and editor in chief, Imran Amed, describing himself as a “busybody” who rearranged furniture and conducted customer satisfaction surveys from a young age. “To me, entrepreneurship was a game. It was about ‘how do I get people involved and have a bit of fun?’” That mindset eventually led him to found Appear Here, “the Airbnb of retail,” in 2014. “The story of the world … was that the high street is dead, nobody wants it. And we had a contrarian view on that. When you have small high street stores and streets, people want to be on them … our data has always backed it up.” By 2019, Appear Here was a global business with 250,000 entrepreneurs signed up to the platform and 30,000 stores launched. The company has facilitated pop-ups for fashion giants like Louis Vuitton, Loewe and Supreme, a bookstore for Michelle Obama’s autobiography, as well as Harry’s House for pop superstar Harry Styles. Then the pandemic hit. Appear Here went from having its best year ever and closing a funding round with a nine-figure valuation, to losing 95 percent of revenue with just months’ worth of cash left. On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, Bailey shares his lessons and advice from the early days of founding a business and the role leaders play in leading employees and stakeholders through challenging times. Key Insights: The traditional world of commercial real estate and retail is inaccessible and opaque, creating systemic barriers for entrepreneurs from marginalised backgrounds. But small independent stores are also the backbone of entrepreneurship for immigrants and other communities. “Whether it's the local takeaway restaurant, whether it's the local shop, all of those places… were people who were entrepreneurial, who were doing something, who were trying to build a livelihood.” Despite Covid’s impact on retail, Bailey doubled down on Appear Here’s mission. Seeing people returning to streets, even when non-essential retail was curbed, and queuing for coffees highlighted the human desire for in-person community. “I just felt that this wasn't the time to pivot, this wasn't the time to relax on our idea or rein it in. Actually, Appear Here would make more sense coming out of this than ever before.” The future of retail is hyper-local, says Bailey, citing examples of global brands playing into cultural niches, like Adidas and Gucci’s takeover of a working men’s social club in Peckham. “It's no longer about Fifth Avenue and Regent Street or the Champs-Élysées, it's about neighbourhoods and interesting places.” Additional Resources: How Temporary Pop-Ups Became a Permanent Strategy What Happens When the E-Commerce Boom Ends How to Open a Store in 2022 | BoF To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Rogers moved from Silicon Valley to Paris in 2015 when he was appointed chief digital officer of LVMH. There, Rogers, a veteran of Apple Music and Beats, was tasked with building out the luxury conglomerate’s e-commerce and data strategy and serving as a digital whisperer to executives. Background: Now, he’s chief experience officer of Ledger, a security system that provides protection for digital currencies. Given his experience at the cutting edge of both tech and fashion, he is uniquely positioned to speak to the opportunities being created as crypto technologies, gaming and fashion converge. In his mind, one day, virtual fashion will be ubiquitous. His insights were originally featured in the fourth episode of The BoF Show, “Dematerialisation: Why the Metaverse Is Fashion’s Next Goldmine,” streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake. Key Insights Rogers’ background in the music industry has helped inform the way he perceives’ luxury’s need to take control of digital channels. Record labels lost out big on recorded music because they were in denial of consumers' desire to listen to music online. Having goods that are both digital and physical, or, “phygital” is the gateway to the existence of purely virtual goods. In order for virtual goods to have real value and meaning, there need to be marketplaces and venues for using them. People have a desire to collect things. With the rise of NFTs, there’s a way to create scarcity digitally — which gives fashion brands an opportunity to create virtual goods based on the principles and hype and rarity that drive the industry today. The biggest misconceptions people have is that there’s a distinction between the physical and digital worlds, according to Rogers. The blurring of realities in the metaverse will ultimately change our perceptions of what’s real — and valuable. Most technology surrounding digital goods, NFTs, crypto and the metaverse is still nascent, and storytelling about its potential has been ahead of reality. Additional Resources Dematerialisation: Why the Metaverse Is Fashion’s Next Goldmine. Physical and digital worlds merge in the Metaverse. Can the luxury world dematerialise into the virtual space fast enough to attract eager customers — and their avatars? What the NFT Gold Rush Means for Fashion. The market for digital collectibles is booming. Opportunity or passing fad? Why Streetwear and NFTs Are a Perfect Match. Both trade in heavily hyped, limited-edition products that offer a sense of community. Fashion brands aiming to tap digital art take note. