Jessica Michault 1/15/20 Jessica Michault 1/15/20

🎙️ Vikki Kavanagh

Vikki Kavanagh is the Global Buying and Merchandising Director at The Outnet, the sister e-commerce website to Net-a-porter and Mr. Porter. And the reason she has held that venerale position at the company for almost three years now is because she is a true buyer’s buyer.

Vikki Kavanagh is the Global Buying and Merchandising Director at The Outnet, the sister e-commerce website to Net-a-porter and Mr. Porter. And the reason she has held that venerable position at the company for almost three years now is because she is a true buyer’s buyer.

What I mean by that is that she has the art of buying coursing through her veins. Since she was a teenager she has been fascinated by this aspect of the fashion industry. And it was right out of school, at her first job working in a House of Fraser department store, that she first laid eyes on the glamourous women who were crisscrossing the world ordering up the stock that would line the shelves of the store in the season to come, that she knew that being a buyer was going to be her calling.

She liked the idea of finding just the right products for the people who frequented the store she worked for, be that online or within the walls of a storefront. To find for them both the things she knew they would need, but also those they didn’t know they needed until she found it for them and those items that they didn’t need at all, but wanted, and couldn’t live without.

Over the years she has proven herself to be very skilled at being in tune with her customers. Be that buying for Fenwicks, House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols, the fashion e-tailer Very Exclusive or finally The Outnet.

The Outnet, which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary, has become so much more than just a place were end of season stock goes on sale. In fact, today 90% of the stock is sourced directly from the brands on buying trips Vikki makes with her team to the fashion capitals of the world. She has helped build deeper relationships with brands which has lead to exclusive partnerships like a recent one the company did with Mary Katrantzou as well as unexpected collaborations.

Vikki helped put into place a collaboration between the brand’s in house line - Iris and Ink, which - by the way - consistently ranks in the company’s top 5 selling brands on its website, with the style icon, model and entrepreneur Julia Restoin Roitfeld. A first for the company.

Today, for Vikki, being a fashion buyer means being nimble, using data to help hone your choices but making sure to still leave room to follow your gut. In our conversation, Vikki talks about what it takes to be a great buyer, the evolution of the luxury consumer, and the new landscape of seasonless shopping as well as The Outnet’s role in a circular economy and why she will never understand the appeal of bicycle shorts.

Image of Vikki Kavanagh from GPS Radar.

Jessica Michault 11/14/19 Jessica Michault 11/14/19

🎙️ Alexandre Mattiussi

There are some fashion insiders who call designer Alexandre Mattiussi “a one in a generation” fashion designer. And I would have to agree with that assessment. He is a bit of a fashion unicorn in that, not only is he a down to earth, friendly and gregarious guy who happens to be a very talented fashion designer, he also has a real head for - and a love of - both the business of fashion and the theatricality of it.

Born in 1980 in the Normandy countryside, Alexandre studied at the Duperré fashion design school in Paris and decided to specialize in menswear design as he astutely saw that the market was much less saturated than the womenswear market at that time.

Early on, back in 2002, he tried his hand at starting his own business, selling t-shirts he had designed. But decided to press pause on that adventure to really learn his trade inside the walls of established menswear brands before stepping out on his own. To this end, he worked at Dior’s “30 Montaigne” menswear line and then joined Givenchy where for five years he built up real-world experience as he led the menswear design team before the arrival of Riccardo Tisci at the house, and then he had a stint designing for Marc Jacobs Men.

It was while at Marc Jacobs, as he was working on some ultra-luxury menswear items, that he had his sartorial epiphany. The beautiful things he was creating, well he would never be able to afford to buy them and he wanted to create clothing that he would see being worn on the street. Clothing that would make people happy as they went about living their lives.

And so, in 2011 his brand - AMI was born. The name, which means friend in French but is also the composition of his initials and the last letter of his last name perfectly encapsulates both the designer and his designs. He seems to be friends with everyone and everyone wants to be friends with him. And his clothing does act like friends for those who wear them. This is a brand filled with staple wardrobe pieces, the perfectly cut pair of trousers, the great chunky sweater, the evergreen outerwear. Menswear that was so well done that women wound up flocking to his work, and wearing his designs, as well.

Today Ami has over 300 stocklists across the globe and online and has freestanding stores in Paris, Tokyo, London, and China. And last year he finally launched a “menswear for women” line in response to the high demand for his designs by women around the world.

I caught up with Alexandre in his Paris headquarters after he and I had both just returned from a whirlwind tour of Asia. I was attending Shanghai Fashion Week and Tokyo Fashion Week and he also happened to be there as well. Showing his first collection outside of Paris in Shanghai at the same time as its fashion week and then held an event in Japan during its fashion week. All of it was a way to thank his Asian customers and friends who have become a very big part of his business.

What did I tell you, Alexandre, both a savvy businessman, but an even better friend.

Image of Alexandre Mattiussi from DrapersOnline.

