Designer and executive Todd Snyder is credited with changing the landscape of the global menswear industry on more than one occasion. From his time at J Crew, Old Navy, and Ralph Lauren, to running his own label, his career and aesthetic continue to set a special standard in the business. https://www.toddsnyder.com/ Visit us online at https://americanfashionpodcast.com/ to access over 250 previous episodes in our archive: https://americanfashion.supportingcast.fm/ 

In this, our 250th episode, we welcome one of the true original champions of the slow fashion movement, Natalie Chanin, designer and founder of the Florence, Alabama-based and globally recognized leading ethical fashion brand Alabama Chanin. https://alabamachanin.com/ https://journal.alabamachanin.com/ https://projectthreadways.org/ https://design.ncsu.edu/

Our guest in the studio, Lisa Morales-Hellebo, is the Co-founder and GP at REFASHIOND Ventures, the Co-founder of The New York Supply Chain Meetup, and the Co-founder of The Worldwide Supply Chain Federation. She also happened to start the New York Fashion Tech Lab and was a pioneer in visual search. So, obviously, we're talking to her about astrology. Just kidding. This is a fashiontech and supply chain investment deep dive. Brace yourself. http://www.refashiond.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/supplychainlocalization/ References: Evrnu N.A.bld Savitude New York Fashion Tech Lab

Prince Federico Pignatelli della Leonessa is the Owner and President of Art and Fashion Group, the parent company of Pier 59 Studios. He involves himself in fashion, photography, art, cinema, virtual reality, and numerous other interests and enterprises. As the owner of Industry Model Management, he has been responsible for the creation and promotion of the Model's Bill of Rights, which is discussed in more detail in our previous interview with its Co-Founder, model Simone Aptekman. He is also quite vocal about the Studio Safety Report, which revealed most photo studios in New York City to be operating outside the law and without proper insurance. https://federicopignatelli.com/ http://www.artandfashiongroup.com/ https://www.pier59studios.com/ https://www.theindustrymgmtgroup.com/ https://iamyou.film/ http://www.studiosafetyreport.com/ https://www.modelsbillofrights.com/ Find many more episodes in our Archives -->https://americanfashionpodcast.com/archives

Jessie Willner was an artist with a dream of wild wonderful ethically-produced leather statement jackets. Together with her best friend Hanover Savas and the occasional "Hadidas" moment, they're making it happen in Los Angeles, and now around the world, with The Mighty Company. -- https://themightycompany.com/ Follow The Mighty Company on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themightycompany/  To subscribe to American Fashion Podcast's Archives and support the show, visit https://americanfashionpodcast.com/ and click "Archives" on the main menu.

Powering Fashion's Future: Technology Tools Impacting Today's Fashion Industry A panel discussion recorded as part of the Fashion Innovate program at the TexWorld USA 2020 trade show in New York City. Big thank you to Eileen Small from TexWorld for coordinating all of this leading up to the event. Big questions: What is the history here? How did this work five minutes ago? What are the now ubiquitous improvements of the last five or ten years? Who are the cool startups in this space, and what are they doing? What are the major players doing in this space? What does the “science fiction endgame” look like for an ultimate evolution in these technologies? If we are here, and innovators and startups are working on tomorrow, what’s 5, 10, 20, or 50 years out? Panelists: Natasha Franck (EON - https://www.eongroup.co/) Teodora Nicolae (Lectra - https://www.lectra.com/en ) Melissa Rusinek (textile waste expert) Andrew Wyatt (CALA - https://www.ca.la/ ) Moderator: Charles Beckwith (@FashionTechGuru - https://charlesbeckwith.com/publications ) References: GRAILED - https://www.grailed.com/ STOCKX - https://stockx.com/ Behemoth: A History of The Factory and The Making of The Modern World (Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/38AZ1y0 ) Clo3D - https://www.clo3d.com/ The Higg MSI (Materials Sustainability Index) - https://apparelcoalition.org/higg-msi/ Sewbots - http://softwearautomation.com/products/ Klaviyo - https://www.klaviyo.com/ Charles Beckwith's list of seven key overlapping and repeating phases of the fashion business product and sales cycles: Ideation and Design Sourcing and Costing Pricing and Financing Manufacturing and Production Marketing and Sales Distribution and Logistics Analytics and Analysis (Plus HR, accounting, and normal business processes) More on that at... https://medium.com/@fashiontechguru/end-to-end-fashion-brand-operating-system-platforms-fashiontech-371fff3df795 AMERICAN FASHION PODCAST As always, you can find us and the archive of past episodes at https://americanfashionpodcast.com/ 

Andrew Wyatt is CEO and Co-Founder of Cala, an "operating system" for fashion brands. https://www.ca.la/ For additional analysis, see Charles Beckwith's article about End To End fashion platforms on Medium.

