American Fashion Podcast

Fashion journalist Dana Thomas is the author of the books Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster and Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, and is currently the foreign correspondent in Paris for Vogue Australia.

“God bless Martin Margiela. I think he was the designer with the most integrity in the last 30 years, because it wasn’t about him, it was about the work.” – Dana Thomas

This interview tracks from growing up in Philadelphia to her change of model to journalist, through the course of her now long study of the fashion industry. What are her thoughts on the Met Gala? Why does she write about process? Her early realization of how fashion connects to culture when heroin chic was trending. Writing for the people, not the clique. Hanging with Tom Ford before PR got militant. The 90s are back in fashion? What is the subject of her next book? How do big brands balance global commerce across multiple markets? Dana reveals that there is an unreleased extended version of Gods and Kings, which is double the length of the commercially available version of the book.

References:

• Tom Sachs
• Denis Diderot

Kathleen Fasanella is the author of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing and founder of the web sites Fashion-Incubator.com: Lessons From The Sustainable Factory Floor and Designer-Entrepreneur.com. In this episode, Kathleen talks with the AFP team via Skype from Albuquerque, New Mexico, about how she got started helping so many designers around the world to figure out the sustainable manufacturing puzzle. She has some great stories about students learning from misunderstandings of how the who apparel making and selling process works, and solid advice on how to approach getting started with making fashion.

Kathleen Fasanella’s Boot Camps

The Albuquerque Fashion Incubator holds apparel manufacturing boot camps on Memorial Day and Labor Day, and they are open to anyone from anywhere.

In the studio with top bridal fashion designers Austin Scarlet, Babi Ahluwalia, and Katharine Polk, talking about why they got into making wedding dresses, new alternative wedding boutiques, and the new ways brides are thinking about their special day.

New York Bridal Market Highlights

KATHARINE: “I don’t design with any rules for the bridal. I definitely have a lot more fun and a feel a lot restricted in terms of what I can do for bridal. I feel like it’s been a lot more accepted when I take chances during the bridal market on the bridal collection than ready to wear. I feel it’s so much more judged, and people are so much more worried about trends, and they wait to follow what the big houses are going to do, and you’re just… you’re locked into so many rules during ready to wear market, then during bridal I can have so much fun without caring about anything else, and the more chances I take, the more it’s accepted. People are enthused by it. Whether it’s color, or crazy silhouettes, or sending a girl down the runway in hot pants or in a fur, whatever it is, I think people are just more enthusiastic about taking those chances and just kind of shaking things up, rather than just seeing the same old. I think, even though it’s just for editorial kind-of shock value, it’s just more fun and a little refreshing. Whether we sell that piece or not, it just brings a smile to peoples faces to see that at a bridal show. But in terms of what we really sell and what I like to use, it’s definitely 99% silks, we’re 100% made in New York, and we definitely stand by that.” (20:26)

BABI: “The department stores, as much as we love and we need them, they run a very archaic model. And for better or worse, we need them. E-commerce is growing for us, we have a little store uptown, brick and mortar, and it matches, for the little push that we’re doing, it matches it. So, it’s really fantastic to see the growth of it, but in a Utopian world it’s brilliant to say, ‘buy now wear now,’ when you’ve got an amazing engine and you can sell it, but you’ve got to own the distribution. Only then, you can absolutely take a hiatus from showing six months ahead. In a perfect world. Until then, it’s a vicious cycle.” (31:33)

KATHARINE: “We ask all our brides where they found us. A huge majority found us on Instagram.” (39:22)

BABI: “How she thinks about a moment in her life. Getting married: important, but not the most important.  So, I think perception of bridal [is changing]. That is what is so exciting about the young millenials and how they think and how they really shop. I mean, there was a department store lady who told me that the millennial bride is the most tattooed bride in generations. And she was going to buy, and if she’s 26 or 28 and she’s a trust fund kid or she’s done well in her initial part of her career, she doesn’t care if she’s buying Chanel or she’s buying something from Nordstrom. But that’s the gal, apparently. And that’s so exciting, I think.”  (1:07:06)

New York Bridal Market References:

• Loho Bride
• Initiatives In Art and Culture’s Sixth Annual Gold Conference

Marvel’s Netflix Costume Designer

Stephanie Maslansky has worked on Marvel Entertainment’s full Netflix lineup, including Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and the upcoming Luke Cage series. She has previously done styling for commercial print advertising, costume design for films, and designed costumes for the television shows Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch, and Oz.