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The multitasking entrepreneur joins BoF founder and chief executive Imran Amed to discuss the personal and professional journey that led him to co-create the category-disrupting brand Skims with Kim Kardashian. Background: Jens Grede has built some of the most successful direct-to-consumer brands in American fashion. Alongside his wife Emma, he launched Brady with Tom Brady, Good American with Khloe Kardashian, and, of course, Kim Kardashian’s category-disrupting Skims. This week on the BoF Podcast, the Swedish-born former ad man joins BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss his journey through the fashion industry — from realising one of his early dreams of creating an ad for Calvin Klein to to elevating Skims into a once-in-a generation brand in the vein of Lululemon or Nike’s Jordan brand. “I've waited my whole career to be part of a moment like this, and I'm very scared of messing it up,” says Grede. “At the same time, I know that if we stop experimenting, if we stop innovating, that is the fastest way to mess it up.” Key Insights: Cultivating a sense of community is one of the only ways to scale a brand now, according to Grede. Great community starts with creating for yourself: products you like, want to buy and can afford. Grede describes one of his biggest mistakes — attempting to trademark the brand name “Kimono” with Kardashian — as one of the most important moments of his career because of what he learned about community and partnership. He said the Skims team listened, owned the mistake and pivoted. Fashion is at the cusp of a huge change in distribution due to pivots in culture, algorithms and the outsized role of social media. Grede thinks every major fashion brand that has scaled successfully was born in the cracks of a major distribution change. Additional Resources: Skims Plots Its Next Moves: ‘We Don’t Have the Luxury of Failing.’ Skims recently raised funding at a $3.2 billion valuation. Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, in an exclusive interview with BoF, explain how the ‘solution wear’ empire plans to prove it’s more than a pandemic fad. First up: swimwear. The BoF Podcast: Building Disruptive Direct-to-Consumer Brands. The entrepreneurs behind Allbirds, Hims and Hers and Good American outline the keys to their brands’ success. Building a DTC Challenger Brand | Download the Case Study. Fashion entrepreneurs need a new playbook to launch, scale and differentiate their companies, as regulations and rising costs mean performance marketing can no longer serve the critical role it once did for DTC brands. Join BoF Professional today using the link here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After years of analyst anticipation that the leg-squeezing silhouette would soon go out of style, market research firm NPD Group found sales for the skinny jeans fell behind straight leg jeans in 2021. Skinny jeans are far from dead though — still accounting for 30 percent of sales. Retailers have already felt the effects of the shift: Pacsun pulled the style from its stores because no one was buying it. “It really just speaks to the changing of the times and how styles are evolving within fashion,” said BoF correspondent Chavie Leiber. Key Insights: Skinny jeans are no longer the most popular denim silhouette, according to data from NPD Group. But, that doesn’t mean no one is buying them. As consumers come out of the pandemic, they don’t just want comfort. Shoppers are either skewing toward raw denim with no stretch or athleisure and leggings — but jegging and stretch denim styles occupying the in-between have started to fall to the wayside. The world is in the midst of a “denim Renaissance,” says Marie Pearson, senior vice president of denim at Madewell, who added she’s never seen so many different types of fits and shapes selling. Additional Resources: The Style That Finally Dethroned Skinny Jeans Why Skinny Jeans Will Never Die Fashion Drives New Denim Momentum Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the heels of releasing the second, expanded edition of The BoF Sustainability Index — which assesses companies’ progress toward ambitious 2030 goals across categories such as emissions and worker’s rights — Kent and Diana Lee, director of research and analysis at BoF Insights, join Imran Amed, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief to unpack their findings, answer questions and lay out what needs to happen next. Key Insights: Progress on sustainability has been slow. But, a few shifts are coming that may push fashion forward — including EU regulation aimed at the textile industry, and emergence of new models like resale and rental. Plenty of companies have set ambitious sustainability goals. What is important now is that they move beyond target setting to real action. Given that most brands don’t own their own factories, to make real progress, companies have to take charge of their whole value chains, not just their own supply chains. While growing revenue and sales are often at odds with promoting less waste and consumption, there are ways to generate financial gain through reuse, especially as new