Badgley Mischka founders Mark Badgley and James Mischka discuss their business and careers. With special guest co-host, Dana Thomas, author of the new book Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes. https://www.badgleymischka.com/

Author Dana Thomas discusses her new book, Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes. Order Fashionopolis here: https://amzn.to/2sUzAbr

"I wanted to build a global fashion house from Florence, Alabama." - Billy Reid Just to be clear, Billy Reid's PR team flew us down to Florence for Shindig, put us up in a very nice hotel overlooking the river, and fed us all weekend, but the first question we had when they contacted us and offered to do all this was "well, what do the clothes look like?" The brand more than passed the test. The product is beautiful and all of the stores we've visited are beautifully decorated and well merchandised. So, we were very curious about the man behind the brand.  Billy himself is an interesting character, and his mission to make fashion happen in a different way seems to be on course. Listen to what he has to say, and let us know what you think. https://www.billyreid.com Muscle Shoals documentary trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT96RVS50sc Comments about this or any other episode? Leave us a voicemail: +1-646-979-8709 , or tag us on Instagram @americanfashionshow or Twitter @afpod.

From Copenhagen, Denmark, conversations with Dana Thomas, Simon Collins, The RealReal, and a host of innovators in the ethical fashion realm. Pre-order Dana Thomas' new book, Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion--and the Future of Clothes here (link) Links to people and companies mentioned in this episode: Naia - https://naia.eastman.com/ Dimpora - https://dimpora.com/ Nature Coatings - https://naturecoatingsinc.com/ Algalife - https://www.alga-life.com/ Circular Systems - https://www.circular-systems.com/ Resortecs - https://resortecs.com/ Parley For The Oceans - https://parley.tv/ Neovili - https://www.neovili.com/  The RealReal - https://www.therealreal.com/ Dana Thomas - http://www.danathomas.com/  Repack - https://www.originalrepack.com/ Simon Collins - http://www.thehouseofcollins.com/

Joseph Abboud keeps busy running design for his namesake label, Men's Wearhouse, and the Jos A. Bank brand. He manufactures his collection domestically at a factory in New Bedford. But how did he get to here? Listen and find out. https://www.josephabboud.com/ Subscribe to American Fashion Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, TuneIn, using our RSS Feed, and on many other indexes and platforms. Looking for where to start? Try our list of The Best of American Fashion Podcast — Major Designers.

Zack Hurley is Founder and CEO of Indie Source, a Los Angeles-based manufacturing and product development service provider that serves as an independent fashion hub for resources and education, and is helping many local independent designers build their businesses. Links: indiesource.com ABOUT AFP: If you would like to be a guest on the show, there is a Be A Guest page. You can find press coverage of the show on our Press page. There is also a Media Kit if you’re interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the series. Our email address is info@americanfashionpodcast.com and our voicemail line is 646-979-8709. You can find American Fashion Podcast on Facebook, on Instagram @americanfashionshow and on Twitter @afpod. To sign up to attend our live shows, visit the Live Shows page. Thanks and keep listening!