Jessica Michault 10/18/19 Jessica Michault 10/18/19

🎙️ Joey Zwillinger

When I began to do some research on Joey Zwillinger, the co-founder of the sustainable footwear brand Allbirds, it was hard not to notice the pull quote from Time magazine on the company’s website that referred to its Merino wool sneakers as “the world’s most comfortable shoe”, or when Refinery 29 said “we won’t blame you if never wear any other shoe ever again”.

Clearly, the brand that Zwillinger, a biotech engineer, created with Tim Brown, a former football player from New Zealand, has fans, including the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio who invested early in the company – raising 2.7 million dollars in seed funding before it officially launched in 2016.

Since then, Allbirds has become a shining example of sustainable style at its finest .

The breathable temperature-regulating wool used to make the company’s signature sneakers uses 60% less energy than a typical sneaker. But, the brands sustainable initiatives do not stop there –It turned to recycled plastic bottles to craft the shoe’s laces. Allbirds came up with a brand new material that they call SweetFoam, which is an eco-friendly alternative to the traditional petroleum-based shoe soles, made from sugarcane off shoots. The company’s revolutionary material is an open-source technology so that other brands can also take advantage of the carbon negative material. Oh, and even the shoe boxes the Allbirds footwear comes in are made from 90% recycled cardboard.

Currently, the company, which reportedly is now a $1.4 billion dollar business, is moving quickly to expand out from its original direct-to-consumer selling strategy. It already has 12 stores across the globe and intends to open another 20 in the next year. It has also expanded its inventory range, launching a weather-resistant collection called Mizzle that is also crafted from all-natural materials and the cleverly named Sole Mates socks that are made from TrinoTM –a new proprietary yarn that blends together the natural fibers of the brand’s Tree and Merino materials.

Without a doubt, the company is riding the crest of the current sustainable fashion wave. But after speaking with Zwillinger, there is no question that building a globally successful business isn’t his primary goal but instead, helping to build a better world for the future is.

Jessica Michault 9/17/19 Jessica Michault 9/17/19

🎙️ Arthur Arbesser

The first thing you notice when you meet Arthur Arbesser, besides his head of floppy hair and big round glasses, is his upbeat attitude. He radiates nothing but positivity and you get the impression that he always has a sunny side view on the world. It’s a perception that is further supported by the fashion he creates – which is colorful, often with graphic motifs, and rich with artistic references that span many different fields, from architecture and painting to sculpture and ballet.

His sartorial style is eclectic and original and it perfectly dovetails with his own creative history as a designer born and raised in Vienna, Austria, to go on to study at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College in London, and for many years now calling Milan his home.

Arthur’s talent was right off the bat. Shortly after graduating from college, he was hired by Giorgio Armani and worked alongside the famed Italian designer for 7 years before deciding to launch his own signature brand in January 2013. That same year he was a winner of the “Who Is On Next?” competition in Italy, which is designed to highlight talented young designers. From this, Arthur’s work began to generate positive reviews by the likes of Suzy Menkes, and in 2015 he became an LVMH Prize finalist.

Today, Arthur is balancing two creative hats on his head; not only does he design for his own brand but since September 2017, he has held the position of creative director of the esteemed Italian brand, Fay.

In fact, we met up in the headquarters of Fay in Milan to do this podcast interview just as he was preparing for his next presentation for the house. It was there that he opened up about just how deeply architecture and design influence his old world approach to fashion and how not being an Italian designer helped make his mark in Milan, as well as what it takes to simultaneously design for two fashion houses.

After our chat, what I took away from our conversation was that as much as Arthur is an upbeat fun loving person, he takes his work and his love of fashion very very seriously.

Jessica Michault 9/9/19 Jessica Michault 9/9/19

🎙️ Law Roach

I first met Law Roach in early 2018 at a Tommy Hilfiger show in Milan when he came up to me to say how much he liked the 60 Second Fashion Reviews I did on Instagram. I was instantly charmed by his warmth, his openness and, off course, his amazing outfit. I soon realized, although I didn't know it at the time, that I was a fan of Law as well.

I first met Law Roach in early 2018 at a Tommy Hilfiger show in Milan when he came up to me to say how much he liked the 60 Second Fashion Reviews I did on Instagram. I was instantly charmed by his warmth, his openness and, of course, his amazing outfit. I soon realized, although I didn't know it at the time, that I was a fan of Law as well.

Law Roach

Stylist to the stars

I had been appreciative of his work over the years as the stylist for actress Zendaya and more recently Ariana Grande, as well as Tiffany Haddish and Tom Holland. Additionally, I was most definitely impressed with the way he transformed Celine Dion into style icon almost overnight.

For those who aren’t avid followers of the inner workings of the fashion industry, or didn’t spot him during his time as a judge on America’s Next Top Model, your first true glimpse of Law was most likely this year on the Met Gala red carpet where he, quite literally, was Zendaya’s fairy godfather. With a wave of his wand, Law turned the actress’ dove gray custom made Tommy Hilfiger Cinderella gown into bright blue lit up confection. But that is what Law has been doing for years now, transforming his clients into the sartorial best version of themselves.

