Tech Powered Luxury

By Ashley McDonnellBusiness Entrepreneurship

Tech Powered Luxury episodes

September 30, 2024Oceanus: From Swimwear to Eveningwear with Founder & Designer Hannah Attallah
Hannah Attalah’s journey with Oceanus began with her love for fashion and hand-embroidery. After studying at the London College of Fashion and working with big names like Donna Karan and Jenny Packham, Hannah realized her true passion lays in textiles and elaborate designs. Her work with the intricacies of evening wear and the management of different hand-beading techniques ultimately led her to founding Oceanus, where she could express her love for color, texture, and craftsmanship.
Hannah Attalah is the founder of Oceanus, a London-based luxury brand that is renowned for its intricate hand-embellished swimwear and bold designs inspired by the founder’s love of fashion and textiles.

Oceanus stands out for its distinctive use of hand-beading, sustainable fabrics, and vibrant colors. The brand has achieved international recognition, being featured from the beginning in top retailers like Neiman Marcus and Revolve, while also boasting a strong celebrity following.

The growing demand for luxury swimwear, driven by sustainability, experiential luxury, and social media influence, is consolidating swimwear into a statement of status, with the market projected to reach $30.8 billion by 2032.

ABOUT
Season 5 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you by luxury and tech entrepreneur Ashley McDonnell. With 10 years of experience working at the crossroads of luxury and technology, Ashley carved out a career across Paris, Dublin and Geneva, working at LVMH, Dior, Google and luxury group PUIG. The podcast is also taught as a module at leading business and design schools around the world, with the goal to share insightful and actionable stories and experience from industry leaders.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Videography: Ben O’Neill and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch, Grace Slattery and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
49 min
September 23, 2024Dr Vali: The Pioneer of Luxury Biohacking
Welcome to our Season 5 premier of Tech Powered Luxury! Get ready for our first episode to be recorded live from Selfridge's in London with the incredible Dr Vali.
Dr. Vali is a leading figure in luxury wellness, known for her innovative approach that combines extensive medical expertise with cutting-edge biohacking techniques. What glues it all together? Her integrity.

Biohacking is the practice of making lifestyle changes to enhance health and performance, ranging from simple diet modifications to advanced medical techniques. The global biohacking market is growing rapidly, reflecting a rising consumer demand for personalized wellness solutions.

Luxury brands like La Mer are already exploring this space by offering exclusive wellness experiences for their top clients. These activations not only enhance customer loyalty but also significantly increase sales, creating new opportunities for luxury brands to expand their reach into wellness.

Our Community Rewards this week are brought to you by the Iconic Offices, keep reading to find out what we’ve got for you!
ABOUT
Season 5 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you by luxury and tech entrepreneur Ashley McDonnell. With 10 years of experience working at the crossroads of luxury and technology, Ashley carved out a career across Paris, Dublin and Geneva, working at LVMH, Dior, Google and luxury group PUIG. The podcast is also taught as a module at leading business and design schools around the world, with the goal to share insightful and actionable stories and experience from industry leaders.

NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/

THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Videography: Ben O’Neill and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch, Grace Slattery and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
53 min
August 05, 2024Content Creator Turned Tech Founder: Limitless Influencing with Lauren Arthurs
This week, we are thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with Lauren Arthurs, the Irish influencer who has created her own app to solve what most influencers and content creators struggle with: the lack of a one-stop solution to edit and manage content.
Lauren Arthurs is a fashion and lifestyle influencer from Ireland who started her career with a blog in 2012, and just recently launched her own app, LA Edit, to solve all the inefficiencies related to content creation.

We explore the work routine and the behind the scenes of an influencer and how to organize yourself to create content, from sourcing inspiration all the way to managing your organic content around branded ad campaigns.