New York Fashion Week will soon be upon us again, and it’s best to be prepared. We’ve assembled a team of the world’s top experts for The New York Fashion Week Pregame Show to help you navigate the confusion many often feel when Fashion Week is going on. Timecode for reference: 00:00 Intro and Design Flaw / 06:00 NYMD Designers / 16:26 Yeohlee / 22:23 Featured Guests This show was recorded with a live audience of American Fashion Podcast fans, friends, and fashion industry insiders at The Cutting Room in Manhattan. As part of Design Flaw, a portion of ticket sales goes to fashion industry-related charities. We had a wonderful guest emcee for the evening, Mr. Robert di Mauro.  Our featured guests are Business of Fashion Chief New York Correspondent Lauren Sherman and fashion financier Gary Wassner, Chairman of Interluxe Holdings and CEO of Hilldun Corporation (“Hilldun is in fashion”). They were joined on stage by American Fashion Podcast hosts Charles Beckwith and Cathy Schepis, as well as former co-host Seth Friedermann, who is a fashion business consultant. In addition to the deep dive interview, first up were some surprise guests, designer Yeohlee Teng representing womenswear, and from the New York Men’s Day event Matteo Maniatty and Suwana Perry from  Descendant of Thieves, Venus Lo who is the designer of Chan Chit Lo, Dae Lim from Sundae School, and Vasilis Loizides of the namesake label Vasilis Loizides. They were joined on stage by representatives of Agentry PR, which organizes New York Men’s Fashion Day, Henry Kessler and Joe Yang. If you aren’t already getting invitations to be in the audience at our public shows, be sure to sign up for the Fashion Industry Events list on this page: https://www.mouthmedianetwork.com/inviteme References: Design Flaw Charities List – https://designflaw.wtf/charities/ Chic Savages (book) – https://www.amazon.com/Chic-Savages-John-Fairchild/dp/0671683349/ Robert di Mauro – https://www.robertdimauro.com/ Garry Wassner on Twitter – https://twitter.com/gary_wassner Lauren Sherman on Twitter – https://twitter.com/lapresmidi Seth Friedermann on Twitter – https://twitter.com/sethfriederman AFP on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/americanfashionshow/ Business of Fashion – https://www.businessoffashion.com/ Interluxe Holdings – http://www.interluxeholdings.com/ Hilldun Corporation – http://www.hilldun.com/ The High School of Fashion Industries – https://fashionhighschool.net/ Course of Trade – https://www.courseoftrade.com/ Agentry PR – https://www.agentrypr.com/ Yeohlee – https://yeohlee.com/ Descendant of Thieves – https://descendantofthieves.com/ Sundae School – https://sundae.school/ Chan Chit Lo – https://www.chanchitlo.com/ Vasilis Loizides – https://vasilisloizides.com/ To find more episodes of the series or search for a specific guest, refer to our Episode List page. If you would like to be a guest on the show, there is a Be A Guest page. You can find press coverage of the show on our Press page. There is also a Media Kit if you’re interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the series. Our email address is info@americanfashionpodcast.com and our voicemail line is 646-979-8709. You can find American Fashion Podcast on Facebook, on Instagram @americanfashionshow and on Twitter @afpod. To sign up to attend our live shows, visit the Live Shows page. Thanks for listening!  

The icon, Donna Karan, interviewed in the event space at her Urban Zen store in Greenwich Village, NYC, December 2018. Urban Zen – https://urbanzen.com/ Urban Zen Foundation – https://urbanzen.org/ To find more episodes of the series or search for a specific guest, refer to our Episode List page. If you would like to be a guest on the show, there is a Be A Guest page. You can find press coverage of the show on our Press page. There is also a Media Kit if you’re interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the series. Our email address is info@americanfashionpodcast.com and our voicemail line is 646-979-8709. You can find American Fashion Podcast on Facebook, on Instagram @americanfashionshow and on Twitter @afpod. To sign up to attend our live shows, visit the Live Shows page. Thanks for listening!

Speed to market, dead inventory, fabric minimums, inflexible machines and processes, disconnection from customer needs and wants… all solved? All solved in an ethical sustainable manner?! That’s the assertion from Lawrence Lenihan and Joseph Ferrara, Co-Founders of Resonance Companies, and, yes, they have proof of concept. They’ve selected seven brands to test with so far, but what they’re doing is scalable, and it’s quite possibly going to change everything. We recorded this interview with a live audience at their offices in Chelsea and were joined on the mic by Lawrence and Joseph, as well as Project Runway All Stars alum designer Daniel Vosovic, whose new brand The Kit is a collaboration under the Resonance Companies banner, as you’ll hear all about in the show. A short event recap video: https://vimeo.com/310797445 https://vimeo.com/310797445 To find more episodes of the series or search for a specific guest, refer to our Episode List page. If you would like to be a guest on the show, there is a Be A Guest page. You can find press coverage of the show on our Press page. There is also a Media Kit if you’re interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the series. Our email address is info@americanfashionpodcast.com and our voicemail line is 646-979-8709. You can find American Fashion Podcast on Facebook, on Instagram @americanfashionshow and on Twitter @afpod. To sign up to attend our live shows, visit the Live Shows page. Thanks for listening!

