The Business of Fashion Podcast

BoF’s Imran Amed speaks with Alec Leach about his manifesto on how we can move towards a better relationship with fashion.

Background: 

For nearly five years, author Alec Leach worked as an editor at streetwear website Highsnobiety, where he spent his “career telling people to buy stuff.” Leach saw up close the contribution his content was having on overconsumption and the lack of responsibility brands and consumers took for their own part on the climate crisis, both subjects he tackles in his book, “The World Is on Fire But We're Still Buying Shoes.” 

“I love working in the industry. I really, really do,” says Leach. “I think we just all need to accept that we're part of this consumerist machine. And once you accept that, then the kind of potential for positive change becomes clearer.” This week on The BoF Podcast, Leach sits down with BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss how the fashion industry and consumers must change. 

Key Insights:

• During his time at Highsnobiety, Leach attended several events, including the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, focussed on sustainability in the industry. But for all the discussion of supply chain and new technologies, he felt that there wasn’t enough talk about what he saw as the core issue. “No one's really asking why we buy so many things,” he said. “It always comes down to overconsumption.”
• In Leach’s book, he says shopping is part of a consumer's identity because of the role it plays in self expression. “It's important to acknowledge that fashion is intimately connected to our sense of self. That makes shopping a pretty existential experience,” said Amed, quoting Leach’s book. 
• According to Leach, the supply chain is a “nonsensical system” that allows brands to take little accountability for their own manufacturing processes. “Brands aren't really that responsible for what happens in their supply chain, and they're not really responsible for what happens to all these clothes when they're no longer wearable,” said Leach. 
• Leach’s personal experiences in therapy over the course of years helped him dig deeper while writing his book. “That's where a lot of the more psychological and philosophical elements of the book came out, it was about me being in therapy every day, every week and asking myself some very difficult questions afterwards,” he said.

Additional Resources:

• “The World is On Fire But We’re Still Buying Shoes” by Alec Leach: Leach’s debut book or manifesto explores society’s relationship with overconsumption and how consumers can have a better relationship with fashion. 

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The Ugandan-born model how he is finding purpose in pursuing an unconventional career to support his family and the community he comes from.

Background:

At BoF VOICES 2022, fashion model Dennis Okwera spoke about his childhood in Uganda, fleeing home to avoid the violent life of becoming a child soldier in the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army, coming to the UK as a refugee at the age of nine. 

Though he was scouted multiple times while living in the UK, it wasn’t until he was attending university that Okwera decided to pursue modelling. 

This week on the BoF podcast, model Okwera discusses his childhood escaping a guerilla army in Uganda, his adult life as a model in the UK and how he used his success to give back to his community. 

“Let's just be a little bit kinder to each other, especially to refugees. Just see them with an open mindset; we're just looking for security and freedom, that's it really,” said Okwera. 

Key Insights:

• After Okwera was scouted he said at first his father objected to the idea of him modelling. “The first time I got scouted, my dad was like; ‘No, no, you're not doing it.’ You know, this is an African dad who thinks anything outside of education is a complete failure,” he says
• When Okwera first started his modelling career he had the opportunity to work with designer Grace Wales Bonner when she was still a student attending Central Saint Martins. 
• Thanks to his career in modelling, Okwera was able to put his cousins through school and support his aunt who was diagnosed with HIV. Okwera says the “sole purpose” of him pursuing a modelling career was to support his family. 
• After travelling back to Uganda to donate sanitary essentials like diapers and formula, Okwera reunited with his mother after 24 years of being away. “I didn't know what it was like to have your own mum,” said Okwera. 

Additional Resources:

• BoF VOICES 2022: Live Your Best Life: During last year’s BoF VOICES model Dennis Okwera discussed his childhood escaping the rebel group, Lord’s Resistance Army and fleeing Uganda to live in the UK. 

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Labour rights activist Kalpona Akter and chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent reflect on where the industry stands a decade after the deadly factory collapse. 

