TheIndustry.fashion & TheIndustry.beauty Podcast

Lucy Litwack is one of the lingerie industry’s best known figures and her stellar career has taken in some of the biggest names in the business, including Victoria’s Secret, La Perla, XIX Entertainment (where she headed up David Beckham Bodywear), Bendon and Myla.

Since April 2014 she has been CEO of London-based Coco De Mer, a brand she also owns. Lucy talks us through her career to date and what attracted her to Coco De Mer, a brand dedicated to the celebration of women and women’s pleasure.

A dedicated campaigner against female genital mutilation (or FGM), Lucy also discusses her charitable work which includes being a trustee of the FIVE, Nimco Ali’s foundation which fights FGM, a mentor for Aspire and a teacher and mentor at London College of Fashion, where she inspires the next generation of fashion industry entrepreneurs.

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The UK’s first luxury consumer beauty event dedicated to women of colour takes place this weekend (Dec 3 - 4) at the Congress Centre on London’s Great Russell Street. 

The Beauty Beat is the brainchild of luxury events specialist Donna Dia who took her 15 years of experience in the industry and her bulging contact book and put them to good use to conceive and launch this concept. The event has the backing not only of major names in beauty – from Laura Mercier and Nars to Boots and Revlon – but also from social media giant Instagram and payments provider Klarna. 

Over two days visitors to the sell-out live event will be able to shop an array of beauty brands, that cater to the needs and desires of women of colour, and attend talks and demonstrations on everything from make-up to skincare and haircare. 

Those unable to attend the event in person can log on to watch the content online.

Donna tells us what it was that inspired her to launch The Beauty Beat, what it took to get the venture off the ground and her vision for developing the concept further.

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Charlotte Knight is a beauty entrepreneur and the founder of Ciate London, Lottie London and Skin Proud.

Her first brand, Ciate London launched in 2009 and Lottie London in 2014, and are both known for their range of makeup and nail products. In 2020, Charlotte then entered the skincare market with the launch of her third and most recent brand, Skin Proud.

Charlotte, speaks to Sophie Smith, News & Features Writer at the TheIndustry.beauty about her journey to launching three successful businesses, the differences between launching a brand in 2009 vs 2020 and how TikTok has benefitted her brands.

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During the height of the Covid pandemic, Private White V.C. owner James Eden won a government contract to supply PPE for the NHS, turning part of the brand’s Manchester factory in to a working production line to help the cause. The additional specialist equipment that had to be brought in has since been repurposed, and is now making an-ever growing jersey collection, adding to the company’s excellent made in Manchester outerwear. 

The brand’s popular factory visits are also now fully back on for those who like to see how it’s all made before making a purchase in the on-site shop. We catch up with Eden to tell us all about it, as well as a new T-shirt collaboration with popular Manchester United fanzine United We Stand.

Welcome to the The Bold Moves Academy podcast brought to you by TheIndustry.fashion in partnership with Klarna for Business. Here we speak to some of fashion’s disrupters about the bold moves they’ve made to drive the future of the fashion industry and inspire you to do the same.

Haeni Kim was an early adopter of the Bold Move. At the age of just 12 years old she upped sticks from her home in South Korea to come to London to train to be a ballet dancer. When she came to the reluctant conclusion that that dream was not to be, she set her sights on fashion. 

Reasoning that Paris was the epicentre of the industry, she decided to study French and upon graduation gained as much experience as she could working at fashion houses, in everything from marketing to finance and production.

Starting her own fashion brand was always in the back of her mind and she subsequently moved to Hong Kong to learn all she could about sourcing and production. She also had a “side hustle” business in e-commerce, selling antiques.

All of this vast experience and drive came together in 2017 when she decided to establish her own label Kitri, offering affordable, sustainable, contemporary womenswear. Haeni, and her friends who encouraged her in her venture, noticed a gap in the market for well-made garments and an accessible price point that were not seen on everyone.

Haeni talks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in chief of the TheIndustry.fashion about her career journey, what drives her, what the young brand went through during the pandemic and what her ambitions are for the future.

Visit the Bold Moves Academy to hear more podcasts from fashion brand founders here. 

Gym + Coffee is one of Ireland’s fastest growing lifestyle brands. Founded in 2017 by a team of friends with backgrounds in media, marketing and retail and a shared passion for combining fitness and community, the brand began with a core collection of hoodies. 