A Director of Many Things

Andrew Ondrejcak, recently the Artist in Residence at the Park Avenue Armory, is an all-around creative director working in theater, fashion show design, and many other visual mediums. He talks here about how he manages it all, balances art and commerce, and where his drive to progress through new work comes from.

We also get into the news… talking about Hedi Slimane’s departure from YSL’s Los Angeles atelier, and his almost immediate replacement with new creative director Anthony Vaccarello. Pierre Bergé is upset that designers are catering to Muslim customers by making religious head coverings, the Navajo are upset that fast fashion crap purveyor Urban Outfitters is selling things that say “Navajo” but are not (and the tribe has the law on their side), CNN is relaunching CNN Style with Derek Blasberg as host but you apparently won’t be able to get it on American cable because it’s only on CNN International, the award winning designers at Ohne Title have been forced to close up shop, and a reporter goes on a journey to Elle and back in trying to interview Rei Kawakubo.

Highlights:

STEPHANIE: “Well you need to create a character. You need to create identifiable moments in that character’s existence on screen that will resonate with whomever is watching, whether it be an old fan or a new fan.” (37:11)

References:

• Ethical Fashion Initiative
• Lalaland Artists
• Matchbook Company
• Wondercon
• Anthony Vaccarello to Yves Saint Laurent (BoF)
• Tribe can seek potentially millions from Urban Outfitters (Pantagraph)
• Survey: Non-celebrity bloggers better influencers than celebrities (RetailDive)
• As Ohne Titel Shutters, Founders Reflect (BoF)
• CNN Relaunches Fashion-Centric TV Show Called ‘CNN Style’ (WWD / paywall)
• Pierre Bergé Shames Designers for Muslim-Centric Collections (The Fashion Law)
• Elle On Earth (Observer.com)

Katharine Zarrella’s Fashion Unfiltered

Katharine Zarrella, former news editor at Style.com, senior editor at V Magazine and VMAN, and prolific contributing fashion writer all over, has branched out on her own with the new fashion site, fashionunfiltered.com, which seems to have a cleaner mission than any we’ve seen in the recent past.

We’re joined in the studio for this episode by WWD‘s Media Editor Alexandra Steigrad.

highlights:

KATHARINE: “I would like to shift the consumer focus away from the Kardashians and whoever is wearing whatever on the red carpet, and make them think about the clothes that they’re putting on their body, whether it’s from a conceptual and artistic perspective, whether it’s from a green perspective (you know, what is this doing to the environment, how is this affecting other people, how are the factories that are making these things affecting the factory workers), and I just want people to be excited about fashion. I want them to love fashion as much as I do, and see all the different facets and sides of the industry.” (5:28)

KATHARINE: “What’s online needs to be a little more digestible, whereas print is an opportunity to really dive in to these incredible stories that are visual, or journalism, and kind of lose yourself in it as you would with a book, and I think that’s what’s happening with print. It’s a tangible thing that’s precious and kind of luxurious in a wold that feels very impermanent and fleeting. It’s something to get lost in and hold on to.” (35:57)

KATHARINE: “If you’re not breaking a story, there’s no rush to get it up. And, I think, so many editors think that, “oh, my God, Womenswear just broke that this is happening at Lanvin. We need to get somethign up about it ASAP!” No you don’t. If you don’t have anythign to say about it that’s different than the Womenswear story, you don’t need to get it up ASAP. Send out a tweet and maybe link to the Womenswear story (which is obviously not great for clicks for you site) or just send out something that’s informational. But if you’re not breaking the story, you don’t need to be first. Wait until you have something to add.” (43:06)

ALEXANDRA: “When you hear certain CEOs of big magazine companies talk about future plans, they’re talking about their advertising partners as if, ‘we’re creating content for them.’ There’s a shift in thinking there, and it’s problematic. You guess you can do a great video, but it has to be sponsored by ‘brand X,’ and I think throwing money at a journalist and letting them go crazy is not really what’s happening right now.” (59:15)

references:

• RewardStyle
• SHOWstudio

This episode is going to be HUGE.