Background:

Ten years ago this week an eight-storey factory complex in an industrial suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people and injuring thousands of others.

The Rana Plaza disaster ranks as one of the worst industrial disasters on record. It shook the fashion industry, shining a spotlight on critical safety failings in major brands’ supply chains. In its wake, hundreds of brands signed a groundbreaking safety agreement that helped improve conditions in thousands of factories in Bangladesh, but elsewhere little has changed.

This week on the BoF Podcast, labour rights activist and founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Workers Solidarity Kalpona Akter reflects on where the industry stands a decade later, while BoF’s Imran Amed and chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent discuss what still needs to change.  

“If you ask me then, ‘what did you achieve in the last ten years?’ I can say then only the improvement of safety,” says Akter. “The other areas of workers’ rights, like wages, it is still poor.”

Key Insights:

• Fashion remains a dangerous business, with hundreds of people killed and injured in its manufacturing supply chain every year. “You see fires, electrical safety issues, issues around the handling of toxic chemicals, issues with unsafe boilers, really serious incidents that lead to injury and death on a regular basis,” says Kent. 
• Efforts to address dangerous working conditions have been undercut by relentless demand for faster, cheaper fashion. “[It] leads to this race to the bottom, where manufacturers get squeezed and then start to cut corners in different places, from safety to wages to worker well-being. That is a huge systemic macro problem,” says Kent.
• Consumers have the power to make a big difference by letting companies know they care about how the people who make their clothes are treated. “When they're in the store, if they can go beyond size, colour, style and price and start asking questions from the store managers… I think that would start ringing the bell in bosses’ offices,” says Akter.

Additional Resources:

• How to Avoid Another Rana Plaza | Case Study: In the wake of 2013′s deadly factory collapse in Dhaka, more than 200 brands signed the Bangladesh Accord. BoF unpacks why it’s widely viewed as fashion’s most effective safety campaign.
• The BoF Podcast: Activist Kalpona Akter on Improving the Lives of Bangladeshi Garment Workers

Credits: 

• 0:24 - CBC News
• 0:46 - ITV News
• 0:57 - Ronald Ellis

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Ahead of the opening of “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” exhibition, the Costume Institute’s head curator discusses the legendary designer’s work and lasting impact.

Background:

Andrew Bolton, the head curator of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, first dreamed up the idea for a Karl Lagerfeld-centric show at Lagerfeld’s 2019 memorial service.

Next month, that vision will be realised with a new exhibition, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” focussed on the late Chanel and Fendi designer. With the exhibit, set to run from May 5 to July 18, Bolton’s goal was to focus on the designer’s prolific career rather than the man behind it.

“We wanted to focus on the work rather than the words or the man because he was problematic,” said Bolton. “There were those things he said that were difficult … the one thing that was authentic, real and tangible was his creative output.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks sits down with Bolton to discuss the upcoming show and Lagerfeld’s legacy in fashion and beyond. 

Key Insights:

• Lagerfeld was a trailblazer in fashion, helping to inspire countless designers who followed him, according to Bolton. “One of Karl's greatest legacies was creating the blueprint for the modern day fashion designer impresario,” said Bolton.
• His influence transcended fashion, too. “He was somebody who didn't restrict his creativity down to one outlet. He was an interior designer. He was a photographer, he was a writer, he was a theatrical designer as well as a designer,” said Bolton.
• Bolton said that Lagerfeld was “nostalgic and sentimental,” going as far to recreate his childhood bedroom in his home. That was often reflected in his work, and is examined in the exhibition. “For somebody who loved history so much and consumed history, he could not not look back, and you see those recurring motifs in his work.”
• Synonymous with Lagerfeld was his signature suit, which featured a severely tailored black jacket and crisp white shirt. Bolton saw that outfit as a simple ensemble not designed to draw attention. “To me, his greatest disguise was a black and white uniform; he created it because it deflected away from anything,” he said.
• While the exhibition focuses on his work, more of Lagerfeld’s personal life and relationships with collaborators like Amanda Harlech and Patrick Hourcade are detailed in the book that accompanies the show. “I wanted that to be their relationship, their voice,” said Bolton. “They had very specific relationships with Karl, and they're illuminating, but I didn't want that to be infiltrating the thesis of the exhibition.”