Robin Lewis (The Robin Report) and Jan Rogers Kniffen (veteran retail executive and a regular contributor to CNBC) are back to weigh in on the continuing rapid bloodbath and rebirth cycle that defines the current retail environment. Recorded with a live audience at a Retail Marketing Society lunch and learn networking event. The Retail Marketing Society – http://www.retailmarketingsociety.org/ The Robin Report – https://www.therobinreport.com/ J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide Enterprises – https://www.jrkwwe.com/ To find more episodes of the series or search for a specific guest, refer to our Episode List page. If you would like to be a guest on the show, there is a Be A Guest page. You can find press coverage of the show on our Press page. There is also a Media Kit if you’re interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the series. Our email address is info@americanfashionpodcast.com and our voicemail line is 646-979-8709. You can find American Fashion Podcast on Facebook, on Instagram @americanfashionshow and on Twitter @afpod. To sign up to attend our live shows, visit the Live Shows page. Thanks for listening!

Ann Roth is the costume designer behind such celebrated films as The Hours, Cold Mountain, Mamma Mia!, The Birdcage, Postcards From The Edge, The Day of The Locust, and Midnight Cowboy. She received the Academy Award twice, for her work on The Talented Mr. Ripley and The English Patient. Ann has been a mentor to our other guest, Giovanni Lipari, who is currently the costume designer on the AMC Original Series Into The Badlands. This interview brings out the shared perspective of the veteran designer and the new leader, with implications across entertainment and fashion. Ann Roth – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0744778/ Giovanni Lipari – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2269417/

In the mid-1970s the Macys flagship store’s main floor was decorated with bedsheet patterns and bargain bins of dinnerware. The man who changed it, and changed much of how merchandising and retail works is Joe Cicio. “When you’re distinctive through merchandising, you become an attraction.” Joseph Cicio – Friends Bearing Gifts (Amazon)

Guests Stephan Rabimov, Julie Zerbo, and Mickey Boardman discuss the current state of fashion journalism. Charles Beckwith asks if it can even exist at major publications. The conversation turns to movements like #meetoo and its impact on the fashion industry and culture. Julie Zerbo is the founder and editor of The Fashion Law. Mickey Boardman is the Editorial Director at Paper Magazine. Stephan Rabimov is the Director of Fashion Journalism and the Social Media Center at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.Fashion Journalism Episode Links: http://www.thefashionlaw.com/ http://www.juliezerbo.com/about/ http://www.papermag.com/ https://www.instagram.com/askmrmickey/ https://www.academyart.edu/academics/social-media-center https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabimov/ https://www.instagram.com/shitmodelmgmt/

Discussing the logistics of managing one of the world’s largest costume rental houses with the Director of the Universal Studios Costume Department, Poppy Cannon-Reese. Poppy is a former costume designer who stepped into the role a few years ago and brought new organization and technology solutions to the massive Universal Studios working archive. Poppy Cannon-Reese https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0134287/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/poppy-cannon-reese-7126aa73/ http://universalstudioslot.com/costume This is Part 11 of our Los Angeles mini-series.

Sidney Morgan-Petro is the Retail Editor at WGSN, a think tank with deep connections to the fashion and lifestyle businesses. Big on the horizon, purple for sure, but what is a scandi cowboy?

Jim Moore details how he directs fashion coverage and visual language at the leading men’s magazine. He discusses their Best New Menswear Designers of America feature, and its new global variant in collaboration with Gap. Mr. Moore has been at GQ for nearly 40 years, was instrumental in the creation of New York Men’s Fashion Week, and delivers deep insights into the here and now of men’s fashion.“I think what you’re finding is this new breed of designers that really… they have a mission, they have a business plan, and they want to get their clothes into Barneys or they want to do a collaboration with Uniqlo someday. They’re hungry and they’ve got good ideas, and we have a lot of original talent coming out of America. I think that is something to celebrate, and we’re really interested in that.” – Jim Moore, GQ Creative DirectorReferences: Mordechai Rubinstein Five Four Club Fred Segal Reinge Clothing Popeye Magazine Brutus Magazine  

