Unbiased Label

This episode is a McQueen I Voss I S/S 2001 runway show review with the incredible London based John Matheson aka @McQueen_Vault.

John, who has been curating is private McQueen archive for over 25 years, has contributed to many fashion discussions, publications, and exhibitions including LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and NGV (National Gallery Victoria, Melbourne).

If you love Lee Alexander McQueen, then this conversation is for you. I hope you enjoy and please share your thoughts!

***WARNING: Video contains images that may be considered sensitive ***

Runway Video Courtesy of Alexander McQueen YouTube channel. You can access it HERE.

#leealexandermcqueen #alexandermcqueen #mcqueen #mcqueenvault #johnmatheson #unbiasedlabelpodcast #zarakorutz

This episode is a conversation with two culture makers based in London-- Terence Eben (Tee) and ⁠Franklin Fresh⁠.

Tee built streetwear brands in the U.S. from back in the day in the 1990s. He has always played a role in bridging culture from the early days of hip hop emergence.  Tee's brand NEVER FADE focuses on marrying social agenda and design philosophy, with a focus on creating a label as an advocate for the global millennial generation. Franklin Fresh found his way to fashion as a stylist who partners with Trap Star as a brand collaborator. Franklin is also a musician and visual artist.

Follow Franklin Fresh's Spotify page HERE.

#fashion #streatwear #culture #hiphop #virgilabloh #music #musicandfashion

This episode is a conversation with Adrian Alicea, Voguing Icon of the Red Era Ballroom and New York City fashion designer. Alicea will show his eponymous brand in NYFW on Sunday, September 10th at La Mama.

Alicea toured the world as a professional dancer alongside the legendary Willi Ninja including two electrifying performances in “Deep in Vogue” and “Waltz Darling” by the multi-talented Malcolm McClaren. You may remember the now iconic image of Alicea vouging the runway with Iman and Willi Ninja for Thierry Mugler in 1989. Alicea also modeled and danced the runway for Hermes, Giorgio Armani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Gianfranco Ferre, Vivienne Westwood, and Patricia Fields to name a few. He has also been featured in Vogue around the world for his performing and fashion designs.

Adrian Alicea is a new romantic of romantic excesses. Creating a pirate-like fairy-tale of disguises, he walks a tightrope between ironic hedonistic inclination and highly serious commentary.
There is an insane carcinogenic, merciless narcissism. There is a deafening, endless shout of “gimme more!” – Earl Murray

A special shout out to Edwin Fontanez--it's because of your fashion show Bondages in 1989 that today, I met Adrian. Thank you also to Smile Design Gallery on 57th St. for the incredible studio space. We love the whole crew over there!

#NYFW #adrianalicea #deepinvouge #Voguing #Vogue #Newyorkfashion #fashion #NYCfashion #unbiasedlabelpodcast

David Curtis-Ring is a British artist and designer, based in London. He specialises in creating set design and sculpture for installation, film and performance. David is known for his collaborations with Craig Green, working alongside the designer, since the brand’s launch in 2013. He was production designer for Pink Floyd’s The Endless River film directed by Ian Emes and in 2020 he designed the multi-sensory installation Next Landscape for C.P. Company’s FW020. David graduated from Goldsmiths University in 2008 with a BA in Fine Art Textiles. His sculptures have appeared in Vogue, GQ, Dover Street Market and Harrods. While other collaborations include work with Nick Knight, Adidas, Champion, Moncler and Scottish designer Charles Jeffrey.

#DavidCurtisRing #Fashionsetdesigner #charlesjeffreyxWedgwood #wedgwood

Barbie, the movie, is the much anticipated summer film of 2023! So, we had to join the Barbie conversation with Barbie Guru Frank New who is a New York-based Barbie collector and academic from the queer lens. Frank travels the globe sharing their Barbie research. Frank lives fearlessly out-loud with authentic fabulousness! Frank is the founder of fashion and event production company ManYourStyle. Frank received a Master of Arts in Costume Studies at New York University.

#barbie #queerbarbie #barbiethemovie

This episode a conversation with Kimberly Jenkins who is a brilliant, boundary breaking woman and world-renowned fashion educator, consultant, and leading voice on fashion and race.  Kimberly is the founder and CEO of Artis Solomon, a fashion consultancy firm, and founder of The Fashion and Race Database, a one of a kind learning platform that is supported by subscribing universities and museums globally. Most recently, she co-produced and hosted the podcast, "The Invisible Seam," in partnership with Tommy Hilfiger, highlighting the underrepresented contributions Black culture to fashion.

Kimberly who is based in New York—is a fashion boundary-breaking role model—a trailblazer who is pushing for change in fashion. For over a decade, Kim has been studying the impact of our clothes and how we express ourselves, through the lenses of politics, race, psychology and anthropology. Kimberly is best known for introducing the course, Fashion and Race, at Parsons, and for working as an education consultant for Gucci in Europe and Asia to support their efforts on design and cultural awareness. Kim’s important work has been recognized by many publications including Vogue, The Business of Fashion, The Financial Times, The Washington Post , The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Guardian, DAZED, i-D, W, and NYLON to name a few.

Please join me as I talk with Kim, an OG of Fashion Studies who is reshaping boundaries.

