Carton d'invitation

Claudia Mason: Supermodel, author, actress, stroke thriver and Life Coach. 

Claudia walked fashion runways in The Golden Age and now has another kind of "super life" as a coach, helping others get unstuck and centred. Author of "Finding the Supermodel in You" and also spokesperson for The American Stroke Association (ASA), Claudia has many dimensions and lots of stories to tell. It was special for me to catch up with Claudia after many years and ask her about what it felt like to be swept up in the glamourous fashion world of the 90s and how she certified for a new career in coaching.

Discovered in her early teens in a record shop in Manhattan, the young ballerina had braces on her teeth and was wearing a backbrace for scoliosis. She was quickly catapulted into the studios of the top photographers of the world; but her parents didn't let her leave for the runways of Paris until she finished high school. Claudia has an insider's perspective on the glitz and the hard work being one of that small and fascinating group of women who emerged as "90s Supermodels".

Charming, warm and funny, Claudia recounts her adventures - the ups and the downs - and she talks about why she wrote a book as a guide for young people  interested in working as models or in the entertainment industry in general; the book is for their parents too!

You can see a short video trailer for this podcast at: https://youtu.be/K682-dTs3tU

To contact Claudia for coaching or just learn more about her work:

www.claudiamason.com

Claudia Mason - Spiritual Life Coach CLC/ Human Capital Group

Original music for this podcast was composed by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos. Find more music by Ashley at https://vithmakesmusic.carrd.co/

Follow @cartond'invitation on IG for more about Claudia Mason - and my documentary project.

Meet Maltese-Australian Anto Christ, a Berlin-based creator who scultps in crochet, paints in neon and wears her art on the street. A proponent of adornism - and of "particpating in your life", Anto is a liberating person to listen to on fashion and its power to "bloom" a person! Her recent solo show Divine Mutations at Transparent Forum in Berlin was well received but as you will see Anto Christ is not just about galleries – her whole life is a work of art – and fashion.  

"Stratosphere", the original music for this podcast was composed and performed by Ashley Rivera of Toronto. LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M71ohUImaRw

Video trailer for this podcast on youtube: https://youtu.be/ks1v1Wxfi0w

Visit @antochrist on Instagram to discover more of the world of Anto Christ!

@cartondinvitation on Instagram to learn more about this ongoing project.

My reunion with French couturier and inventor Olivier Lapidus.

Olivier has dressed everyone from Celine Dion to Amal Clooney. Designing haute couture from a young age, Olivier came by his talent naturally as his father was Ted Lapidus, iconic designer in the swinging 60s and 70s who dressed John Lennon among many others and his mother Veronique Zuber was Miss France, a model and an actress. In the 90s, Olivier took over design at the house of Lapidus – and it was there that I interviewed him many times for Fashion Television – the program I reported for back in the day and that I'm making a documentary about now. 

In this episode, we meet again after almost 25 years and have lots to reminisce about.

Olivier won the Golden Thimble in 1994 and also created collections for Balmain and Lanvin but he was never satisfied just designing clothes. For more than thirty years, Olivier has been working with craftspeople and scientists to patent cutting edge inventions in fibre, light-technology and more. 

Long ago, Olivier took my cameraman and me with him to Pakistan to meet Benazir Bhutto and cut the ribbon at the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, a ground-breaking school he helped found. We share our memories of interviewing a frankly feminist Benazir who sent us her own limousine to drive around Islamabad.

Olivier's latest work is with the Lucibelle group on the Ove Mask for Dior - and as far as I can tell, it means we can all say goodbye to wrinkles!

We take time to talk about Olivier's talented wife Yara who reinvented herself after an accident; she was a designer, now she has hit records on Billboard. Find her beautiful music in the link below - and lots of links to the rich story of Olivier Lapidus, a tireless inventor who embodies French style.

https://www.instagram.com/olivierlapidusofficial/

https://www.lucibelleparis.com

https://www.cafedeladanse.com/event/yara-lapidus/

Original music for this podcast is courtesy of Ashley Rivera, Chloe Tsu and Myla Carlos.

Leon The Singer is a Berlin-based singer/composer/dancer whose new album The Noise Beside Your Thoughts is as catchy as it is honest. This podcast episode will have you tapping your feet - maybe even dancing a little - as Leon and I explore the three-year process of creating an album which has caught the attention of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Leon talks about his craft, his inspiration - and some of the doubts he had to cast off to create an "openly queer" album. Leon says he wrote these songs for himself as a teenager; creating representation he wished he'd had growing up.  While resonating with the LGBTQ+ community, the "Noise" is an album that speaks to everyone both in its playful and its vulnerable moments.

Leon The Singer is on Spotify and Bandcamp as well as Instagram @leonthesinger. 