Julien Labat On Edun’s Sustainable Choices There is fairly little true long term thinking in the fashion industry, but it’s not surprising to see it come from an LVMH brand. Edun is a very special company, with a very special mission. It was started by Ali Hewson and her husband Bono, with the intention of making sustainable high end fashion in Africa. It has been a long road with a lot of learning and building, and rebuilding, as revealed in this interview with a new New Yorker, CEO Julien Labat.“I think you can tell that we’re going through this moment, and it’s about every brand needs to increase this conviction about who they are and the value they stand for, and being sure they offer to the customer something that is relevant but also so they cure a need. I think that the whole thing is about identifying who is the customer at the moment with all this changing, and this political and economic and social change: what the customer really looks for. And I think the answer is that the most of the customers don’t know themselves. And I think it’s where the brand’s work is really to recreate this and definitely also bringing the customer to be comfortable with their purchase.”- Julien Labat“I think we’re going to something which is maybe a little less seasonal, but you need to still refresh your offer, and bring more consistency.” – Julien Labat  

Designer Nick Graham (website) refers to his menswear line’s customers as the perennial millennials, and from his rapid retail expansion, he seems to be tapping into something very interesting. The recent New York Fashion Week Men’s show for Nick Graham featured Buzz Aldrin, Bill Nye The Science Guy, and the planet Mars. In this interview he discusses how he built a brand now found in hundreds of retail stores in under three years, and teases the over the top concept for the next fashion week show. His insights on how to start a fashion business both confirm and confound the common wisdom.“The first three years of a business are critical. The first year you figure out exactly what you are, you take your hits. The second year it starts to gel in your mind and the market’s mind of what you represent, and then you get your sourcing and your production ready. And the third year is really when you launch. The first year is not a lunch year, the third year is always a launch year, I think.” – Nick Graham References: Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction (book) John Elliott (designer) John Varvatos (designer) Paul Smith (designer)

Almost ten years ago, with the 2008 financial collapse and other market forces in the fashion industry, we saw the rug pulled out from under a massive number of both new and established brands. It has been a rough decade, and now with the retail collapse accelerating things continue to look bleak for traditional fashion companies. But is this the real picture? Independent and Emerging: The State of The Business Seth, Lisa, Cathy, and Charles are live on stage together for this first live audience podcast, which circles back to the heart of where the show began: wanting to help independent and emerging designers with ecological, social, and financial sustainability. Guests for this episode are three of the most knowledgeable women in the entire industry when it comes to the wants and needs to independent and emerging designers: Nicole Giordano of StartUp FASHION, and Debera Johnson and Deborah Alden of the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator (Pratt/BF+DA). The conversation starts with Seth summarizing the state of the industry ten years back, and goes into where we are now, with detail about direct and wholesale sales, the availability of sustainable materials, and how independent and emerging designers can approach functioning in the chaotic state of the industry today. This is the first of several planned American Fashion Podcast: LIVE shows, and listeners are encouraged to use the Live Show form to sign up for free tickets to similar upcoming events. https://www.instagram.com/p/BW-uUpGB10X/?taken-by=americanfashionshow https://www.instagram.com/p/BW-vyQkBJF9/?taken-by=americanfashionshow

In the studio, Simon Collins, former Dean of Fashion at Parson’s: The New School of Design, founder of Fashion Culture Design: The Unconference, and a globally recognized speaker and slogan master on the subject of good design. Simon talks about retail fatigue, see now buy now, the changing nature of Fashion Weeks, diversity, American politics, and a whole world of other ideas in this whirlwind episode.“It’s like sustainability– Whose fault is it? It’s our fault! It’s everyone’s fault.” – Simon Collins References: Haka (dance) Madison Maxey Amanda Parkes Dashing Tweeds

Raphael Lombardo, Leather Man photos by Charles Beckwith In fashion, accessories now rival or even outshine the garment business. In the past, American Fashion Podcast producer Charles Beckwith has avoided having many accessories designers on the show because he felt he lacked the vocabulary to host a good discussion about them. So, recently he enrolled in T-Project Showroom’s Leather Handbags Design course, a one-week intensive on materials, design, pattern making, hardware, mass production, and the market for leather handbags. This episode is a conversation with the course instructor, master handbag pattern maker Raphael Lombardo, who is the mind behind developing product designs for some of the most successful leather accessories of the last several decades for the world’s most iconic brands. Also in the studio, one of the managers of the T-Project Showroom in New York who coordinates the education program, Giovanni Stasi.A question for our audience: Is there a sustainable thread that could be used in leather production as an alternative to polyester and nylon thread? Linen thread jams the machines and cotton thread is too weak. Is there a new material that could be used?References: Simac Leather Technology Fair Lineapelle Leather Materials Fair  Horween Tannery In Chicago   