Ever since he moved from Chicago, where he ran a vintage clothing store, to Los Angeles to follow his dream to be a stylist, Law has been ingenious in how he gets his clients notices for all the right reasons. He has come up with some of the most original and eye-catching statement looks of the past decade. But more than that, he has also helped his clients connect with leading fashion brands and was key in brokering partnerships, most notably Zendaya for Tommy Hilfiger and Ariana Grande for Givenchy.

Now after 10 years in the business, Law is looking for his next move. He is ready for his own transformation and during our conversation over breakfast at the busy Royal Monceau hotel in Paris, he looked back over his career and it became crystal clear that this is a man who will not only make it because he has got talent, but also because he has such a big heart.

Jessica Michault 7/26/19 Jessica Michault 7/26/19

🎙️ Jeremy Langmead of MR. PORTER

Full disclosure, I have known Jeremy for over a decade and I have watched in amazement as he create, launched and grew the MR PORTER website into an award winning e-commerce platform created for men looking to have access to both the best fashion in the menswear market and the best editorial content designed to help those men relate to their sartorial choices on a deeper level.

Jeremy Langmead is the Brand and Content Director of MR PORTER. Full disclosure, I have known Jeremy for over a decade and I have watched in amazement as he create, launched and grew the MR PORTER website into an award winning e-commerce platform created for men looking to have access to both the best fashion in the menswear market and the best editorial content designed to help those men relate to their sartorial choices on a deeper level.

The platform’s “5 ways” series and “how it” articles have helped men around the globe educate themselves and given them the tools to make them more savvy shoppers and dressers. And now Jeremy is behind the new MR PORTER Health In Mind initiative, which is dedicated to helping men lead happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.

Jeremy is focused on creating an overall brand vision for MR PORTER and since he first joined the company in 2010, he has been able to find the sweetspot between great content and great commerce by blending product updates with MR PORTER’s weekly shoppable digital magazine, The Journal, its bimonthly newspaper, The MR PORTER Post, and its buzzy, ever updating, digital news source, The Daily.

Before he worked at MR PORTER, Jeremy was editor-in-chief of Esquire from 2007-2010 and before he held the same job at the interiors magazine Wallpaper from 2003-2007. And I can confirm that his love of interior design is still strong, you just have to look at the interiors of his own home to realize that. And he also had stints working as the Life & Style editor of the London Evening Standard and as an editor of The Sunday Times Style magazine. Basically the guy knows fashion and style like the back of his hand.

In 2014 Jeremy left MR PORTER for Christie’s auction house, where he developed editorial content for the e-commerce, digital and communication departments before returning to MR PORTER after a year to take up his current role at the company. And since then he has seen the menswear industry evolve drastically. Between the blurring of gender lines, the mixing of styles that see athleticwear and street style blending more and more, tailoring and the new trend towards menswear collections being shows with womenswear, well there was lots to talk about with Jeremy.

So I took the Eurostar over to London to interview him at his company’s headquarters, where a tour of the building included looking out over a whole new section that had just been allotted to the ever growing MR PORTER team. And as we talked inside one of the glass walled conference rooms, the hustle and bustle of the busy company whirled on behind us was further proof that MR PORTER, and Jeremy, are heading into fashion’s future full steam ahead.

Jessica Michault 6/7/19 Jessica Michault 6/7/19

🎙️ Marco De Vincenzo

I have followed the career of designer Marco de Vincenzo since his very first show when he started his brand back in 2009. And it has been a privilege to watch him grow into one of the most exciting Italian fashion designers working today.

If you are doing the math, you now know that this year marks the 10 year anniversary of the launch of the Marco de Vincenzo brand. It also happens to be the year Marco turns 40 and the year he launches his first menswear collection. Somthing he will do later this month at Pitti Uomo in Florence. And beside running his own signature label he also juggles his gig as the creative head of leather goods at Fendi alongside his mentor Silvia Venturini Fendi.

Marco’s aesthetic is very distinctive. The rainbow has almost become the trademark of his designs. Or maybe it's fringing. Or perhaps Lurex knits. Actually now that I think about it… it is all three of them. He is also very good at coming up with accessories that have launched a thousand copies. What is it they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? But besides those designer building blocks Marco’s work also has other important fundamental features like his true artisanal understanding of how to manipulate and craft leather goods and his ability to constantly revisit his Italian heritage in his designs in new, unexpected and heartfelt ways.

The fashion industry’s confidence in Marco’s talent as a designer is underlined by the fact that LVMH signed a partnership deal with the designer back in 2014, taking a 45% stake in the company and this year a new partner, Marco Panzeri, has acquired a 35% stake in the business, with Panzeri coming in as the new chief executive officer of the company.

All of which is to say I felt that now was the perfect moment to sit down with Marco for a good long chat. To take the time to reflect back on the first decade of his business, the challenges and the successes, and to lay out his goals for the future of his vibrant and upbeat fashion label.