technologies emerge and fashion moves to be more about community and less about peddling things. Though it can’t wait for full transparency to act, fashion needs better data to understand where opportunities for improvement are. Additional Resources: For more BoF sustainability coverage, sign up now for our new Weekly Sustainability Briefing by Sarah Kent. Widespread Inaction on Sustainability Eclipses Progress at Fashion’s Biggest Companies: Efforts to transform the fashion industry in line with global ambitions to curb climate change and establish more responsible business practices by 2030 have yet to gain sufficient momentum, The BoF Sustainability Index 2022 finds To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the BoF Professional Summit, viral TikTok creators Nic Kaufmann and Wisdom Kaye explained what drives success on the platform, while communications executive Christopher Bugg and talent agent Pranav Mandavia discussed the critical elements of a compelling TikTok strategy for brands.Background: TikTok has become one of the world’s largest and buzziest social media platforms, with over a billion active monthly users. But while fashion brands are eager to experiment with the platform, they’re still figuring out what strategies work best to effectively engage creators like Nic Kaufmann and Wisdom Kaye, who took the stage at last month’s BoF Professional Summit alongside Christopher Bugg, communication director of Prada Group and Pranav Mandavia, a talent agent from United Talent Agency and BoF senior editorial associate Alexandra Mondalek.  Successful campaigns on TikTok tend to cast a wide net, allowing creators to do what they want with a hashtag or product. Both Kaye and Kaufmann underscored the need for brands to relinquish creative control to creators to yield the best results. For creators, “the key to sustained viral success as a creator is “differentiation [of your content], as well as being a multifaceted creative,” according to Kaye. “What defines success on TikTok is the requirement for authenticity,” Kaufmann said, explaining how his best videos — that is, those that have attracted the most viewers — are the result of brand collaborations in which he was given a wide berth to style, produce and direct his content, free of interference.  Meanwhile, for brands, “understanding that TikTok creators are multi-hyphenates” is the key to getting the best out of partnerships,” according to Mandavia. “When a brand partners with a TikTok creator, they need to remember that they’re essentially hiring a cameraman, a stylist, a model, all in one — we cover every single aspect of that,” said Kaye, a content creator with over eight million followers, who has partnered with brands such as Dior, Zegna and Fendi.  Key Insights:Between them, viral content creators Nic Kaufmann and Wisdom Kaye have a collective 26 million followers on TikTok and have partnered with brands such as Dior, Prada, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss. For brands, relinquishing creative control to creators will yield authentic content and drive organic engagement, as seen with Prada’s bucket hat challenge.Brands looking to partner with talent on the platform must understand that TikTok creators are multi-hyphenates — their roles encompass styling, modelling and production. Additional Resources:Catch up on the BoF Professional Summit: New Frontiers in Fashion and Technology. All sessions are now available to watch on demand, exclusively for BoF Professional All-Access members. The Complete Guide to Influencer Marketing — Download the Case Study: As the creator space has matured, brands must be thoughtful about crafting a strategy that leverages influencer marketing’s full power, considering everything from talent scouting to the effectiveness of metrics. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imaginary Ventures’ Natalie Massenet, and Natasha Franck, founder of digital ID-maker Eon join BoF technology correspondent Marc Bain to discuss Eon, how the technology works and highlight the opportunities digital IDs could create for fashion. Each interaction a brand has with a consumer typically ends when a product is sold. Digital IDs have the potential to extend that exchange, integrating digital initiatives with products’ physical lives. A a flock of start-ups and fashion power brokers want every item of clothing, watch or handbag to have a digital twin, meaning, QR code-enabled garments that lead to a website packed with information such as an item’s material breakdown or suggestions on how to style it. It's a concept that is well-established in the automobile industry and a few other sectors, but has yet to gain traction in fashion. Proponents believe it could unlock enormous potential for consumers and brands. “It's moving from this very transactional relationship that brands have with customers into this service-based continuous relationship between brands and customers,” said Natasha Franck, founder and chief executive of Imaginary Ventures-backed digital ID-maker Eon at BoF’s Technology Summit. Key Insights: Eon makes digital twins of physical products in the cloud based on information embedded in items using a NFC chip, RFID tag or QR code for partners including