Reshoring, an awkward word for an essential concept: bringing manufacturing back from overseas. Instrumental in this process are new agile factories, able to produce at low cost in smaller quantities. One company creating such factories, and making a major difference for a lot of emerging desingers and even established brands adapting to new market conditions, is Kathryn Hilderbrand’s Good Clothng Company, on Cape Cod and in Fall River, Massachusetts. In the studio for this episode are Kathryn Hilderbrand and two of her advisers: a public policy expert who served in the Obama Administration, Mark Linton, and fashion industry veteran and Project Runway superstar, Tim Gunn.“Well, I think Kathryn is beautifully addressing our biggest challenge, which is to re-shore.” – Tim Gunn What is different about these new more agile factories? What can a home sewer learn in 12 weeks that makes them ready to sew in a factory? Is the capacity for re-shoring to the United State ready, or will it be ready?Denovation – abandoning an idea or technology, which had formerly, perhaps wrongly, been seen as progressive.

Ecocult founder Alden Wicker moderates a panel of fashion sustainability leaders, featuring jewelry designer Melissa Joy Manning, Zady.com founder Maxine Bedat, Maiyet co-founder Kristy Caylor, and womenswear designer Mara Hoffman. The panel covered a wide range of issues facing designers who are trying to manufacture using the most sustainable methods possible. More photos and a deeper outline of the discussion will be available on the Ecocult website. photos by Rachael Elana Photography

Ralph Rucci Goes Into Detail The preeminent American designer’s designer, Ralph Rucci, is back with us (swing back to episode #50 to listen to the previous recording). In this episode, Mr. Rucci updates us on his RR331 venture, the couture work he has been doing for private clients, and his plans to return to show during Paris Haute Couture. There is also discussion of his take on the current retail environment, opinion on the exposure level of the Michael Kors brand, pre-show jitters, and Rucci’s interest in working with classic American brands like Levis and Hanes on updating staple garments. The conversation turns to his thoughts on fast fashion, making high fashion accessible, the changing seasons and schedule changes for Fashion Week, and the shift he sees coming away from darkness and toward leadership in the industry again by “kind people.”References Ralph Rucci Teams Up With Moda Operandi for Made-to-order Initiative (WWD)

Yeohlee Teng Interview Yeohlee Teng (bio) has been a fixture of the New York City fashion design, culture, and industry for decades. Her store at 12 West 29th Street is a destination for women seeking clothing of a rare quality, the product of an intelligence and thoughtfulness that is both the mark and mind of its creator. AFP hosts Charles, Seth, and Lisa attempt to interview Yeohlee about fashion then and now, disposable culture, her approach to design and technique, and a range of other topics, but she interviews them back, in this fascinating exchange about what is important in fashion and the life of highly conscious creative people.Highlights: You have to be careful who is telling you what the definitions are in this industry, because there’s this [message], “well, this is what the consumer wants, and so we’re just giving them what they want,” without acknowledging that the consumer has been trained to want that. And therefore, they can probably be untrained. – Seth Friedermann (15:22) You would be surprised at how smart the women are who come into my store. I don’t have to tell them anything, they know. They know what looks good on them. They know the value of what they’re buying. They know how long it will last. They know how many places they can wear them to. They knwo it travels well. They know they can hand wash it. There are people that I could inform, but there are a lot more that could inform me. – Yeohlee Teng (25:04) I think compassion plays a role. A lot of women are forgotten in the fashion world. I dress everybody. I have no prejudice. – Yeohlee Teng (31:36)References: Humans Who Design Madeleine Vionnet Claire McCardell American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion Richard Martin Made In Midtown