Jessica Michault 4/5/19 Jessica Michault 4/5/19

🎙️ Ramesh Nair

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the stealth wealth luxury brand Moynat. And just like the company, which is thought to be one of the oldest heritage French trunk-making houses in the world, the man behind the brand, creative director Ramesh Nair, is someone who likes to let the quality of his work speak for itself.

But don’t let Ramesh’s soft spoken, unassuming appearance fool you. He might not be a designer who craves the fashion limelight but he is a man with a clear vision for Moynat - and he has the fashion chops to make that vision a reality. During his career he has worked with some of the most talented and creative designers living today. Not only did he work with Yohji Yamamoto and Christian Lacroix he spent 11 years as senior designer at Hermès soaking up everything he could from his legendary mentor Martin Margiela and later incomparable Jean Paul Gaultier. All of this before he was chosen in 2011 by Bernard Arnault, the chairman and ceo of LVMH, to breath life back into the Moynat brand, which had laid dormant for 35 years.

Ramesh has had quite an impressive career considering that fashion design wasn’t a childhood dream and that he pretty much fell backwards into fashion when he applied to study at new branch that had opened up in India of the FIT New York, back in 1986, as an alternative to joining the army. Even he was surprised when he was accepted, and during his time at the school he learned that he loved how fashion could be used as a form of visual expression of self and he discovered that he was actually pretty fluent in the language of fashion and luxury.

I had the honor and privilege of speaking with Ramesh inside the Moynat flagship store on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. A location that is like an oasis of calm at the heart of the bustling city. And just like the company he represents Ramesh is the epitome of refinement and grace. He is all about celebrating the best that life has to offer. Be that great food, great conversation or great design…life is too short for anything less.

Jessica Michault 3/17/19 Jessica Michault 3/17/19

🎙️ Robin Meason

Robin Meason is a woman who has lived quite an amazing, globe-trotting existence. And the reason she has had such an adventurous life is because she always follows her heart.Following her heart is also what happens to make her one of the best fashion PR’s in the business.

Robin Meason is a woman who has lived quite an amazing, globe-trotting existence. And the reason she has had such an adventurous life is because she always follows her heart. Following her heart is also what happens to make her one of the best fashion PR’s in the business.

Robin was born and raised in Texas, where she studied European civilization at Texas State University, but she always had a thing about France, and Paris in particular. She might have lived in London, Los Angeles, Athens and Australia, over the years but she has always come back to Paris.

It is in Paris that she launched her PR agency, called Ritual Projects, in 2013. And while in the past following her heart had Robin traveling the world, today her heart (and her head for business) is what makes Ritual Projects such an interesting company.

Think of it like the rebellious cool kid at school, who always seems to know what is going to be the next big thing before anyone else does. The brands that Robin represents are the ones that are generating buzz for their creativity and are on the cusp of blowing up. They are also very loyal to Robin as she nurtures them from the jump - while the grow into brands, like Y/Project, GMBH, Ottolinger and AREA, that are coveted by those in the know in the fashion industry.But as good as Robin is at promoting her brands, she is not someone who likes to talk about herself. So getting to sit down with her, to hear her life story and get insights into how she works and how she spots talent, was such a rare treat, and I am so happy I get to share this moment with you.

Jessica Michault 2/23/19 Jessica Michault 2/23/19

🎙️ Massimo Giorgetti

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the MSGM brand founded by Massimo Giorgetti. But when you meet the Rimini born Italian designer, it is hard to believe someone so open, outgoing and honest has been at the helm of a successful and growing fashion company for a decade, without getting jaded.

But that is the case for this self-taught designer, who originally got a degree in accounting and spend his youth as a DJ, before he launched his company in 2009. He quickly made a name for himself- and his brand thanks to his use of bright and bold logo-clad clothing that had price points that made them accessible luxury to younger streetwear fashion lovers. Just a year in and MSGM had already won the prestigious Vogue Italia AltaRoma “Who Is On Next” award and then over the next five years the company gre into a 45 million dollar business with over 600 points of sale around the world.

Giorgetti’s winning fashion formula garnered attention from investors and in 2018 he got a new minority investment from the private equity fund Style Capital. With this new influx of funds the designer has big expansion plans in mind with goals to double revenues over the next three years, making a big push into the Asian market and expanding the brand into new product lines.

Case in point, and perfectly in keeping with the youth-centric focus of the house, Giorgetti debuted earlier this year a new line of MSGM underwear for men and women and there are plans on the horizon to unveil a full activewear capsule collection in June and a footwear line is also in the works.

I caught up with Giorgetti at his headquarters in Milan. He is a man full of energy, ideas and positive attitude, which all bodes extremely well for the future of the MSGM brand.