Brand partnerships 101: from finding the right match to understanding when brand partnership are successful, Lauren stresses the importance of authenticity and consistency to keep audiences engaged and ensure coherence in your online presence.
ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
49 min
July 29, 2024From Racing Teams to Chasing Dreams: Building A Lifestyle Food Brand with Nutbutter's Paddy Hogan
Paddy Hogan's transition from the adrenaline-fueled realm of Formula 1 to the dynamic, health-focused dining world of Nutbutter is an intriguing mix of entrepreneurship, innovation, and personal evolution.
The core reason behind Nutbutter was creating a healthy lifestyle that combined efficient operations, great design and a better quality of work (and life balance) to everyone involved. Their founding values? Work smarter, not harder.

Drawing from Paddy Hogan’s experiences with Lewis Hamilton, we explore the dynamic intersection of fashion and Formula 1. In recent years, these two worlds have increasingly merged, showcasing how luxury and high-performance racing influence and inspire each other.
The common denominator between Paddy Hogan, Formula 1, Fashion and Luxury? Lewis Hamilton.
He coached Paddy Hogan for a Renault Championship just after having won it himself the year prior, and instilled in Nutbutter’s founder the essential soft skills that define a winning crew, “he just had that championship mindset”, says Paddy.
Formula 1 isn't just about racing; it's a dynamic blend of luxury, fashion, and cutting-edge technology. The world of Formula 1 has always attracted high-end brands and designers, drawn by the sport's inherent glamour and global reach. From the sleek designs of the cars to the personal style of the drivers, fashion started to play a crucial role in the identity of Formula 1.

ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
47 min
July 22, 2024Where Fashion Meets Innovation: The Fashion Innovation Agency with Matthew Drinkwater
This week we explore the role of education in the sweet spot of where technology meets fashion: how to foster experiential learning to educate the upcoming generation of fashion leaders.
Matthew Drinkwater is at the forefront of the Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) at the London College of Fashion (LCF), driving the integration of technology and fashion education.

The FIA acts as a bridge between the fashion industry and emerging tech, promoting experiential learning by allowing students to work hands-on with AI, AR, VR, and other emerging technologies. Fostering innovation in education is crucial for developing creative problem-solvers who can push the boundaries of traditional fashion practices.

One of the roles of education is defining the applications of tech in fashion, and creating a space where conversations can happen openly, where boundaries, ethics and best-practices are discussed and implemented through trial and error, creating a blueprint for future professionals.
ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
44 min
July 15, 2024Why Rental is The Future of Fashion with Rachel Hennessy from Happy Days
This week, we are thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with Rachel Hennessy, founder of fashion rental Happy Days.
Are you new here? Welcome to our amazing community - keep reading to discover everything about Tech Powered Luxury, our Community Rewards and Substack.
Rachel Hennessy leveraged her experience at KPMG and Google before launching her own fashion rental Happy Days in Ireland. The driving force behind the project? Searching for a solution to replace countless one-time purchases that would eventually go to waste.

The starting approach set the grounds for her success: understanding what people around her were looking for, and how to include that in her business. The result is a consumer-centric business model that is translated into different services and experiences.

Rental as a business model is nothing new in the industry, but ensuring profitability, let alone long-term business health, is still a tricky balance between operating costs and revenues.
ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
50 min
July 08, 2024 Cryo-Powered Beauty Start-Up to Scale-Up with Seoulista Beauty Founder Una McGurk
Join us for Episode 7 of Season 4 with Una McGurk, founder of Seoulista Beauty, a brand that focuses on bringing salon-standard skin experiences to your home with two concepts at the core: cooling temperatures and applying pressure, techniques that allow for changing and improving the texture of skin.
From their award winning Instant Facial masks (created with 100% biodegradable fermented coconut) to their innovative and easy to use tools, Una shares a wealth of knowledge on Seoulista's journey from start-up to scale-up.

ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co

50 min
July 03, 2024Save Your Wardrobe - Save the Planet! with LVMH Innovation Award Winner Hasna Kourda
This week, we are thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with Hasna Kourda, the award-winning Tunisian entrepreneur, founder of Save Your Wardrobe. Hasna is tackling some of the most complicated issues in the fashion industry: the creation of a circular business model, facilitating care and repair to increase a product’s lifecycle.
Hasna Kourda’s upbringing in Tunisia shaped her vision to solve one of the biggest issues in the fashion system: turning a linear business model into a circular one.

Going from “production to consumption to waste” into “production to consumption to repair and recycle to a new production” is no easy feat. There are several external components that influence our purchasing drivers and the system demand creation. Becoming aware of them is the first step into changing them.

Not everything is lost. Hasna is bridging the gap and distributing the responsibility between brands and consumers when it comes to managing a product’s lifecycle. There are other initiatives and players who are also creating a more sustainable future.
ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
49 min
July 02, 2024 Manifesting the Goop Cruise with Gwyneth Paltrow and Attending the Venice Film Festival with Giorgio Armani: A Career of Dreams with Triona McCarthy
Get ready for an episode packed with humour and celebrity encounters with none other than Irish media icon Triona McCarthy. From studying to be a beauty therapist to following her goal to work at the crossroads of fashion, beauty and media, Triona McCarthy takes us on a whirlwind journey through her incredibly exciting life. Wherever you are listening from, we hope this episode brings you laughter and the inspiration to chase your wildest dreams!
ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.
LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.
NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/
THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
1 hr 14 min
June 24, 2024How To Build A Blockbuster Brand Online, From Fashion To Beauty & Beyond with Strike Digital
This week, we are thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with David De Patoul & Richard McSweeney, the co-founders of Strike Digital. We bring to you a masterclass on all things digital marketing: how to start, what to keep your focus on and how to succeed in a crowded market, leveraging David and Richard’s expertise on how to best work with the algorithms on different platforms.
David De Patoul & Richard McSweeney were both working in Meta when they spotted a gap in the market: there were a lot of digital marketing agencies that worked in the platform on a day-to-day basis but didn’t know how to get the best results out of it.

Their internal knowledge of the do’s and don’ts of Meta and their expertise of the digital ecosystem in its entirety helped brands to have a solid strategy and secure return on investments. Their guaranteed successful approach allowed them to scale not only their clients’ businesses, but especially their own agency: hiring in-house experts from Google and TikTok to serve brands with a 360º approach.

What is a digital strategy? How do you know when to start investing in paid media? What do you need to keep an eye on when doing so? How do you leverage each platform’s target and algorithm to the best of your investment?

ABOUT
Season 4 of Tech Powered Luxury is brought to you in partnership with Seoulista Beauty, a cryo-powered skincare brand, as well as our sponsors, Sinead Keary the Label and Digital Luxury Group.

LISTENER BENEFITS
Tech Powered Luxury listeners benefit from a 20% discount on https://seoulistabeauty.com/ and https://sineadkeary.com/ with the code TPL20, as well as a complementary perspective on building your brands strategy for China with Digital Luxury Group. Email [email protected] to organise your consultation.

NEWSLETTER & COMMUNITY REWARDS
Each week, we bring a dedicated newsletter as well as Community Rewards to Tech Powered Luxury listeners. Subscribe to our substack to have full access: https://techpoweredluxury.substack.com/

THE TECH POWERED LUXURY TEAM
Producer & Host: Ashley McDonnell
Partnerships: Cliona Jordan
Videography: Ben O’Neill, Christos Celniku and Morgan Prudhomme
Photography: Anastasiia Redko, Anastasiia Lopushynska and Madeline Gillespie
Production Assistants: Abigail Herbert, Gemma Brennan, Tessa Haughton Lynch and Klaudia Skierska
Newsletter: Beatriz Barros
Styling: Johanna Dooley
Styling Assistants: Cian Crowe and Alison Murphy
Social Media Management: Grace Slattery
Public Relations: Align Agency
Content Creation: Kinsman & Co
1 hr 10 min