American Fashion Podcast

A lingerie brand and an accessories brand, both relatively new companies, both selling some wholesale and some direct to consumer, both making a name for themselves in the marketplace. This is a conversation with Aaron Luo, CEO of Caraa (which is designed by Carmen Chen Wu), and Thistle and Spire founders Lily Chen and Maggie Bacon. Their approaches to the redefined marketplace and new selling dynamics, despite existing in relatively disparate product sectors, are remarkably aligned.

Links:
Caraa – http://www.caraasport.com/
Thistle and Spire – https://www.thistleandspire.com/

To find more episodes of the series or search for a specific guest, refer to our Episode List page. If you would like to be a guest on the show, there is a Be A Guest page. You can find press coverage of the show on our Press page. There is also a Media Kit if you’re interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the series. Our email address is [email protected] and our voicemail line is 646-979-8709. You can find American Fashion Podcast on Facebook, on Instagram @americanfashionshow and on Twitter @afpod. To sign up to attend our live shows, visit the Live Shows page. Thanks for listening!

Elizabeth Pulos is an expert in the field of CSR, or Corporate Social Responsibility, and has been an overseas factory inspector in many places around the world. In this interview, she speaks about her experiences in China, Bangladesh, and South America, and how compliance issues affect the fashion supply chain.

We have a large number of technical references for this episode:

• Sustainable Accounting Standards Board – SASB – https://www.sasb.org/
• Global Reporting Initiative – GRI – https://www.globalreporting.org/
• Social & Labor Convergence Project – https://slconvergence.org/
• Sustainable Apparel Coalition – https://apparelcoalition.org/
• Maker’s Row – https://makersrow.com/
• Accord on Fire and Building Safety In Bangladesh – http://bangladeshaccord.org/
• Alliance For Bangladesh Worker Safety – http://www.bangladeshworkersafety.org/
• Glasgow Caledonian New York College Fair Fashion Center – https://www.gcnyc.com/fairfashioncenter/

In the mid-1970s the Macys flagship store’s main floor was decorated with bedsheet patterns and bargain bins of dinnerware. The man who changed it, and changed much of how merchandising and retail works is Joe Cicio.

“When you’re distinctive through merchandising, you become an attraction.”

Joseph Cicio – Friends Bearing Gifts (Amazon)

It’s South American Fashion Podcast this week, as we talk with Carlos Jereissati, CEO of Iguatemi, about how his company manages and promotes the most popular malls in Brazil. The conversation covers a bit of South American fashion and a lot of insight on Brazillian fashion culture.

“The mall industry in Brazil is a very different industry from the U.S. First, because our cities are designed differently. They’re much more dense and vertical cities, comparable more to the Asian type of cities than the typical American cities, especially when you think about the suburbs and where the malls started in the U.S. So, we are more in downtown areas, very dense, and we became this meeting point for people. And half of what we have inside our malls are leisure, lots of restaurants, lots of services like fitness centers. We have live theater exhibition areas. So, it’s a much more alive environment that has retail in it, and it’s become very much a part of life in the cities of Brazil.” – Carlos Jereissati

Iguatemi:

http://iguatemi.com.br/

Iguatemi Talks (conferences):

https://iguatemi.com.br/iguatemitalks/

Get invited to our live events:

https://americanfashionpodcast.com/american-fashion-podcast-live/

Kristy Caylor is one of the co-founders of the wildly influential luxury sustainable fashion brand Maiyet, as well as former President of Band of Outsiders. Kristy recently launched her latest business venture called ‘For Days,’ a new circular retail model that addresses the need for fresh basics without costing the environment. The premise is simple – endless access to new, 100% organic t-shirts, made in LA, starting at $4 each. Once you stain, rip, or wear-out a shirt, you just send it back to be recycled, and For Days will send you a new one.

In this interview she discusses the company’s interesting new approach to recycling textiles with the active involvement of consumers. She also talks about her experiences working with the World Economic Forum.