Jessica Michault 2/8/19 Jessica Michault 2/8/19

🎙️ Lee Oliveira

If you are a devoted follower of street style then you know that there are just a handful of photographers who you want to take your photo as you arrive at a show. Or at the very least stand outside at a show pretending to be super busy on your phone. One of them is the Brazilian born, Australia based, photographer Lee Oliveira.

His visual signature is one of discretion. Unlike those concrete catwalk photographers that have you to walk across the same crosswalk over and over to get a shot, or ask you to stop and pose for them, Lee is more of a stealth snapper. Often you don’t even know that he has taken your photo until it appears in the Thursday style pages of the New York Times or on the newspaper’s official NYTimesfashion feed on Instagram.

Just like the iconic Bill Cunningham, who was the godfather of street style photography, Lee isn’t interested in taking photos of celebrities, or head to toe branded outfits worn by influencers. Instead it is the composition of the image itself, how someone’s outfit is framed by its surroundings and environment that intrigues him.

I caught up with Lee while he was in Australia covering Australia Fashion Week. And I have to warn you…and apologies… for the sound quality of the recording of our phone conversation. It’s really not the greatest… but what Lee has to say about his work and the fashion industry as a whole certainly is worth the effort.

Jessica Michault 1/25/19 Jessica Michault 1/25/19

🎙️ Alejandro Gómez Palomo

Let me tell you about the white hot Spanish designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo. You have probably already heard about his brand Palomo Spain – which he launched in 2015 – because of Beyoncé. She famously wore one of his floral menswear pieces for her first official photo with her newborn twins, Rumi and Sir.

Palomo calls himself a menswear designer, that is what he studied during his time at the London College of Fashion, and yet his theatrical outfits can easily cross gender lines. His clothing is not so much focused on a person’s sex, but rather their level of sartorial daring. There is a boldness to Palermo and a joyful abandonment to his well-constructed designs. His imagination is overflowing with ideas, but also there is a meticulousness and attention to detail to his work.

Think John Galliano, Alexander McQueen or Jean Paul Gaultier.

In fact, being a fashion designer was always what Palomo knew he wanted to do. Growing up in the small town of Córdoba, in the South of Spain, he admitted that by the age of six he already was a big fan of dressing up Barbies, he religiously watched fashion shows on TV and was sketching incessantly. And then one day his father made the very smart suggestion that he study to become a fashion designer.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Alejandro right after his Spring/Summer 2019 collection at Madrid Fashion Week, where part of the invitation to his show was a drop of his own blood on a specimen slide, and the show itself was inside the Museum of Natural Sciences, surrounded by taxidermy stuffed animals and an array of curiosity cabinet pieces, that - just like the essence of the Palomo brand – brings disparate ideas together to create something wholly original.

Jessica Michault 1/11/19 Jessica Michault 1/11/19

🎙️ Glenn Martens

Glenn Martens is the creative director of the brand Y/Project. He is also one of the most talented young designers working in Paris today. His Spring/Summer 2019 show was a seminal collection that beautifully underlined the real breadth and width of his conceptual creations. Designs that have their foundation in streetwear but their execution is of a couture level.

Born in Bruges, Belgium, Glenn was not one of those designers who dreamed about fashion from an early age. Instead he studied interior design and just by happenstance ended up applying to the prestigious - and famously rigorous - Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where in the end he would graduate at the top of his class.

From there Glenn landed a gig as a junior designer for the women’s pre-collections at Jean Paul Gaulter and he also spent time working as the first assistant to the founder of Y/Project, Yohan Serfaty. Then in 2012 Glenn launched his own signature brand before being asked by Serfaty’s business partner to come back to the Y/Project brand as its creative direction when Serfaty passed away in 2013.

From that moment until today Glenn has produces collections that are filled with shape shifting clothing. Pieces that appear sliced and diced together, have intriguing appendages or layers that make them look both familiar and fantastical. And the fashion world has taken notice of Glenn. In 2017 he was awarded the ANDAM prize, winning $280,000 and a year-long mentorship from Francesca Bellettini , the CEO and president of Yves Saint Laurent.

I spoke with Glenn just a few weeks before he presented his latest menswear collection at Pitti Uomo in Florence. Forgoing a Paris showing for the prestige and the honor of presenting his clothing in an arena that celebrates the best that menswear has to offer.
But what I love most about Glenn is that none of his burgeoning fame, nor the growing number of accolades he receives have gone to his head. He is just a great guy you would be happy to grab a beer with and talk the night away.

Jessica Michault 12/14/18 Jessica Michault 12/14/18

🎙️ Klaus Stockhausen

Klaus Stockhausen is the contributing fashion director at Zeit Magazine and is a fixture of the fashion scene. This is a man who has really lived life to the fullest, and has done it with lots and lots of laughter. In fact, I don’t think I have ever laughed as much in an interview as I did with Klaus. He is honest and playful. Self-deprecating and just the right amount of catty so you know it’s all in good fun.

