Fashion Culture Design

Dubbed a Chinese couturier Grace trained in New York and now uses the finest artisanship in China to create her brand of couture for clients like Helen Mirren, Oprah Winfrey and China’s political elite. Working in the world of fashion during the time of China’s recent evolution Grace has a unique perspective on the culture. And seeing New York as one of the first Chinese students to study fashion there was another eye-opener. Listen to her story as she prepares to show her collection at the China Fashion Gala in NYC

Siblings who grew up above the family store in Paris. They learned their trade from learned from their grandfather who founded the company and their father who remains as Chairman and guiding light. Jean Cassegrain and Sophie Delafontaine have brought in Kate Moss, Tracy Emin, Alexa Chung, Hood By Air’s Shayne Oliver and now Kendall Jenner, so they’re quietly getting radical. Hear their secrets and some fabulous French accents

The butcher’s son who lost his name, dressed France’s First Lady along with many of Hollywood’s, got his name back, has maisons in Mayfair and Madison Avenue, was once a model, sounds French and yet doesn’t drink coffee. Ladies and gentlemen FCD’s latest podcast is with the youthful and exuberant Roland Mouret.

On the last day of fashion week, Jenné Lombardo (MADE Fashion Week and The Terminal Presents) and Matt Scanlan (CEO & Founder, NAADAM) joined Simon Collins and our friends at NeueHouse for the FCD Salon Series; an unfiltered conversation on how to start and maintain a fashion business. From how to measure success, the good that comes from failure, Alex Wang throwbacks and crossing the Gobi Desert, Matt and Jenné tell all on what it really takes to make it in this industry. In case you missed the live conversation or want to hear it again, listen here.

When you’ve been on first name terms with Naomi and Kate since they began, and Francois-Henri Pinault asks for your opinion because you are speaking for an entire industry, then you have an important voice. James Scully is a casting director with a past that includes Charivari, Tom Ford and Stella McCartney. During the Fashion Culture Design Unconference in 2016 he made an impassioned plea for better treatment of models and cited some shocking examples of mistreatment. He continued his campaign on the Business of Fashion’s Voices stage and most notably during Paris Fashion Week in March 2017. Here he talks about how he got where he is, what makes him mad and what he plans to do about it.

From escaping the Iranian revolution to launching the wildly successful Milk Makeup line. Along the way Rassi co-founded Milk, the world’s coolest photo studios, created 9 other companies, and revolutionized New York Fashion Week by launching MADE - a FREE runway venue for young designers. Fun Fact - the launch party of MADE had Kendrick Lamar filling the Milk loading dock with enough sub base woofers to literally bring down the neighborhood (no joke - they had to unplug some of them). Here he talks about being a refugee in Champagne Illinois and how New York Made him.

If you were a boy in the 70’s and 80’s did you have a picture of Farah Fawcett in that red swimsuit on your wall? (It’s in the Smithsonian now btw). So why haven’t you been following Norma Kamali more closely since then? What is wrong with you? She is a pioneer in so much that many people are only recently discovering. Online sales? Non-traditional retail? VR Collection launch? Shop at home like a celeb? Female empowerment? Wellness? All this and she was wooed by D J Trump when he first built his Tower. Saying no to his offer isn’t something she regrets. All this and more from the legend that is Norma Kamali.

Proud Texas boy Brandon has friends in high places and he got them by hard work, determination and being nice. All qualities that are within reach of us all. He studied photography, made it as a stylist, and now is known for his fashion collection as much as his continued styling and pictures. Charming effusive and humble Brandon takes us on a tour of his career from the lone star sate to being BFFs with Lady Gaga and other household names.

Leandra Medine thinks hard about what’s going on in her head, then she shares it through her massively successful online empire Man Repeller. She’s like a millennial Carrie Bradshaw. From launching an online business that was hailed as a success exactly three days after it launched, to the impossible heartbreak, and all the emotions in between. Candid, funny and disarmingly honest Leandra takes us into her world and joins us in a timely lollypop salute to Lt Theo P Kojak (obviously). To quote the late great detective, ‘Who Loves ya baby?'

Mary Alice Stephenson gives a sparkling A-Z guide to her life and career from arriving in NYC and being hand-selected by Anna Wintour as a Vogue intern, to hosting events with Michelle Obama in the Whitehouse. Along the way her publishing credits include Fashion Director, editor, and stylist for Vogue, Allure, Marie Claire, Esquire, Seventeen, Oprah Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar. Then there are the years commenting on style, fashion and the red carpet for CNN, NBC, The Today Show and countless other shows. And yet if you follow her social media you’d think her entire life is devoted to helping people through her charity GLAM4GOOD. Whether it’s wounded veterans, women in difficult situations, or children benefiting from Make-a-Wish, Mary Alice always answers yes. And yet the last flood of messages she received were vicious hate mail after she failed to insult the first lady’s outfits on CNN. What a life. What a gal.