• https://fordays.com/

Sara Rotman is the Chief Brand Officer at sustainability-focused clothing brand Les Lunes, and she is rebranding Les Lunes while it rolls down the highway. Such action would not typically be advisable without a full stop, but Sara is a professional, and in this interview, you’ll certainly hear why.

“We are all about strong opinions and soft clothes.”

Sara’s background is in art direction and marketing design, which began in the music industry, developing album covers and running photoshoots for record labels, and then evolved into a strategy career for advertising agencies. She founded her own agency, servicing major clients from Nina Ricci to Carolina Herrera to Tory Burch. After 20 years she sold the agency she started and has gone looking for new challenges, which led her to Les Lunes. She discusses her approach to helping established brands change their message and approach to consumers to cope with a changing marketplace.

“You know, you think you’re speaking to a 25-year-old urban woman. Well, maybe you were 10 years ago, but that woman has grown up with the brand and she’s moved on, and she’s in the suburbs now, as an example. And the current 25-year-old urban woman maybe isn’t so aware, or interested… or believed that you’re her mother’s brand. And I think that’s sometimes not obvious to the brands that I’ve worked with in the past.” – Sara Rotman

Michele Gerber Klein is a philanthropist and the president of legacy clothing brand Joan Vass. She recently published an extensive new biography, Charles James: Portrait of An Unreasonable Man. It is the first full biographical work on Charles James, one of the most influential designers of the 20th Century. This interview with the biographer explores how the book came about and touches on several key periods of the designer’s life, as well as his major influences.

purchase Portrait of An Unreasonable Man on Amazon

Michele Gerber Klein is a philanthropist and the president of legacy clothing brand Joan Vass. She recently published an extensive new biography, Charles James: Portrait of An Unreasonable Man. It is the first full biographical work on Charles James, one of the most influential designers of the 20th Century. This interview with the biographer explores how the book came about and touches on several key periods of the designer's life, as well as his major influences.

purchase Portrait of An Unreasonable Man on Amazon

A conversation about sustainable fashion, featuring Luna Atamian Hahn-Petersen of sustainability and social impact consulting firm Salterbaxter, Nicole Heim of ethical and sustainable fashion brand Cienne, and Saloni Shrestha of the ethical fashion brand AGAATI.

“Even just understanding sustainability, it’s so complicated. I think having experts in your corner is the only way to go. I don’t care if you’re big or small, just because it’s such a complex topic and people are so scared to talk about it, so if you are going to talk about it I think it’s good to feel confident in what you’re saying.” – Nicole Heim

• https://agaati.com/
• https://ciennenewyork.com/
• http://www.salterbaxter.com/
• https://fabscrap.org/

The iconic California Style designer, Trina Turk, reflects on changes in her company’s approach to commerce and responding to customer needs.

“At the heigh of the contemporary market, our customers wanted new deliveries every single month, and that’s how we ended up with eleven. We don’t deliver in December or January or something like that. But, because there is so much product out there, and because of the whole shift in the way people are shopping, we’re really starting to question whether eleven deliveries per year is still necessary.” – Trina Turk

“Really what it makes sense to make in L.A. are things that are relatively simple styling. And the reason that we’re still able to produce in Los Angeles when many of our competitors no longer produce in Los Angeles is because our styles are more about letting the fabric speak for itself, and we don’t really do lots of complicated fussy styling. Our styles are usually about silhouette and about fabric. And of course there’s detail on the clothing, but we don’t do a lot of super-complicated styling. So what would make sense would be something that had simple lines, not a ton of needlework or sewing detail. Definitely, nothing embellished. Any type of embellishment could not be done in L.A. because it would be too expensive. And you know, our dresses can see from anywhere between, well — you know, we have a less-expensive collection called Trina by Trina Turk, so there may be a dress would be $128, and then our most expensive dresses would be up to $600. So we have a little bit more room to play with pricing in our contemporary world, than if you were in another department in a department store, say.” – Trina Turk

References:

• Trina Turk – https://www.trinaturk.com/
• California Fashion Association – http://calfashion.org/ 

This is the final interview in our Los Angeles mini-series, which looks at the garment industry in Southern California.