Just to give you an idea about who Klaus is. He started his career as a DJ in Germany. Something he did for 15 years and he is created for introducing house music to the country. He was also in a boys band called Boytronic that had a top 10 hit song called “You”. He was doing street style long before that phrase even existed in the fashion lexicon. And not only was he the personal stylist for Naomi Campbell he was also the mastermind behind all of John Galliano’s extraordinary outfits that he wore to take his epic bows at the end of each of his Christian Dior and Galliano shows.

Sufficed to say Klaus has got a lot of great stories to tell. As well strong opinions about the current crop of models, how to handle divas on a photo shoot and some key insights into how to be a successful stylist. We spoke together right after the month of fall/winter 2018 fashion shows had wrapped.

Jessica Michault 11/30/18 Jessica Michault 11/30/18

🎙️ Johnny Coca

The fashion industry is buzzing about the Spanish designer Johnny Coca. Everyone wants to know how, in just three years, he has turned the Mulberry brand around. A big part of his success comes thanks to his innovative business strategy, his inventive and exuberant collections and some seriously covetable bags and accessories.

Mulberry made the right call when they hired Johnny. And I am guessing that decision was pretty much a no brainer for the brand, considering that Johnny spent years working alongside Phoebe Philo at Celine. He was head of the design studio when it came out with the brand’s iconic Trapeze bag. And before that he was coming up with winning accessories for Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton.

The man just knows how to make great accessories! And now is turning those design skills towards womenswear collections, all of which so far have garnered warm reviews from top fashion critics.

It was a real treat getting to know Johnny during our conversation. By the end of this interview I was bowled over both by his warm and open nature and his bold clear vision for the future of the Mulberry brand.

Jessica Michault 11/2/18 Jessica Michault 11/2/18

🎙️ Brian Phillips

The rise of Brian Phillips, the President of Black Frame, to the top echelons of the fashion industry, is both well-known and impressive.

The rise of Brian Phillips, the President of Black Frame, to the top echelons of the fashion industry, is both well-known and impressive.

Instead of working his way up through the ranks of PR companies he founded Black Frame after having made fashion inroads at the cult magazine Visionaire straight out of college, worked at the now defunct production company Fatal Art Syndicate, and built up a close knit group of friends who just happened to work in the fashion industry. Friends that including Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, the duo behind Opening Ceremony (which Brian helped promote from the start) and who also are also now designing Kenzo – a deal that Brian was instrumental in brokering for the duo.

But, perhaps the most mythic fashion war story from Brian’s early career years happened when, while he was in-between jobs, Hedi Slimane came knocking. Brain had worked with the iconic designer on a project a year earlier, the results of which apparently stuck in Slimane’s brain. When Slimane reached out to Brian again, he just happened to be the creative director of Dior Homme. After a meeting with Sidney Toledano, the then CEO of Christian Dior at that time, Brian had a deal with the brand.

Thus, at the tender age of 24 Brian launched Black Frame. His first two clients.... Dior Homme and Visionaire.

Since then he has nurtured the creative careers of designers and brands like Rodate, Delfina Delettrez, Helmut Lang, Eckhaus Latta, Woolrich, Dion Lee and Nike. Launched a sister company called Framework that focuses on “developing concepts for innovative brand experiences” and more recently became the creative director of the cult biannual publication Garage Magazine.

I have known Brian for many years and what strikes you about him, besides the breadth and width of his cultural knowledge, is his no BS way of doing business. In an industry where schmoozing and sucking up has become almost an art form Brian doesn’t suffer fools or is looking for acolytes. He is all business, pretty much all the time. You better bring you’re A-game and offer up an interesting challenge if you want to get his attention.

And Brian is a pretty interesting guy in his own right. I promise that if you can bear with the background hum of the air conditioning fan in this interview, that finally shuts down at about the 4-minute mark of our conversation, you will be rewarded with an insightful and informative discussion in which Brian really lays out his business philosophy and creative strategy. Honestly, I just asked my questions, sat back and let Brian run with it.

Jessica Michault 10/22/18 Jessica Michault 10/22/18

🎙️ Giuseppe Zanotti

Next year shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of his signature label.

Next year shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of his signature label.

When he started out, during the heart of the 90s era of minimalism, his sexy, vibrate footwear was in stark contrast to anything else on the market And since then he has built up a reputation for creating shoes that are closely linked to the world of music (another one of his passions) as well as using innovative materials and eye catching embellishments – all of it grounded in old school artisanal craftsmanship.

A powerful combination that today means the Zanotti brand is a global entity, with almost 100 stores worldwide, that has expanded from women's footwear into luxury handbags, mens shoes, children's footwear and a smattering of ready to wear.

Zanotti was born in San Mauro Pascoli, Italy, a village that was just down the road from Rimini, which has a long tradition of shoemaking. It was there that he learned first-hand his trade, designing footwear freelance for small, artisanal shoe companies. Besides whipping up imaginative shoe designs, Zanottti spent much of his after hours during his youth as a radio DJ. Bringing nightspots to life with his impressive musical knowledge and ability to set a party mood. And it was the covers of those LPs that he played that often acted as inspiration for his designs in his early days.