It has since expanded into a fully-fledged activewear collection for men and women and, as well as its international e-stores, now has physical retail stores in Ireland as well as in strategic locations throughout the UK. It has also recently opened a UK warehouse to complement a facility in Belgium, to meet with growing demand.

The brand has recently secured a €17m investment to fuel further growth, particularly in retail stores. One of Ireland’s best known musicians, Niall Horan who shot to fame initially as a member of One Direction, is also a backer.

He’s not to be confused with the brand’s Co-founder Niall Horgan, who joins us on the podcast today, along with his fellow founder Diarmuid McSweeney. They are the CEO and CMO of the business, respectively. In this episode of the '‘Agility amid Uncertainty’ in partnership with international logistics company Advanced Supply Chain Group' podcast in partnership with Advanced Supply Chain, they talk to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in Chief of TheIndustry.fashion about how the brand achieved this remarkable growth during such a tumultuous global backdrop, how it adapted to the challenges brought about by the pandemic and the opportunities that lie ahead.

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Jamie O’Banion is the Founder and CEO of BeautyBio, a results-driven and science-based brand known for its range of skincare and haircare products. 

Having grown up in the skincare industry and learning from her biochemist father, Jamie saw a need in the retail space for clinical-grade skincare developed for plastic surgeons and dermatologists. 

Today, the US-based brand is sold at a number of leading UK retailers including Harrods, Cult Beauty and Selfridges. 

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast in partnership with Klarna for Business, Jamie speaks Sophie Smith, News & Features Writer at the TheIndustry.beauty about the inspiration behind the brand, it’s progression since launching and the importance of science to deliver top-notch results.


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Nayna McIntosh brings Hope – both literally and metaphorically – to women and the fashion industry. After a high flying career that took in some of fashion retail’s biggest brands from Next to George at ASDA and Marks & Spencer, McIntosh took a step back at the age of 50 and decided to establish her own brand.

Hope, named after Nayna’s mother, is unapologetically aimed at women in the 50-plus market who have been neglected by mainstream retailers but who still want stylish, comfortable clothing that works for their bodies and lifestyles.

Nayna’s former boss at Marks & Spencer, Lord Stuart Rose, is one of the brand’s high profile backers and now, as Nayna, hits 60 she has decided not to slow down, as many her age would, but to speed up. She’s looking to raise £1m to expand the business in the UK and internationally, so that she can bring Hope to women on a global scale.

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast, she tells Lauretta Roberts - Editor in chief of TheIndustry.fashion, the fascinating back-story of her life and career, how she took the bold step into entrepreneurialism at a relatively late stage in her career, and why now, at the point when most of us would be thinking of retiring, she’s still got the energy, drive and ambition to take her business on to greater heights. 

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Simon Comins is the Chief Commercial Officer at Superdrug. Having worked his way up from the shop floor, he has an extensive career history at the health and beauty retailer. 

In his role as CCO, which he was appointed earlier this year, Simon works to ensure Superdrug stocks the most exciting selection of accessible health and beauty products on the high street. 

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast in partnership with Klarna for Business, Simon, speaks to Sophie Smith, News & Features Writer at the TheIndustry.beauty about his journey up the career ladder at Superdrug, how the retailer decides which products to stock, why Superdrug is seeing strong growth and the importance of product value and accessibility.


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In this episode of the In Conversation podcast in partnership with Klarna for Business, Contributing Editor Eric Musgrave talks to Jason Kirk, CEO & Co-founder of eyewear business Kirk & Kirk.

Jason created Kirk & Kirk to present fashionable individuals with the opportunity to find unbranded, bold and elegant eyewear to suit their specific style. Jason grew up surrounded by optics. He runs the business side of Kirk & Kirk and regularly visits their factory in France for in-person quality checks. 

His wife Karen, also a Co-Founder, studied design in London, and was working for Saatchi & Saatchi when she turned to optics. 

Motivated by their family legacy, Kirk & Kirk was an immediate success, with their frames now sold across the globe and are ever-present on the red carpet on celebrities such as Robert Downey Jr. Their designs have also won awards and plaudits across the eyewear industry and the press. 

Jason talks to Eric about his early career, his motivations and family history, the science behind eyewear production, how he navigated the business to launch in 30 countries, and why trend-led fashionable individuals, such as Eric, choose to wear the brand.

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