TheIndustry.fashion & TheIndustry.beauty Podcast

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.

Let’s face it, there have been times when we’ve all looked in our lingerie drawer and felt less than proud of its contents. The solution for most of us is a trip to M&S, but Priya Downes is not like most of us.

When she was faced with this problem, she set about creating her own lingerie brand, Nudea, that not only spoke to her personal style but also met the need for comfort and sustainable design.

Priya was one of the forerunners of the movement in women’s lingerie towards fit and comfort, which is now so key in this category. She has also innovated in the area of bra fitting online with her unique Fit Tape, which allows consumers to measure themselves, or, if they prefer, take an online quiz or speak to an adviser via Whatsapp or virtual fitting session to ensure they get the best product first time.

It might be surprising, therefore to learn, that Priya doesn’t have a background in the highly specialised area of lingerie. In fact her career began in finance before she moved into fashion working for luxury houses such as Chanel and Burberry before making the bold move to set up her own brand in 2019.

She tells Lauretta Roberts, Editor in chief of TheIndustry.fashion, about what prompted her to strike out on her own, how the brand fared during the pandemic era and what her ambitions are for the future.

Husband and wife duo Stephen and Margaret de Heinrich de Omorovicza founded the skincare brand Omorovicza at the turn of the millennium, after Stephen introduced Margaret to the baths his family built in Budapest. 

The couple observed the healing powers of the waters on their skin and decided to create a skincare brand that would replicate it - harder than it sounds. 

Today, the brand is sold at a number of leading retailers including Look Fantastic, Harrods, Cult Beauty, Net-a-porter, and its own website. 

Stephen and Margaret speak to Sophie Smith, News & Features Writer at the TheIndustry.fashion, to reflect on Omorovicza’s history, the science behind the brand and the success of its spa institute in Budapest as well as general retail.

Get breaking news as it happens and be the first to know when our podcasts go live by following:  INSTAGRAM

On this weeks episode of the In Conversation podcast we speak to Lucy Greenwood, Co-founder of Brighton based clothing brand Lucy & Yak. 

Known for its vintage inspired dungarees, Lucy & Yak has grown into a thriving ethical business and now sells a range of fashion via its online store, physical retail store and on Depop. 

Depop was in fact where the brand's journey first began about 7 years ago. Lucy and her partner Chris began selling on the app and noted the popularity of pre-loved dungarees - they soon began looking at creating their own dungarees from deadstock fabric. 

Lucy speaks to Camilla Rydzek, News and Features Writer at TheIndustry.fashion, about founding the business, how it has scaled production while staying true to its brand values and how the business has managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

Get breaking news as it happens and be the first to know when our podcasts go live by following:  INSTAGRAM  ***  LINKEDIN  ***  TWITTER  ***  FACEBOOK

Get breaking news, big name interviews & insights delivered to your inbox daily HERE

Beth Butterwick is one of the high street’s best known leaders with a career that takes in some huge names including Gap, Marks & Spencer, Bonmarché, Karen Millen and, now, Jigsaw.

During her career Beth has pretty much seen it all but, like the rest of us, marshalling in a business through a global pandemic was new to her but with the mantra “never waste a good crisis” in her mind, she led the restructuring and refocusing of the beloved British fashion brand. 

Core to Jigsaw’s brand has always been its approach to high quality products at accessible prices. In this episode of ‘Agility amid Uncertainty podcast’ in partnership with international logistics company Advanced Supply Chain Group., Beth talks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in chief of TheIndustry.fashion, about how the business navigated the pandemic, while maintaining its product and price integrity. 

She also discusses the lessons learned that she, and Jigsaw, can take forward to help them navigate continued uncertain times, but, also an exciting future for a brand that remains close to the heart of the British high street and to British fashion shoppers. 

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.

When it comes to Bold Moves, taking on a market dominated by global giants is right up there, and is not one many of us would contemplate. But then we’re not made of the same stuff as Tom and Phil Beahon, the brothers who set up Castore from nothing and now have a brand that is on course to become Britain’s number one premium sports brand by 2025 with a worldwide reputation and a fanbase.

Castore is worn by some of the best known names in sports including major teams, such as Glasgow Rangers, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bayer Leverkesen in football, the Maclaren formula 1 team as well as a number of cricket teams.

It also boasts a number of global sports superstars among its ambassador list including golfer Matt Fitzpatrick and British tennis legend Sir Andy Murray, who not only wears Castore but is also an investor in the business.

As well as working with major sports names Castore is sold via its e-commerce site as well as dedicated retail stores in the UK, and a host of wholesale partners globally, including luxury menswear site Mr Porter.

Tom and Phil are former professional and semi professional sportsmen (Tom in football and Phil in cricket), but realising they weren’t going to reach the very high bars they had set for themselves in their chosen sports decided they would set up their own brand together in 2015 when they were just 25 and 22 years old.

Tom Beahon talks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in chief of TheIndustry.fashion, about what drove them to take the bold move to set up the brand, their sacrifices and successes along the way, how they secured the support of Sir Andy Murray, and what the future looks like.

Visit the Bold moves Academy at TheIndustry.fashion here.

Monika Blunder is a Los Angeles based makeup artist and the brain behind her eponymous beauty label. She was born and raised in a small mountain town in Austria and moved to America at the age of 23 to pursue a career in the makeup industry.