Interestingly, it was celebrities who were first draw to Zanotti’s work almost from the start, with Madonna an early fan. Now the list of his high profile clientele probably reaches a mile long, with stars like Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Charlize Theron, and Cameron Diaz buying up his designs.

Men too; with Kanye West not only a collector of his mens shoes, he also regularly collaborates with the designer. In fact, Zanottti got in on the collaboration game much earlier that most luxury brands. Working with both celebrities and up and coming fashion designers, supply the shoes for their seasonal collections, long before many of his competitors.

That is the real take away you get from Zanotti when you talk with him. He is an artist who enjoys the creative and collaborative process of bringing his hand draw sketches to life. And when I say life, I mean seeing them being worn on the street by real people who love to stand out, get noticed and blaze their own path.

Jessica Michault 10/5/18 Jessica Michault 10/5/18

🎙️ Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli is an extremely talented Italian designer, who was born in Rome and has now built up his own empire. A fashion empire, dedicated to creating romantic, feminine and beautiful clothing for women who want to look and feel special.

Giambattista Valli has done something not many of his peers have been able to accomplish. He launched his own fashion label and turned it into a global success. The last year has brought about some major changes in Valli’s professional life. He ended his decade long collaboration with Moncler and he decided to sell a minority stake in his company to Artemis, the investment arm of Kering’s founding Pinault family. Moves that show that Valli is more dedicated than ever to making his feminine, female friendly fashion a staple of the industry for generations to come.

I have a lot of questions for you Giamba, but before I get into all that I have always wanted to know the story of the pearls. How did a string of pearls necklace become your signature?

It came casually. Actually, I used to go often to India. I was over there and there was this piece with pearls. They were part of a big Mahajan neckless. It was a piece of jewelry made for men and I loved it. This friend, that is a jewelry designer, says to me “why don’t you wear pearls, this a jewelry for men” and I said that is a good idea and I put it on and it became my lucky charm and my signature. It’s my thing and I love it because it means I can skip wearing a tie, which look really awful on me, pearls look much better.

One of the things I loved about your story is, unlike a lot of young designers today that kind of just launch their brands right away, you really took the time to learn from some amazing designers. What did you take away from the time with Roberto Capucci, the one that really formed you as designer when you launched your own label?

I think this is what I really can give as a suggestion to young designers, it is very important to experiment and to get the knowledge. I would say it is really important to train before you jump by yourself. I was very lucky to cross big masters in my life. Roberto Capucci was like my first love, somebody I can’t forget and I am never going to forget. He was the most human experience I had. I learnt from him to be respectful with women. He used to tell me “Giambattista never forget about women, they can potentially be mothers so you have to be respectful”, this was very beautiful and I still have it on my mind. And he was somebody that was working in such of free way with volume, shapes and colors. It was fantastic!

The moment I worked for Fendi with Karl Lagerfeld was a really international experience with all the top model of runways of the moment, the glamorousness of it. Later, I arrived in Paris, a place I was not expected to land. When I arrived, I had everything to learn. I had a real creative evolution through the French culture. I had to conquer it because it was something far from my culture. I had to learn the ABC of all the characters, and all the process. Also, I discovered what we call luxury. Even if today it does not mean anymore what it used to mean, it is a little bit overused or abused. I prefer the word excellence, it is more appropriated for me right now and it is what I am passionate and obsessed by. I have seen this excellence of making art in this clothes, the art of making this garment, the art of making these colors, this fabric, this embroidery, flowers, patterns, whatever I could find around this atelier.

Then you spent time at Emanuel Ungaro, training with the founder and then taking over when he retired.

Yes, and when left Ungaro to start my own company. I make the jump with “the net” because I had all this important previous experience with Ungaro with Fendi and Cappuci. I did the good and bad, I had the training make the jump all by myself.

Looking back at that time there were lot of houses and designers that were going to famous houses instead of starting their own label. But you did the opposite, you turned down the job of artistic director at Valentino and focused on your company.

At that time, I just wanted to express myself. It was like being a translator on the movie and being an actor on your movie. So I want to be acting my movie and I want to be coherent with my ideas. Of course any personal idea is going to be reinterpreted in another house. But I had like a very strong idea of these women, about their independence and the fact that they are not belonging to anybody, not even fashion.

It’s true that one of the thing that people talk about with you is that you do have a diehard group of women who have been faithful to you since the beginning. How do you generate such a fanatic loyalty to your brand?

Honestly, I enjoy doing my job and I want to show them all the happiness, that I am totally in love with them and cannot live without them. This group of girls, they are my biggest inspiration. When I am drawing I am asking myself a lot of questions, it is like a real way to look, if it works or not in the real world Sometimes in other fashion houses, they miss the point of the final reality of women. Of course, we want to be on museum on day, but right now I just want to be part of these women’s lives.

You are one of the few designers that are doing couture. How do you justify working in a field that is only open to a very small group of clients?