An interview with Adi Gil, Angela Donhauser, and Gabi Asfour,the designer trio collectively known as threeASFOUR. What is the place in fashion and New York City for art, life and, spunk? A conversation with three designers known for keeping the flame alive.“There is a certain type of allowing the heart to come in, or allowing the spark to shine, to give light. So, we allow that to happen. That’s basically a rule that we have. But it’s not a spoken rule.” – Gabi Asfour Why is their studio in Chinatown? How do they think about technology and science, and why does it show up in their work so often? What is biomimicry? How are they using 3D printing and ideas of chain mail in soft clothing fashion? How did three people from worlds of such unimaginably brutal conflict come together to create such a dynamic partnership? What is so uiversal about geometry, and how has that played into their work time an again?“We always tell the people that come and work with us, there are times that we have many interns, and we learn from them too. I mean, they come to us and tell us that being with us is the best school, better than their actual school. But then we tell them that we learn so much with them and from them. Sometimes we’ll do patterns together, and I tell them, ‘let’s look at it.’ We learn together. It’s not like I know better. I learn every day.” – Adi Gil “Most peoples’ goals is to make money on the stock exchange, for instance. Business, you know? Get rich. We would like to get rich on the human exchange. And I guess that’s what it all is, the human exhange. The more you connect with people, the richer you are as a person. To be humans with other humans, and that’s the foundation for everything else.” – Angela Donhauser

Fashion journalist Dana Thomas is the author of the books Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster and Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, and is currently the foreign correspondent in Paris for Vogue Australia.“God bless Martin Margiela. I think he was the designer with the most integrity in the last 30 years, because it wasn’t about him, it was about the work.” – Dana Thomas This interview tracks from growing up in Philadelphia to her change of model to journalist, through the course of her now long study of the fashion industry. What are her thoughts on the Met Gala? Why does she write about process? Her early realization of how fashion connects to culture when heroin chic was trending. Writing for the people, not the clique. Hanging with Tom Ford before PR got militant. The 90s are back in fashion? What is the subject of her next book? How do big brands balance global commerce across multiple markets? Dana reveals that there is an unreleased extended version of Gods and Kings, which is double the length of the commercially available version of the book.References: Tom Sachs Denis Diderot

Kathleen Fasanella is the author of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing and founder of the web sites Fashion-Incubator.com: Lessons From The Sustainable Factory Floor and Designer-Entrepreneur.com. In this episode, Kathleen talks with the AFP team via Skype from Albuquerque, New Mexico, about how she got started helping so many designers around the world to figure out the sustainable manufacturing puzzle. She has some great stories about students learning from misunderstandings of how the who apparel making and selling process works, and solid advice on how to approach getting started with making fashion.Kathleen Fasanella’s Boot Camps The Albuquerque Fashion Incubator holds apparel manufacturing boot camps on Memorial Day and Labor Day, and they are open to anyone from anywhere.

World-renowned fashion designer Naeem Khan invites the American Fashion Podcast team into his showroom for a poignant discussion of work, life, and the future of the fashion industry.Naeem Khan highlights: “We have amazing craftsmen in this country. When Italy or Japan, where you have such high paid labor, can produce, why can’t America?” – Naeem Khan (10:05) “Unless and until you don’t have something different and something new to offer, if every designer has the same kind of looking clothes, it becomes a nightmare. I was studying the business which is the lower end business of what I do… I walked into stores like Neiman’s, Saks, and… there’s so much product. It made me afraid– how do you find your place in there, number one… number two, how do you make it so it’s viable that the store can sell it and not come back to you and say, ‘we need X million in markdown,’ because the whole thing is done on agreements with the stores, and that is a most dangerous game to play, because if you don’t meet those numbers, the next thing you know, the successful side of your business is going to be coming down with this new business that you’ve started. “- Naeem Khan (36:38) “You know, you go up, and you have to come down in order to go back up again, because you need to find that other. What is the next thing? But it always comes. In all of my years of designing, I know that’s it’s a cycle, so don’t get depressed. Hold yourself. You’re going to go through it. It will be all fine.”- Naeem Khan (41:07) “It was important to m father and my grandfather that we keep the tradition of the family alive, but my kids grew up in America. So, at first I was very worried that they grew up so modern, they went to Dalton, they went to amazing colleges… that they would not be interested. They would become victim to our society. So, I made it a point that I introduced it to them in the most fun way.”- Naeem Khan (44:31)references: Shinola Fixing Fashion: Rethinking the Way We Make, Market and Buy Our Clothes (book)

Fashion writer Lauren Sherman talks with the hosts for nearly two full hours, a new record for this show. The conversation covers everything from fashion criticism and journalism to changes and evolution at New York Fashion Week to the European bias in American fashion media to designers who didn’t make it out of the 90s to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and the end of diffusion lines as we’ve known them. Also, a brief interview with Reem Acra at her bridal show (at the 1:27:33 mark). Recording space for this episode was provided by designers Iuri Shubladze and Luba GnaSevych.references: Quintessentially (Lauren’s first gig) Forbes (Lauren’s second gig) The Power of a Positive No: Save The Deal Save The Relationship and Still Say No (Amazon) Tommy Ton The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever (Amazon) Of A Kind Nanette Lepore Rachel Comey Alexis Mabille Matches Fashion Pyer Moss (designer Kerby Jean Raymond)