Her leap of faith paid off and she studied under master makeup artists including Kevyn Aucoin and Paul Starr. Today Blunder has established herself as an in-demand artist, working with celebrities such as Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, and Megan Fox. In 2020, Blunder launched her own beauty label inspired by Austrian botanicals. Each product is vegan and created following the European clean beauty guidelines she grew up knowing.

Blunder tells Tom Shearsmith, News Editor & Senior Writer, about how her leap of faith from Austria to the US felt, what it was like learning her craft from beauty legend Kevyn Aucoin, the hidden world of celebrity makeup artistry, why she felt she needed to found a makeup brand, the product range and what the future holds for the business.

Get breaking news as it happens and be the first to know when our podcasts go live by following:  INSTAGRAM

Welcome to ‘Agility amid Uncertainty’ our latest podcast in partnership with international logistics company Advanced Supply Chain Group.  In this series we will explore how six leading fashion retailers are managing their businesses in the face of some of the greatest disruption the world has experienced in a lifetime.

When it comes to an example of Olympic-level agility in times of uncertainty, you would be hard pressed to find a better example than Boohoo Group. While some of the high street’s biggest names floundered and, in many cases collapsed, the Manchester-based group took full advantage to press forward with its plans to create a digital-first, global fashion force.

In 2006 Boohoo Group started out with just one brand; today it has 13, around half of which were acquired during the pandemic. In the Spring of 2020 it acquired the collapsed Warehouse and Oasis brands, and in early 2021 it snapped up Dororthy Perkins, Burton and Wallis from the former Arcadia Group (as well as a major warehouse in Daventry), along with the Debenhams brand and website.

All of these brands were relaunched as digital first entities in a matter of months and the man working behind the scenes to ensure everything ran smoothly, as well as dealing with new Covid regulations and a global supply chain crisis, is the group’s Supply Chain Director David James.

David joined the Boohoo Group three years ago from value fashion giant Primark where he speaks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in Chief of TheIndustry.fashion about how the group coped with fluctuating demand and external market forces beyond its control. He also explains how the business learns lessons from each challenge to help it prepare for peaks and troughs in trading on an ongoing basis.

Aromatherapist Michelle Roques-O’Neil has been working with oils, aromas and fragrance for over 40 years. With her own company Therapie, Michelle has introduced and transformed lives through the physical and mental benefits of aromatherapy and relaxation techniques. 

Not only is she an aromatherapy legend, she possesses a wealth of expertise in everything from re-patterning to reflexology and reiki. 

Consumers say Therapie products have helped with everything from anxiety to stress. Clients say a one-on-one session at Michelle’s Portobello Road clinic is like going on a retreat. With an immediately calming presence, it’s not hard to see why Michelle has become the go-to aromatherapist for thousands of Londoners. 

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast, Michelle speaks to Tom Shearsmith, News Editor and Senior Writer, about her extensive career, the moment in her life that inspired her to try aromatherapy, the Therapie brand, why local production is essential to her work, her upcoming skincare line and what 2022 has in store for the brand.


Get breaking news as it happens and be the first to know when our podcasts go live by following:  INSTAGRAM

Pour Moi Founder Michael Thomson sold his Meatloaf, Paul McCartney and Prince autograph collection to start his women’s lingerie business in 2005, having previously worked in the lingerie department at M&S. He firmly believed there was a market for lingerie for the fuller figure, particularly bra cup sizes. It turns out he was very right. Swimwear followed in 2007, sportswear in 2017 and clothing in 2020, and Pour Moi recently hit turnover of £31m, a pandemic success story indeed.

Thomson is also expecting 2022 to be a bumper year as they are miles ahead on lots of other retailers – particularly on swimwear – having acquired stock aplenty while others didn’t, fearing further Covid travel disasters. Pour Moi now can’t sell it quickly enough as everyone scrambles to book holidays in the sun.

There are also plans afoot to open some retail stores to add to the one long-standing Pour Moi store in Chester. Brighton could well be the location for store two, and London is also a target. In the latest episode of the In Conversation podcast, Thomson tells Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor of TheIndustry.fashion about his journey so far, and plans for the future.

Get breaking news as it happens and be the first to know when our podcasts go live by following:  INSTAGRAM  ***  LINKEDIN  ***  TWITTER  ***  FACEBOOK

Get breaking news, big name interviews & insights delivered to your inbox daily HERE

Founded by sisters Lauren and Sarah Murrell, By Sarah London was created out of an inspiring story. 

Sarah first developed the plant based skincare range to repair her sister's skin when she was recovering from leukaemia. 

After a life-saving stem cell transplant from Sarah, the sisters teamed up to launch By Sarah London with the purpose of transforming emotional wellbeing for stressed skin. 

The science-led formulations support the skin's microbiome to repair, regenerate and regain balance, through innovative plant oil formulas. 

Handmade in the UK and developed with cold-pressed organic and upcycled plant oils, the brand is proud to be a certified B Corp. 

In this episode of the In Conversation podcast, Sarah and Lauren speak to Tom Shearsmith, News Editor and Senior Writer at TheIndustry.fashion, about the early stages of the business, the ingredient considerations taken during development, the importance of being a sustainable business, how the industry responded to the formulas, where the brand is going in the future and how it feels to be two sisters in business.

Get breaking news as it happens and be the first to know when our podcasts go live by following:  INSTAGRAM