Additional Resources:

• Met Curator Andrew Bolton, Quiet Defender of Fashion as Art
• Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
• Here’s Why People Are Angry About 2023’s Met Gala Theme, Karl Lagerfeld: When the 2023 Met Gala theme was announced, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” the museum received some backlash due to Lagerfeld’s problematic past. 

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In advance of his first fashion show at The Hollywood Bowl on April 19, the founder of Fear of God shares his approach for designing subtle garments that allow customers a taste of luxury. 

Background: 

Jerry Lorenzo, the founder of Fear of God, wants to make his brand an aspirational-yet-attainable destination for consumers, and redefine what’s regarded as luxury. Fashion, he said, should be “equally comfortable as it is elegant.”

It’s a mindset he translates across Fear of God’s products, from its Essentials sub-brand, which sells items priced as low as $40, to the pieces that will appear on the runway on Apr. 19, when the brand is set to present its next collection in a show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

This week on The BoF Podcast, Lorenzo speaks with BoF’s editor-at-large Tim Blanks in a conversation at BoF VOICES 2022 about how the brand is pushing the boundaries of what’s considered luxury today. 

“It's luxury in a sense that you can see yourself in it,” said Lorenzo. “It's aspirational in that sense, but it's not a fantasy that is out of reach.”

Key Insights:

• Lorenzo said Fear of God was born out of his own sartorial desires. “When I started the brand, I was really just creating pieces that were missing from the marketplace that I selfishly wanted,” says Lorenzo. “I assumed that others felt the same way.”
• Even now, Lorenzo says that his life continues to provide direction for where he’ll take Fear of God. Fear of God Essentials Kids, for example, was inspired by his own kids, and he created a women’s line after seeing his wife steal his blazer. “Our brand is evolving authentically with… desires and envisions that I have,” he said. 
• Ambience is hugely important for Lorenzo, which is reflected in the brand’s new Los Angeles-based flagship store. “Our intention is that when you come into the environment, there's a shift that happens and we want to bring you into a space that's beyond just the environment,” he says. 
• For Lorenzo, American luxury today is rooted in the idea of freedom. “It's having the freedom to wear what you want when you want to wear it, and having the freedom to put on something that frees you up mentally and spiritually so that you could be the best version of yourself.”
• The ultimate goal with Fear of God, Lorenzo said, is to build clothes that last and create style that transcends time. “We're hoping to build a brand that is sustainable in the sense that we'll always be around and that we're creating a product that you hold on to and that you want to keep, not a product that you want to sell or flip,” he said. 

Additional Resources:

• Fear of God to Open Next Chapter with Large-Scale Fashion Show for Fans: During BoF VOICES, Fear of God founder Jerry Lorenzo discusses the next steps for his luxury brand. 

You can catch up on all the videos from BoF VOICES on our YouTube channel, please follow this link.

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Restaurateurs Asma Khan and Judy Joo share how food can bridge cultures and bring people together.  

Background:

Food may be a universal experience, but the culinary world has a long patriarchal history. Throughout their own tenures in the industry, chef and philanthropist Asma Khan, who owns London’s Darjeeling Express restaurant, and restaurateur and author Judy Joo, who operates the eatery Seoul Bird, faced a long line of roadblocks. At BoF VOICES, both shared how they struggled to find restaurant spaces, were talked over in meetings and consistently saw Western cuisines prized above all else.

But it was through their respective journeys that Joo and Khan realised the depth of the relationship between food and politics, and how it can be used to help open people’s minds. 

This week on The BoF Podcast, Khan and Joo discussed being women of colour in the male-dominated food world, as well as how food can be a vehicle for cross-cultural sharing and acceptance. 