Trump Model Management is being sued for allegedly fraudulent paperwork on a model’s H1B visa application. We thought this would be a good opportunity to go deep on the subject of the global model management industry.

The Model Management Industry

Writer and former fashion model Madeline Hill talks about her experiences globetrotting for four agencies, then former modeling agency in-house counsels Ali Grace Marquart and Doreen Small, of the law firm Marquart & Small, LLP, are in the studio to talk about the standards and practices of this small but uncommonly influential business. Guest co-host lawyer Rob Sanchez of the Fashion Is Your Business podcast.

some topics covered in this episode:

Why is the same visa that’s used for foreign tech workers being used for fashion models? Why are they called model management companies and not agencies anymore? What rights do models have when they get into uncomfortable situations? How can designers help make sure the kids they hire to model aren’t getting exploited? What are parents’ responsibilities in regards to contracts, nutrition, and other accountability? What changed between the propriety of Eileen Ford and the John Casablancas era that took models into a hyper-sexual pop culture realm, and has the tide turned back now? What makes this business so aspirational and voyeuristic? What is the right of publicity in social media?

An organization called The Model Alliance (“giving a voice to the faces of the fashion industry”) is working to change laws and support models with education and emergency services.

references:

• Disaster For Republicans As Donald Trump Is Being Sued For Violating Immigration Law
• Best Response Ever to Thin Model Wearing Plus Size Clothes
• 30 Ethical Fashion Brands You Need To Know
• Ennio and Carlo Capasa Leave Costume National (BoF)
• Why You Shouldn’t Launch a Label Straight Out of School (BoF)
• Girl Model (documentary / Netflix)
• PreeLine
• Fashion Law Institute

Just To Clarify, Robots Don’t Make Your Clothes

Young designers Julie Mollo and Louis Mairone (Dominic Louis) have two very different aesthetics and approaches to business for their companies. Julie’s first client was pop star Katy Perry, and she successfully spins influencer marketing publicity into wholesale and e-commerce sales as a sole operator, while Lou plays a more slow and steady game. This episode gets deep into the mindset of two emerging designers fairly representative of the spectrum: Julie with her off the wall hearts and polka dots pop star costumes sold off the seasonal calendar, Lou with a more traditional but still colorful energetic approach, and both of whom would like consumers to know that soylent fashion is people.

References:

• The Results are in: Examining the Future of New York Fashion Week
• Teachable
• soyouwannabeafashiondesigner.com

World-renowned fashion designer Naeem Khan invites the American Fashion Podcast team into his showroom for a poignant discussion of work, life, and the future of the fashion industry.

Naeem Khan highlights:

• “We have amazing craftsmen in this country. When Italy or Japan, where you have such high paid labor, can produce, why can’t America?” – Naeem Khan (10:05)
• “Unless and until you don’t have something different and something new to offer, if every designer has the same kind of looking clothes, it becomes a nightmare. I was studying the business which is the lower end business of what I do… I walked into stores like Neiman’s, Saks, and… there’s so much product. It made me afraid– how do you find your place in there, number one… number two, how do you make it so it’s viable that the store can sell it and not come back to you and say, ‘we need X million in markdown,’ because the whole thing is done on agreements with the stores, and that is a most dangerous game to play, because if you don’t meet those numbers, the next thing you know, the successful side of your business is going to be coming down with this new business that you’ve started. “- Naeem Khan (36:38)
• “You know, you go up, and you have to come down in order to go back up again, because you need to find that other. What is the next thing? But it always comes. In all of my years of designing, I know that’s it’s a cycle, so don’t get depressed. Hold yourself. You’re going to go through it. It will be all fine.”- Naeem Khan (41:07)
• “It was important to m father and my grandfather that we keep the tradition of the family alive, but my kids grew up in America. So, at first I was very worried that they grew up so modern, they went to Dalton, they went to amazing colleges… that they would not be interested. They would become victim to our society. So, I made it a point that I introduced it to them in the most fun way.”- Naeem Khan (44:31)

references:

• Shinola
• Fixing Fashion: Rethinking the Way We Make, Market and Buy Our Clothes (book)

Lisa Koenigsberg, Timo Rissanen, Daniel Silverstein, and Tabitha St. Bernard are in the studio. Lisa Koenigsberg is the president of Initiatives In Art and Culture, which produces several conferences around the fashion and luxury goods industries, and has one coming up on gold. Timo, Daniel, and Tabitha are zero waste fashion designers, and educators in that field.

zero waste highlights:

• “If I may be so bold as to reduce this to a very simple concept: if you want to be a zero-waste designer, stop throwing things away. You might not have the solution when you start the journey, but if you stop and intercept the issue, which is waste, you an always accumulate a critical mass of your leftovers until the point where they reveal a solution to you.” – Daniel Silverstein (17:12)
• “There’s very few items in our lives in America that we pay the real price for.” – Timo Rissanen (39:49)
• “I think the system is desperate and broken, that we require everyone to run out and fight each other to learn the most, elbow and shove and push to get to the top, and when you get there there is nothing to be had.” – Daniel Silverstein (52:24)
• “But then, I’m so curious, how is H&M making any money? Because if people didn’t get paid to make it, and you can’t make a living working in the store, who’s opening stores?” – Daniel Silverstein (54:29)
• “I would say that I make clothes that are visually dynamic, and that are comfortable, and that are incredibly versatile. I take great pride in the fact that the women who buy my clothing, they wear it constantly. I just got an email from one of my customers and she told me she had a baby about a year ago, and she bought my dress a couple years ago, and she was able to sort of adjust it to fit over her belly. So, that makes me really happy. That’s how I view my clothing. I want my clothing to have a long life. I want it to live a long time in people’s wardrobes. I want them to have a relationship with it. I want them to grow old with it.” – Tabitha St. Bernard (56:36)

references:

• Dosa
• The True Cost (documentary)
• Driving Fashion Forward with Amber Valletta (video)
• Everlane
• Italy’s Fashion Chamber Rejects Immediacy (BoF)
• Diamonds Unleashed by Kara Ross
• Yeohlee

Lee Anderson of the Starkweather outerwear R&D group is in the studio talking about her conferences and focus groups, which she has been using to explore the fashion industry’s chronic issues. The hosts comment on a long list of recent news stories about the industry (see references list below). Charles Beckwith hits the Tranoï New York trade show and talks to designers Charles Harbison (Harbison), Yasmine Rana (Y by Yasmine), Katie Gallagher, and Philip Chu (Ground Zero), along with Tranoï’s CEO David Hadida and Head of Sales Marco Pili.

references:

• Buy Me Once: the online shop for stuff that lasts, from T-shirts to tweezers
• 20 free fashion books to download from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• H&M, M&S Not Fulfilling “Living Wage” Promises, Says New Report
• 9 Female Farmers Changing The Fashion Industry
• When Did Fashion Stop Being About the Clothes?
• The Power of Buying Less by Buying Better
• Zuckerberg Throws Shade At Kanye’s Money Request In The Most Subtle Way
• How Smartphones Are Killing Off the Fashion Show
• It took a lot of skill for Alexander Wang to make clothes that look so trashy
• The Risks of Changing Creative Directors
• It Didn’t Used to Be Like This: Iconic Models Remember Fashion Week
• PR powerhouse Kelly Cutrone is sick and tired of leeches selling invites to her clients’ private Fashion Week shows
• Bizarre Gucci Advertisement Dressed As Content Gets Everything Wrong (WTF)
• Why Brands Should Stop Trying to Control the Message
• New York Fashion Week recap: ethical fashion on the rise
• Fashion Calendar Shake-Up ‘Negates the Dream’ of Luxury, Says Pinault
• One of the Weirdest Fashion Weeks
• How Newspaper Supplements Took On Fashion Magazines
• Wal-Mart Still Outshined by Amazon Despite Spending Billions
• How an Expensive Suit Can Make You Better at Your Job
• MSGM to Ban Social Media at Show