Becky Stern, director of wearables at Adafruit, Dr. Amanda Parkes, chief of technology and research at Manufacture New York, and Google software engineer Alex Kesling talk with Charles Beckwith about the future of fashion from an engineering standpoint. Recording space for this episode was provided by designers Iuri Shubladze and Luba GnaSevych. The big questions: 4:20 – how long would it take a designer to get up to speed on working with wearable tech? 6:19 – solving the battery problem 9:49 – do Adafruit tutorial projects teach about garment design like they do electronics design? 11:05 – where are high tech companies failing when they cross with fashion design? 11:45 – what went wrong with the Apple Watch? 19:41 – will sustainable wearable components be ready before the mass market explosion happens? 22:17 – what did Becky Stern do with her Ringly? 23:41 – wearables show-and-tell on the radio 30:29 – what can designers do now that they couldn’t work with a few years ago? 32:28 – issues of scale in manufacturing wearable tech 36:14 – why does wearable tech appear in athletic-wear first? 40:08 – dragging the craft into the 21st century 42:28 – speaking the fashion language 43:28 – program or be programmed 45:34 – what will it take for fashion designers to embrace more technology? 49:49 – Microsoft Band – hack it or hacksaw it? 53:03 – why are we so focused on the wrist? 54:12 – what will designers do with augmented reality? 1:01:15 – a same code faux pas 1:03:12 – what is getting funded and why?“If you see a thing that your cell phone does, you can make your fashion do that now.” – Becky Stern references: learn.adafruit.com Dan Steingart Why I’m Breaking Up With the Apple Watch (NY Times) FIRST – inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders Cutecircuit Transforming Dresses by Chayalan Philip Treacy Fashioning Tech (blog) Thesis Couture Chameleon Scarf

American couturier Ralph Rucci invites the American Fashion Podcast team into his apartment for a wide ranging discussion about his work, the state of the industry, and creativity in general. references: Dream To Seam: Ralph Rucci (see video player below) Diana Vreeland Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (film) Cy Twombly Titian Francis Bacon Joseph Beuys Federico Fellini Emanuel Ungaro Helmut Lang Public Speaking (film) https://player.vimeo.com/video/19648592 Dream To Seam – Ralph Rucci from modaCYCLE on Vimeo.

The dark bow tie rises. Special guest, costume designer Lisa Padovani, known for her work on television shows such as Boardwalk Empire, Gotham, and the Mad Men pilot, as well as feature films like I’m Not There, The Notorious Bettie Page, Factory Girl, and The Departed. After the interview, the hosts dive into a pile of recent WWD issues and discuss current events in the fashion industry. references: behind the scenes costumes video for Boardwalk Empire Martin Greenfield Blade Runner Sandy Powell Dramaturge (definition) Smaller Bloomingdale’s Sets Tone for Expansion Nordstrom Said Eyeing Downtown NYC Barneys New York Gets a Facelift in Beverly Hills Delpozo Sally LaPointe Kaelen Rachel Antonoff Kaytee Papusza Portland Apparel Lab Amazon to Open Manhattan Pop-up Store Oscar de la Renta Confirms Peter Copping Appointment

Just keep knitting. Designer Lindsay Degen talks knitwear, business, creativity, subway safety, and social media avoidance strategies. Also, some discussion about Ebay and Alibaba both launching ecommerce destinations for designer fashion, and the fact that a designer actually got her eponymous brand name back from a corporation recently. references: Degen Baby Degen Lindsay Degen on Instagram @DegenNYC on Twitter Degen’s early Elle appearance Degen Spring 2012 on modaCYCLE Degen Spring 2013 on modaCYCLE Degen Fall 2013 on modaCYCLE artist Killer Acid artist Chris Uphues Anamanaguchi EDUN Amy Cakes Danky Dank Charles James exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum Sigrid Olsen Seeks A Comeback – WWD article (paywall) A Detacher Ebay launches Designer Collective – WWD article (paywall) Alibaba launches 11 Main – WWD article (paywall) Ebay’s Designer Collective Solestruck 11 Main T Mall