“The more you learn about other cultures, you learn about tolerance, you learn about mindfulness, and you learn to respect each other more,” said Joo. 

Key Insights:

• After working in careers in law and finance, both Joo and Khan’s passion for cooking pushed them to pursue careers in food. “I pursued a career in fixed income derivatives for about five or six years, and then I had an epiphany and I decided, you know, I can't chase a pay cheque anymore,” said Joo. “I really want to chase my passion… I just wanted to cook and eat. 
• Patriarchal structures are reflected in the way the people eat, something Khan witnessed firsthand growing up. “I learned as a young woman in India that in our society, in every meal, women ate last, girls ate least, this was how it was,” said Khan.
• While hosting “supper clubs” out of her own kitchen, Khan more deeply understood how difficult it was to draw a line between food and culture. “I want to tell people you cannot take my food and separate culture from it. I won't let you eat it… You break bread with me. You have a conversation about my food,” said Khan. 
• Though she — and her cuisine — have faced prejudice, Joo said Korean pop culture like “Squid Game” and “Money Heist: Korea” has opened more people’s eyes. “Food is so often the entry point to learning about a new culture,” she said. 

Additional Resources:

• BoF VOICES 2022: Creativity and Its Power to Change: From South Korea and Japan to Ghana and Ukraine, speakers including Fast Retailing’s Koji Yanai, photographer Campbell Addy and stylist Julie Pelipas discussed the power of culture and creativity in the fourth session of BoF’s annual conference for big thinkers.

You can catch up on all the videos from BoF VOICES on our YouTube channel, please follow this link.

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At Istituto Marangoni in Mumbai, the artistic director discussed the influence of Indian craft on her collections.

Background: 

This week, Christian Dior presented its pre-fall 2023 collection at the Gateway of India monument in Mumbai, marking the first standalone show from a European luxury megabrand in the country.

It was a historic occasion for fashion in India, which is projected to soon become the world’s fastest-growing major economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. With that, Dior’s appearance in Mumbai could prove to be a seminal moment: When Fendi staged a show at the Great Wall of China in 2007, it helped catalyse more than a decade of growth in the Chinese luxury market. 

This week on The BoF Podcast, Maria Grazia Chiuri, the artistic director of women's at Christian Dior since 2016, sits down with BoF’s Imran Amed at the Istituto Marangoni in Mumbai to discuss the show, her intimate relationship with India and appreciation for Indian artisanship. 

“India has a huge history, a 6000-year history in textile style and embroidery,” said Chiuri. “This is part of the culture.”

Key Insights:

• For Chiuri, Dior’s Mumbai show was the culmination of a long-held ambition to present a collection in India due to her love for the country’s traditional artisans. “We are really happy because it’s a dream that we’ve had for a long time. It's very personal for me … it is not a simple fashion show,” she said. 
• More than just showing the collection in the city, Chiuri wove local artisans’ creativity into the collection through an ongoing partnership with The Chanakya School of Craft, co-creating intricately embroidered clothing with references to India’s rich cultural heritage. “We’re creating a new kind of modern embroidery that was not done before,” she said. 
• When Chiuri met Karishma Swali, managing director of the Mumbai-based export atelier Chanakya International and the founder of the The Chanakya School of Craft, on her first trip to India, it sparked a friendship which has spanned over two decades, as well as numerous professional collaborations. “This is an important collaboration that I’ve had for a long time with Karishma, with this incredible family and company …  I started to work with them in 1992,” Chiuri said. “We grew up together … our creativity and our discussions were so important in my career.”

Additional Resources:

• Dior to Show at Mumbai’s ‘Gateway of India’ Monument: Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri presents the brand’s 2023 pre-fall collection at the historic Gateway of India monument in Mumbai. 
• Market Analysis: Is This Luxury’s Watershed Moment in India?: In this story, Arnika Thakur explores luxury spending by Indian consumers, brands investing in domestic expansion in India and market competition from Indian designers.  