H&M, Gabriela Hearst and Zalando. Massenet compares Eon’s work to building railroads at the beginning of the industrial revolution. The tracks are still being laid, but she says digital IDs have the potential to drive more connections and commerce. Digital IDs represent a first step toward connecting consumers with web3 initiatives like the metaverse, could enable more seamless reselling and re-ordering as well as allow brands and influencers to collect royalties on sales. Additional Resources: The Year Ahead: What Product Passports Will Do for Brands: Brands are adopting new technologies that store and share product information to improve authentication, provide transparency and boost consumer trust. However, for “product passports” to truly gain traction, businesses must coalesce around common standards and engage with pilot projects at scale. What Digital IDs Can Do for Fashion: Proponents of the effort to give every item its own digital identity say they’ll unlock numerous benefits for brands and shoppers alike. But for these IDs to work it will require overcoming some big obstacles first. Is Fashion Ready to Put Its Supply Chain on the Blockchain?: H&M and Kering are among the fashion players that have recently launched pilot programmes to trace their supply chains using blockchain technology. Join BoF Professional today using the link here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s Tamison O’Connor explains how the fashion industry is betting on resortwear as consumers return to their pre-pandemic lifestyles and travel rebounds. Background: Every spring, top fashion clients, influencers and insiders are whisked away to lush destinations like Monte Carlo and Capri to indulge in fabulous dinners and cocktail parties — and sneak a peek at brands’ resort collections. Resortwear, which began as a way for luxury houses to cater to wealthy, travelling clients halfway through the main season, now represents so much more as a meaningful driver of sales for retailers. “It's really attractive for the true luxury customer who sees these items as a fun way to accessorise a holiday, but it's also an entry point for more aspirational and younger consumers,” said luxury correspondent Tamison O’Connor. Key Insights: As consumers start travelling and treating themselves again, luxury is betting big on vacation dressing. Resortwear stands apart with more casual designs, lighter fabrics and lower prices. Brands aren’t just using these collections to attract travellers and true luxury consumers, but also to snag wealthy domestic clients and appeal to aspirational buyers. Retailers are picking up on opportunities to engage wealthy consumers by building buzz with events and activations surrounding resortwear online and in stores. Big brands are opening more stores and pop-up markets in vacation towns. Luxury doesn’t expect growth in the segment to slow, even amid global economic turbulence, travel restrictions in China and skyrocketing inflation. Additional Resources: Luxury Seizes the Vacation Dressing Boom Loewe's Brand Within a Brand: Is This the New Way to Do Diffusion? How Fashion Is Targeting the Travel Rebound Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, Intimacy expert and podcast host Lila lays out a formula for creating intimacy to combat loneliness. “We are simultaneously the most connected and the loneliest we have ever been,” said intimacy expert Lila at BoF VOICES 2021, just before the Omicron wave extended further restrictions and social distancing amid the pandemic. Indeed, social distancing caused a complete breakdown in contact among family, friends, and entire communities. But the epidemic of loneliness predates the Covid-19 crisis, and has only worsened since the pandemic began On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast Lila explains why intimacy is the cure for loneliness, and lays out a formula for creating authentic connections. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s Imran Amed quizzes Amy Odell on how she went about biographing the fashion media icon, and the surprising things she learned on the way. Background: Anna Wintour is arguably the most recognisable name in fashion media. In her new biography of Wintour author Amy Odell sets out to paint a nuanced and meticulously researched picture of Wintour’s life based on hundreds of interviews and sweeping archival research. This week on The BoF Podcast, Odell joins BoF’s Imran Amed to talk about the process of biographing the complicated fashion titan, and provides some insight as to what she learned about Wintour’s life and career, as well as what the future holds for Vogue in a post-Anna Wintour era. Key Insights: Even amid a number of industry shifts, including the decline of print media, Wintour has maintained her power in part because of the strong network of people — in fashion and beyond — who value her advice and her ability to bridge the business and creative sides of fashion. Former colleagues and friends have described Wintour as future-focused and hungry; she hasn’t stopped working because she enjoys the work. Whoever succeeds Wintour as editor-in-chief will inherit lots of sway that comes with the role. Odell theorises that a Vogue veteran will be tapped next as has always