The Glossy Podcast

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

This week, we have a special mailbag episode where we answer questions from our listeners. Topics include the future of bankruptcy and M&As among retail brands, the effects of TikTok on fashion, and the components of an effective marketing campaign.

Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

When Maggie Winter co-founded apparel brand AYR 10 years ago, her goal was simple: provide consumers with luxe alternatives to fast-fashion everyday staples.

Initially, those luxe alternatives only included high-quality denim and other apparel in the womenswear category, but in 2022, AYR expanded into menswear after many requests. Menswear became AYR's fastest-growing category, seeing three times 2022's growth in 2023, according to Winter. Because of the new category, in part, AYR has become a $50 million company, growing 5x since 2020.

"[AYR's] growth has been fast, and looking back, there's so much [information] we've learned along the way tha,t now, we get to use," Winter said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. "Now that we have an audience, a business, a brand and an audience, I get to be a merchant again and live with great product. [I get to] dream about how to storytell that product … and how to connect with people over it."

Winter is also thinking about the next phase of the brand's growth journey. Currently, AYR is 99% DTC and 1% wholesale, with Shopbop being its sole wholesale partner. Along with growing AYR's digital footprint and community, Winter said she's working on new ways to provide an experience to consumers.

On the podcast, Winter discusses what's driving growth at AYR and what's in store for the brand moving forward. "We don't want to choose between growth and profitability. We want to generate self-funded growth at a rate that doesn't exceed our capacity to learn, itirate and guarantee a great experience for customers," Winter said. 

Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

This week, we discuss the meteoric rise of Crocs; the struggles in luxury, namely Lanvin and Swiss watch exports; and the Jacquemus x Nike Swoosh Bag.

Plus, we’re planning a mailbag episode soon where we’ll answer listener questions. If you’d like to submit a question, you can call in and leave a voicemail in our mailbox at (929) 688-2750‬.

Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Amy Williams’s denim career spans 25 years, with many of those years spent working in Los Angeles. After holding executive roles at Gap and Lucky Brand Jeans, she joined Citizens of Humanity Group 14 years ago. She is now the Group’s CEO and leads its three denim-focused companies: Citizens of Humanity, Agolde and Goldsign. 

“The L.A. denim industry has grown up in a lot of ways,” Williams said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “While, of course, there are all of the well-known L.A. denim brands, there are also [brands] from Europe that are doing denim in Los Angeles, and YSL is a good example of that. … The L.A. denim industry was started because the attention to detail in both manufacturing and laundering was superior to any location around the world.“

Still, Citizens of Humanity Group is working to integrate more innovation into its production processes. Case in point: Its spring collections mark its first use of cotton stemming from its regenerative agriculture program. 

On the podcast, Williams discusses Citizens of Humanity Group’s sustainability progress, as well as its wholesale-focused distribution and differentiated approach to marketing. "We don't buy customers through social media marketing purchases," she said. 

Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Ahead of their runway show on Saturday night, which will be held in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music in London, designer Patrick McDowell sat down with Glossy for a London Fashion Week edition of the Glosst Podcast.

On the podcast, McDowell discusses their new business model focused on limited, made-to-order pieces, their brand’s work-life balance approach and their take on “quiet luxury.” They also shared the challenges for London Fashion Week brands, when it comes to inclusive design, as well as the impact of dressing celebrities. 

Mark Badgley and James Mischka launched their eveningwear-focused fashion brand, Badgley Mischka, 35 years ago. In the years since, the company has expanded to various product categories, largely through licenses. Most recently, it entered the prestige fragrance space through a partnership with Horizon Beauty Group — the first fragrance debuted at the brand’s Fall 2024 fashion show on Saturday. 

On this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast, Mischka discusses the evolution of the business, including its marketing strategy that now centers on influencers. He also talks about the brand’s beauty ambitions, which include rolling out products in categories beyond fragrance.

Ahead of his runway show on Monday night, which featured two styles available for immediate purchase via a Rakuten partnership, Sergio Hudson sat down with Glossy to take part in our New York Fashion Week podcast series. Along with discussing his design signatures, his choice retail partners and his approach to fundraising, he shared the challenges he experiences as a Black designer. He also talked about his clients, including Beyoncé and Michelle Obama, who “choose quality and fit over brand name.”

In 2020, mid-pandemic, Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell launched their fantasy-fueled genderless fashion brand, Tanner Fletcher. In the three years following, the brand gained much industry respect, becoming a CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist and nominee for the CFDA’s Emerging Designer of the Year award in 2023. 

In this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast, Kasell talks about the highs and lows of being a young brand founder, the state of the genderless fashion category, and Tanner Fletcher’s off-runway plans for debuting its fall 2024 collection.

Twenty-seven years ago, Amy Smilovic and her husband launched Tibi in Hong Kong. Though it was a struggle to get there, the currently NYC-based brand looks much different today. For starters, it’s largely void of prints. And the brand’s direct sales now make up a majority of the business. 

On this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast, founder and creative director Amy Smilovic discusses her brand’s evolution, including its new, pandemic-driven approach to independence. She also discusses her signature “creative pragmatist” style, her thought process when choosing retail partners and her reason for ditching the runway show for fall 2024. 

The runway show of Pamella Roland, who launched her namesake fashion brand 22 years ago, is a New York Fashion Week staple. As Roland tells it, she’s shown a seasonal collection at the event every season, except for during the pandemic and a hectic headquarters move. It’s an opportunity for her to show her latest work to her retail partners, including Saks, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman — hangers don’t do the styles justice, she said. It’s also a chance to earn new brand fans. They already include Taylor Swift, Angelina Jolie and Madonna, based on their support for the brand on the red carpet. 

On this New York Fashion Week episode of the Glossy Podcast, Roland discusses her secrets to longevity in fashion, including how her business has evolved. She also shares what she’s come to believe about the importance of retail partners, community and fashion week.