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At The BoF Professional Summit: An Inflection Point in Fashion Tech, the seasoned luxury executive explained why Gucci believes in the long-term potential of fashion and web3.  

Background:

Last September, Gucci announced that its CMO, Robert Triefus, would be taking on a new role as CEO of  Gucci Vault and Metaverse Ventures. Now, he works closely with president and CEO, Marco Bizzarri, to shape Gucci’s brand strategy while developing the house’s expansion into web3. 

This week on The BoF Podcast, Triefus sits down with BoF’s Imran Amed to discuss how the luxury fashion house’s ambitions in virtual spaces fit with its wider business goals and brand repositioning.   

“If we think about all that we're doing in the metaverse, we always have an eye on creativity, creating the emotion,” says Triefus. “But underpinning that is the story of the brand and all that rich storytelling that has built up over 102 years.”

Key Insights:

• Triefus says it’s particularly important for a luxury brand like Gucci to experiment with new technologies, because it offers a testing ground. “Through [Gucci] Vault, we're able to push ourselves into places where for the core brand, it might be considered to be too risky. But through Vault, we have that playground space so that if by chance we were to make a mistake, we're not going to impact the core brand,” he says. 
• Popping up in the metaverse plays a similar role for Gucci as running a billboard or other advertising activation. “It's an opportunity to engage with the community that is going into Times Square in the real world,” says Triefus. 
• Gucci Garden, which received 19 million visitors in two weeks and saw a digital version of its Dionysus bag retail for more than the cost of the physical bag, helped dictate steps Gucci will take in virtual worlds going forward. Learnings from Gucci Garden “[inform] us about where we can place our bets in the longer term and how we can be much more scientific in what we're doing,” says Trefius. 

Additional Resources:

• Luxury Brands Gucci, Tiffany Dive Into NFTs Despite Slump: Kering SA’s Gucci and LVMH’s Tiffany & Co. take a leap into NFTs. Gucci adds the cryptocurrency to its roster as an additional way to purchase its products. 
• How to Seize Fashion’s Gaming Opportunity — Download the Case Study: In a BoF case study, Marc Bain discusses how fashion brands can benefit from expanding their reach into the video game industry. 
• Gucci Teamed Up With Sims Community To Bring Its Off The Grid Collection To The Game: Nylon Magazine explains Gucci’s collaboration with Sims 4 content creators Grimcookies and Harrie to bring the brand’s Off the Grid collection into the game. 

To learn more about the metaverse and other critical topics discussed in the podcast click here. All BoF Professional members can watch the BoF Professional Summit: An Inflection Point in Fashion Tech on demand.

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At BoF VOICES 2022, the seasoned Nike executive discussed the power of second chances and the secret he kept while building Michael Jordan’s brand.   

Background: 

Starting in 1999, Larry Miller worked alongside Michael Jordan to build the Jordan brand, which does more than $5 billion in revenue. But his journey to the C-suite was a unique one. 

Growing up in West Philadelphia, Miller joined a gang, which led him to serve multiple prison sentences for a series of crimes, including the second-degree murder.

Through a rehabilitation programme, he was able to begin his college education while in prison, and upon release, he was able to start his career with an accounting job at the Campbell Soup Company. In 1997, Miller started working for Nike under founder Phil Knight, and became the first Black vice president in apparel at the company before going on to become president of the Jordan brand in 1999. 

But it wasn’t until years later that he went public about his backstory with the publication of his book, “Jump: My Secret Journey From the Streets to the Boardroom.” 

At BoF VOICES 2022, Miller sat down with UTA executive Darnell Strom to share his story, talk about the power of second chances and explain how he found redemption. 

“I've come to the realisation that a lot of times we are afraid to talk about the obstacles that we overcome. But in reality there's no shame in overcoming obstacles,” said Miller. 