#kimberlyjenkins #fashionandrace #invisibleseam #fashionstudies

This BONUS episode is a talk with host Zara Korutz on the current state of marketing and the luxury fashion industry in a post-pandemic world using Maison Margiela as a case study thread of debate. This talk isn't a super deep dive analysis but rather is meant to be a conversation starter so please share your thoughts on social media or on our website unbiasedlabel.com.

Host, Zara Korutz launched Unbiased Label podcast after earning her MA (with Distinction) in Fashion Critical Studies from Central Saint Martins in London (2020). She is now a Fashion Studies PhD Researcher at Massey University. Zara’s viewpoint sits at the intersection of industry and academia with over a decade of experience in the media space—including at The Washington Post—with brand expertise in luxury, fashion and arts. 

#luxury #luxuryfashion #margiela #maisonmargiela #luxurymarketing

This episode is a conversation with three Indian fashion voices — Shriya Zamindar, Mukul Bhatia and Jebin Johny — examining the Christian Dior Pre-Fall 2023 runway show that took place on March 31, 2023 at The Gateway of India in Mumbai. This fashion meets cultural celebration came 60 years after Dior first traveled to India to showcase the brand’s spring-summer 1962 couture collection by Creative Director, Marc Bohen.

— Guests —

Shriya Zamindar is the Fashion Features Editor for Vogue India. Shriya has also written for publications including Vogue Business, Grazia India, and 1Granary. Notably, Shriya wrote the words for Vogue India’s March-April issue cover story interviewing catwalk queen Naomi Campbell.

Mukul Bhatia, is an award-winning visual artist from India focused on sustainability, travel and fashion. Mukul has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, GQ and TEDx, and winner of Cosmopolitan India’s 2020 Blogger Award for ‘Sustainable Fashion Influencer of the Year’.

Jebin Johny is a sustainable luxury fashion designer based in Kerala whose work features hand-painting and handloom fabric. Jebin launched his brand Jebsispar in 2015 at Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. His designs have been featured in Vogue India, The Indian Express, The Hindu and The Hindu Metro Plus, and worn by Hindi film actresses including Sonam Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin and Vidya Balan.

— Show Reference Links —

The making of Dior Fall 2023 in India: https://youtu.be/bwIVOc-_3go

Dior Fall 2023 Show: https://www.youtube.com/live/BfxdKZvpG6s?feature=share

#christiandior #dior #vogueindia #mariagrazia #diorfall2023 #luxuryfashion

This episode is a conversation with Finnegan Shepard who is founder of Both& Apparel—a company that closed on one-million seed round and is pioneering non-binary fashion, starting with apparel for trans men. The company is powered by the belief that trans masculine, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people deserve gender joy through fashion.

On March 31, 2023, Both&, launched their first global advertising campaign photographed by non-binary photographer Lydia Garrett of creative agency WongDoody. This campaign launch coincided with Trans Day Visibility and promoted the labels new denim line.

The campaign is called “Boys, Boys, Boys” perhaps as a play on the phrase ‘boys will be boys,’ which is often used to describe gendered stereotypes of masculine heteronormative behavior, except in this case, instead of depicting cismen, the campaign uses transmen to define masculinity and sex appeal—a clear inspiration coming from famed images of the 1990s Calvin Klein’s underwear campaigns whose attractiveness was charged with classical ideas of traditional masculinity and whiteness. In the Both& Apparel campaign whiteness is replaced by ethnic diversity and the viewers gaze is displacing hypermasculinity by hypertransvisibility. The intention of the campaign is made explicit, it’s all about sex appeal and being desired.

Please join me as I talk with Finnegan via Zoom from his home in New Mexico. We talk about the growth of Both&, their global campaign, and dive into ideals of trans masculinity that no longer belong to cis men. 

#transfashion #transmasculinity #fashion #genderjoy #both& #finneganshepard 

This episode kicks off a new season and is a conversation with the legend Dana Thomas who is a world-renowned fashion author, journalist, podcast host, and leading voice on sustainability.  Dana has been called “The Woodward and Bernstein” of the fashion industry because of her investigative style of reporting.

Dana’s intelligent reporting style comes from her journalism training at The Washington Post where she wrote for many sections including the Style section with fashion editor Nina Hyde along with former Executive Editor Ben Bradley who would stop by Dana’s desk and ask, “what’s the news kiddo?”

Dana’s work is focused on highlighting fashion change makers. She is the European Sustainability Editor for British Vogue, and hosts “The Green Dream,” a weekly podcast on sustainability, produced by Wondercast Studio. Dana wrote the screenplay for Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, a feature documentary directed by Luca Guadagnino, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020. And in 2016, the French Minister of Culture named her a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In 2007, Dana published the New York Times bestseller, "Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster". In 2015 she published “Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano”. And most recently, in 2019, Dana published “Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes”.

Please join me in conversation with Dana over zoom from her home in Paris as we share stories of working at The Washington Post, talk about her incredible career and body of work including her podcast the Green Dream as well as her books.  And, of course, I get Dana’s thoughts on the state of fashion.

Sign up for Dana's Green Dream Newsletter here: https://www.thegreendream.studio/

THIS SEASON IS DEDICATED TO ANDREA MESSIMER-HENLEY (1972-2022).  I MISS AND LOVE YOU, FRIEND!

#fashion #danathomas #fashionjournalism #sustainability #fashionsustainability #BritishVogue #The Washington Post #fashionpodcast