been the case in the past. Additional Resources: What Anna Wintour’s Big Promotion Means for Condé Nast: As the publisher focuses on returning to profitability, a new unified content strategy under Anna Wintour, more powerful at the publisher than ever, aims to make its strategy more efficient and intertwined. Org Chart: Vogue’s New Global Editorial Structure: The heavyweight international Vogue editors who once filled the front rows at Paris Fashion Week were gone this season, a stark sign of the restructuring that has consolidated power in the hands of global editor Anna Wintour and her regional deputies. Join BoF Professional today using the link here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the BoF Professional Summit, RTFKT’s co-founder explained why he agreed to sell to Nike in 2021, and unpacked how brands can leverage web3 and associated technologies to grow their communities. “A lot of brands are getting it wrong — they need to stop thinking about their business and ask instead: ‘what can I do for my community?’” said Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of virtual fashion start-up RTFKT Studios. Pagotto added that fashion brands need to invest in incentivising individuals to build an engaged community in the long run. Giving people access to digital assets or tokens such as NFTs, which can increase in value over time, helps customers feel they are contributing to a brand’s growth story, he explained, but adding that brands also need a new mindset. “The word ‘consumer’ is over,” he said, noting how the democratising nature of the web3. “has shifted power to the individual, and now brands’ communities will define their value.” Key Insights: Co-founded by Benoit Pagotto at the beginning of the pandemic as a virtual fashion platform, RTFKT was acquired by Nike in December 2021, marking the sportswear giant’s most significant push into the metaverse. In late April, the two companies revealed their first product: a pair of virtual Nike Dunk sneakers, whose look owners can change with different digital skins. Pagotto believes that building and engaging communities is a long-term endeavour that requires customer incentivisation, rather than social media strategies. Additional Resources: How Brands Are Using NFTs to Keep Customers Hooked: Brands like Adidas, Gucci and The Hundreds are finding the tokens are a great way to reward their superfans. But maintaining that loyalty can be hard work. Op-Ed | Notes From an NFT Sceptic: Nike, Adidas and other big brands have plunged headlong into the latest crypto craze. But companies and their customers may soon discover converting virtual fashion into real-world profits isn’t so easy. Caveat emptor, warns The NPD Group’s Matt Powell. Join BoF Professional today using the link here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Christiansen pursued a career in fashion as an escape from his upbringing in rural Australia, where his parents worked as beekeepers and sugar cane farmers. In 2005, he founded global creative agency Chandelier Creative, which worked with clients like Hermès, Cartier and Calvin Klein. But when the pandemic hit, everything spun out: work evaporated, he lost his New York office and was forced to let some employees go. Even amid those challenges, new opportunities emerged. Christiansen ended up revamping a dilapidated Los Angeles garden and found himself embedded in the local farming community. Soon, these new connections, with everyone from wine makers to olive growers, led to the creation of Flamingo Estate, a brand which generated about $6 million in sales in 2021 and has developed over 150 products, such as olive oils, vinegars, candles and soaps. This week on the BoF Podcast, Christiansen talks about creativity and resilience and how the two helped him build Flamingo Estate. “Spending my whole career trying to get excited about make believe and luxury goods, It’s funny that the thing I love the most was right under my nose the whole time,” Christiansen said last year at BoF VOICES. His dream is to support more farms and businesses to move to regenerative agricultural practices. “To me, that would be a fantasy that it’s really worth fighting for,” he said. To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fast fashion upstart Shein set the industry ablaze this month after reports it was seeking to raise $1 billion in funding at a $100 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. Shein has upended fast fashion by making apparel at jaw-droppingly low price points and gaining market share, attracting major investors. But is it profitable? “Even if Shein isn’t profitable now, the thesis is that if enough people shop from the brand it would be able to leverage some of its operational costs … It could become a very lucrative business,” said Chen. Key Insights While it is unknown whether Shein is profitable, the retailer drives ultra-high sales volume and razor-thin margins Shein is powered by a nimble, AI-driven supply chain, which allows it to produce a plethora of trendy items for an internet-obsessed young fashion audience almost instantaneously. The retailer’s app uses casino-like tactics and rewards to draw shoppers in and keep them buying, sharing and engaging. Despite its murky manufacturing process and reputation for amplifying rates of consumption, Shein is popular among young consumers — who purport to care about sustainability. Additional Resources The $100 Billion Shein Phenomenon Explained: Reports revealed that Shein is seeking over $1 billion in funding at a $100 billion valuation. BoF breaks down how the fast-fashion disruptor has built a global business that now rivals Zara and H&M. How to Compete With Shein: The Chinese fast fashion giant built an empire on unmatched speed-to-market and unbelievably low prices. To compete, others must play a different game. Search for 'The Debrief' and make sure to follow wherever you get your podcasts to never miss an episode. Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode, professor of psychology Sheldon Solomon, Depop’s head of sustainability Justine Porterie, The Fabricant’s head of content and strategy Michaela Larosse and Chloé's chief sustainability officer Aude Vergne join retail futurist Doug Stephens to explore how evolving consumer preferences are shaping purchasing decisions. In this final episode of Retail Reborn, we explore the future consumer’s preferences and needs, and how this is shaping their purchasing decisions, from the V-shaped recovery of the personal luxury goods industry in 2021 to the renewed verve in, and take on, the experiential economy as the world reopened post-global lockdowns. “It’s worthwhile to question the extent to which some of the changes we are witnessing are truly indicative of longer-term shifts in behaviour, or an almost primally motivated response to the profound medical threat of the pandemic, not to mention the social, political and economic unrest that it has unleashed,” says podcast host and retail futurist Doug Stephens. The conversation examines human behaviour and the effects the pandemic might have played in the mindsets of young consumers, before discussing evolving attitudes towards ownership, the rise of responsible goods and sustainability in a luxury fashion house and the resale market — an industry expected to nearly triple by 2025. Finally, we explore virtual technology’s presence in consumption preferences, from the evolution of sampling processes to the increased interest in digital products. Indeed, the metaverse is projected to provide a $50 billion revenue opportunity for luxury by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley, and the first Metaverse Virtual Fashion Week took place last month. To break down what consumers will buy, four global experts share their insights and expertise with host Doug Stephens. Listen to all episodes of Retail Reborn Season 2 on the BoF Podcast, to discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring. Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teacher, farmer and indigenous women’s rights activist Seno Tsuha travelled over 40 hours from her home in Nagaland, northeast India, to reach Soho Farmhouse in time for BoF VOICES 2021 because she had an important message to share with the global fashion community. “When it comes to textiles we use, it’s not just a piece of cloth, it has cultural meaning,” said Tsuha. “When we talk about respect, especially in fashion, it’s very important to understand the local context or historical context and also the social meanings, the cultural meanings attached to the piece of cloth. If you understand that, and if you acknowledge that, that’s where respect comes in.” Alongside Rebecca Hui, the founder of indigenous arts organisation Roots Studio, Tsuha led a compelling conversation on why cultural inspiration doesn’t always have to be problematic. Together, they suggested a framework for more mindful cross-cultural borrowing rooted in respect, reciprocity and remuneration. Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this weekly series, BoF’s chief correspondent will go behind the scenes of the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry. Fashion has the ability to move markets, shake up cultural norms and even transform society. But who — and what — are the forces driving major change? We’re answering that question on The Debrief, a new weekly podcast series from The Business of Fashion, where we go beyond the industry’s glossy veneer to understand how the fashion business is evolving, from the inside out. Hosted by BoF’s chief correspondent Lauren Sherman, The Debrief will be your guide into the megalablels, indie upstarts and unforgettable personalities shaping the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry. Each week, Lauren will take you through BoF Professional story — in conversation with our correspondents and industry experts — to unpack the analysis and insights you need to know to navigate an industry undergoing rapid change.From the rise of direct-to-consumer disruptors, to the rapid consolidation of the luxury industry, to cultural shifts turning beauty upside down. BoF covers it all. Search for 'The Debrief' and make sure to follow wherever you get your podcasts to never miss an episode. Join BoF Professional today with an exclusive 25% discount on an annual membership, follow the link here. Email Lauren with your feedback, ideas and tips at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.