Key Insights:

• “When I was 16, I shot a kid and he died and I was charged as an adult at 16 years old… pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, was sentenced to four and a half to 20 years,” Miller revealed at BoF VOICES 2022.
• Once he had revealed his story, Miller says Michael Jordan and Phil Knight were supportive and encouraged him to share his story. “It's been amazing to me the response that I've gotten from people who I've known and worked with and who have just encouraged me and embraced the fact that I've got this past.”
• Following the release of his book, Miller apologised to the family of Edward David White, the man he killed. In White’s honour Miller created a foundation for his descendants to attend university or trade school. 
• “I think I'm a perfect example of the fact that a person can change if given the right opportunities… the right chance. But it starts inside of you. You have to believe that you can change,” said Miller.

Additional Resources:

• A Nike Executive Seeks a Family’s Forgiveness for a 1965 Murder: The New York Times the story of the impact of Larry Miller, chairman of the Jordan Brand Advisory Board, and his actions as a 16-year-old. 
• Jerry Lorenzo and Jordan Brand’s Larry Miller Will Speak at BoF VOICES 2022: BoF hosts its annual VOICES conference, and invites Jordan chairman Larry Miller to speak.
• Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom: “Jump” written by Larry Miller and his daughter, Laila Lacy, shares the story of Miller’s life from the streets of West Philadelphia to the Nike boardroom. 

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Tim Blanks and Imran Amed discuss the highlights of the Autumn/Winter 2023 collections, including Daniel Lee’s debut at Burberry, a transitional show at Gucci and Balenciaga’s first brand statement in the wake of the advertising scandal.

Background:

This season was a “restart” for the global fashion industry, says Imran Amed, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief. The Autumn/Winter 2023 collections felt like the first return to normal after the pandemic — especially as Chinese fashion professionals were finally able to return to runway shows following extended Covid-related lockdowns that limited their international travel. 

A number of fashion’s biggest brands used their shows as a way to start a new path. Burberry rolled out its first collection under its new creative director Daniel Lee, while Gucci unveiled its first collection since the departure of Alessandro Michele. At Balenciaga, Demna returned to a more subdued approach after the brand fell under intense criticism at the end of last year after it was accused of sexualising children in an ad campaign.

But overall, fashion was still fixated on navigating all the uncertainty that prevails in the world, economic and otherwise. “If there’s one thing we learned over the last few years — it's that anything can happen,” says Amed. “Everyone was preparing for the unknown, the uncertain.” 

Key Insights: 

• Over the course of the season, designers, editors and enthusiasts were talking about how the purpose of fashion has evolved. “It wasn't just brands, it was individual designers who were processing what they're doing and what they need to do, because obviously the future looms very dark and very uncertain,” says Blanks.
• Gucci is in a transitional moment, with new creative director Sabato De Sarno’s vision for the brand still to be unveiled. The brand’s first post-Alessandro Michele show was all over the place, according to BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks. “It was chaos, but enjoyable chaos,” says Blanks. 
• Daniel Lee put a strong emphasis on Britishness for his Burberry debut. Meanwhile, Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega Veneta show was a cohesive parade of clothes that doubled down on craft and storytelling, says Blanks. 
• Diesel’s Glenn Martins is solidifying himself as a designer to watch with his work in today’s vernacular of denim and celebratory sexuality. “It's a mark of genius, what he manages to do with things that are really familiar — that alchemy of fashion,” says Blanks. Martins put a mountain of 200,000 condoms at the middle of his runway. 
• In his first collection since the brand came under fire for its controversial advertisements, Demna — known for his ironic stunts — focused on the clothes, a nod to the label’s founder Cristóbal Balenciaga. 

Additional Resources:

• Top 10 Shows of the Season: BoF’s editors pick the top ten shows of the Autumn/Winter 2023 season.
• At Paris Fashion Week, Less Was More: In an age of clickbait fashion, it was acts of reduction that, paradoxically, stood out most, reports Angelo Flaccavento.

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