Find Leon's music videos on his Youtube channel: Leon The Singer  https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCG8iGmUCH__CKdh-Vdxi8Xg

A contemporary artist and conceptual designer, Jo Cope plays with the semiotics of dress. From her recent work at The Garden Museum in London, to the Venice Design Biennale to her out-of-the box fashion activism in support of Shelter, the UK homeless charity, Jo pushes boundaries and questions fashion's evolving role within art and society.

Jo adapts traditional shoe making techniques to create handcrafted metaphorical and symbolic artworks which use the shoe as a vessel to explore notions of being human. 

Warm and funny, Jo talks to me about all those conceptual shoes, about her boundless curiousity - and about her dyslexia. Jo is a dyslexic artist and believes that her neurodiversity is a key attribute to her practice.  

A portrait of Jo recently became a billboard on the London Design Museum to celebrate neurodiversity during London Craft Week.

Jo was also instrumental in the creation of the new "Fashion For Social Change Award" for Graduate Fashion Week with Shelter UK.

Julian Warner says his body is a canvas; his fashion style is eclectic, disruptive - and joyous. A delightful raconteur, Julian has tales of a lifetime of travel from Easter Island to Tibet. Julian directs us to good vintage shopping in international capitals – and explains how he came to own a thousand shirts.

Join me in conversation about race, disruption, clothing as communication. Do come along and enjoy this man’s contagious joie de vivre.

Julian has 11000 fans of his style and travel inspiration on Instagram @vita.allegra.

Learn more about this podcast series @cartondinvitation

Yossi Fisher: from the front row at fashion shows in Milan to rolling up his sleeves to help build fashion brands. Yossi is a guru, advising fashion brands about how to play the long game, stay authentic and show empathy towards the customer base. Yossi has insights on how to become a fashion influencer, what faux pas to avoid and what practices to embrace. He has unothodox opinions about fashion schools and advice for aspiring fashion designers.

Very usefully, Yossi also offers advice on how optimize Instagram, Tiktok, Linked In, Facebook, apps and newsletters to promote your brand.

This epsiode is basically a free brand consultation - enjoy!

To learn more: yossifisher.com

Instagram: @yossi_fisher

To learn more about this overall project visit @cartondinvitation on Instagram

Yossi Fisher: from the front row at fashion shows in Milan to rolling up his sleeves to help build fashion brands. Yossi is a guru, advising fashion brands about how to play the long game, stay authentic and show empathy towards the customer base. Yossi has insights on how to become a fashion influencer, what faux pas to avoid and what practices to embrace. He has unothodox opinions about fashion schools and advice for aspiring fashion designers. 

Very usefully, Yossi also offers advice on how optimize Instagram, Tiktok, Linked In, Facebook, apps and newsletters to promote your brand. 

This epsiode is basically a free brand consultancy - enjoy!

To learn more: yossifisher.comn

 Instagram: @yossi_fisher

To learn more about this overall project visit @ cartondinvitation on Instagram

Former model, master tailor, fashion designer, Alexis Mersmann in conversation about their beautiful new collection created using denim found on the streets of Berlin (and other places too)!  Alexis shares thoughts on many issues: gender fluidity, sustainability, sizing in fashion, day to day life in Berlin - and growing up on a dairy farm in the German countryside. Besides fashion collections, Alexis creates costumes for theatre, film, drag kings and drag queens.  

To encounter Alexis in person and see their inventive designs, go to the podcast video trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Iv6q-wdng

Find @alexismermaid on Instagram 

Follow @cartondinvitation on Instagram to learn more about this podcast series and Nancy Devitt Tremblay's associated documentary film project.

This episode explores Alexis' ideas about what fashion should say, how a well cut garment can make a person feel and all the different places inspiration can be found. It also offers a revealing glimpse into the world of fashion modelling.

Carton d’invitation is a podcast that celebrates creative people - expressing themselves through fashion, music and design. Self-reflective moments with creators motivated by the search for beauty - and community.

These are people whose creative explorations help us all feel seen.

Along the way, you will learn how to design a garment, compose a pop song, create a brand, become an influencer or make a movie. Most especially, you will hear how my guests became comfortable being just who they are.

Hear perspectives from Berlin, London, Toronto, Milan and Paris.

I’m Nancy Devitt Tremblay and I’ve been a TV interviewer for the CBC and for the iconic Fashion Television; I covered fashion in Paris during the Golden Age in the 1990s and I’m currently working on a documentary about that experience. I’m meeting all kinds of creative people now on my journey so I’m creating portraits of these interesting folks in this podcast series.

I do hope you come along on this adventure with me as I travel around the world meeting people who just can’t help but live their lives expressively - maybe they are already famous, maybe they are on their way or maybe they have just figured out the secret to enjoying a life of self expression and creativity for its own sake.

During its first season, this podcast was known as Teaching the Teacher.  And those conversations are still available here too - featuring accomplished under-30's, talking about how they figured out who they wanted to be: a chef, a best-selling author, an immunologist, an astrophysicist, a diplomat, a doctor, a podcast star, a hedge fund trader...and many more.

Music: Leon The Singer

Follow @cartondinvitation on Instagram