I have the youngest customers of couture among the houses that do couture. I started Valli in 2005 and it was few years after the September 11th. There were all the conflicts, the US market was really bad. But I came out with something so different and unique, that everybody jumped onto it. When I putted out the Haute Couture, it was the moment that everybody was saying Haute Couture was dead, that luxury does not work anymore. So I came out with the idea of the Haute Couture and you know it is the business that generates the most traffic during the Fashion Weeks in Paris. Today, because I design couture I am able to reach something else creatively. There is the exclusivity, the excellence and it is a privilege to have that kind of excellence and very few people have the opportunity to design couture.

You spent ten years at Moncler designing the Gamme Rouge collection on top of your ready-to-wear and your couture line. That collaboration recently ended so what is it like now that you no longer have to deal with those extra designer deadlines?

You know I am very proud of what I accomplished at Moncler. I built the women wardrobe, which did not exist at all at that time. I brought these babies to a massive success. Yesterday, I had dinner with Hilary Swank, she was next to me and says “Oh, do you remember you invited me to your first Moncler show, I didn’t even know what it was was and look where it is now.”

Was that the one underneath the Opera, with the horses?

No, it was even before, at the Musée Bourdelle. I invited Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, they were the hottest it-girl at the moment and also Rihanna, she is my dear friend.

With Moncler, I did not want create a sports line like Nike or what Adidas do. I wanted to make something women can use for their daily life and go to the office or use during the week-end. Something that they can dressed up. But then it came to a point when I wanted to do a sports line for Giambattista Valli, the story had to change and I had to start a new chapter.

I know that Salma Hayek is a huge fan of you. And her husband’s family, the Pinault family, invested in your company last year. How that all happened? What made you decide you wanted have a minority investor, did Salma convince you?

Actually it comes mostly from François Pinault. He had a strong interest in the label. When we met, it was like meeting an old friend, we were speaking the same language. This is extremely rare; it is so rare to find such a comprehension of the language between two people, such an education, cultural vision and lifestyle. I have known Selma for many years, I used to dress her during my time at Ungaro and she was a huge fan and great ambassador of Ungaro.

I did the first 12 years of my business solo. But I wanted to evolved. I built up the DNA, the meaning, the silhouette, the fan group of women and what Giambattista Valli is today in an independent and coherent way. Now, it is nice to have an investor that believes in you, is involved and is supportive of growing your company.

So where will you be in five years? Is that the sports aspects now that you are focused on?

No, that is just a little sector. Today, you must have items that go from high heels to sneakers, Haute Couture to joggings, cashmere embroidery to sweaters. You must create a wardrobe universe.

Right now the images of brand you see are the images of the fashion shows, the images of the celebrities that just enjoy wearing my dresses. These are people that have built a very honest relationship with the house. They do not feel abuse or badly use by me. I am respectful and respect their privacy, when they ask for a dress for an important moment it is top secret. When they come to me, they feel comfortable.

So your focus now is to take more control of the narrative of the house across different platforms of communication?

I had fragments of collections, it is very nice but you need to express your own vision, your entire vision. You have to build up your temple cathedral, your maison to that people can get it. And then, I am going to start opening stores to reinforce the brand’s message. Actually today, I just published on Instagram the opening of a second boutique in Seoul. This month, we are going to open our first boutique in London, Sloane Street. In two weeks in Beijing and in July in Doha.

Unlike some others big successful brands, you have a continuality of femininity throughout your collections over the years. So that if a woman bought something from your fourth collection or from your most recent collection, nothing feels dated.

Franca Sozzani used to say this to me to. She used to tell me that she loves my things, when she putted them in her wardrobe, she rediscovered them and never know from what collections they belong. She was saying this all the time and add “the power is that I can be dress in Giambattista Valli and my personality is intact”. I hate the idea of billboard women and the idea being a slave to fashion trends. It might look easy to stay true to your personal vision of fashion but it is difficult to always evolve and yet continue to be consistent at the same time.

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Jessica Michault 9/22/18 Jessica Michault 9/22/18

🎙️ Tamu McPherson

Tamu McPherson is lovely inside and out. In the world of fashion, she is known as much for her joyful, friendly and outgoing nature as she is for her exquisite taste in clothing and her talent as a photographer.

The Jamaica born, digital talent, is the woman behind the website All the Pretty Birds, and first got noticed back in 2006 when she was a budding street style photographer, who had left her job as a lawyer for a Hedge fund in New York and moved to Milan. While she was photographing all of the stylish guests attending the fashion shows her fellow photographers turned the camera on Tamu because, well she just naturally oozes from every pore of her body a modern chic style that most women would kill for.

Over the years Tamu has come out from behind the camera more and more. Staring in photos shoots for a number of fashion magazines, acting as a host for industry events, collaborating with brands and contributing to publications and websites like Glamour, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Refinery 29 all the while charming her over 200 thousand Instagram followers with her IG stories and images. Tamu is an open book to her fans, she invites everyone to watch her take a dance class, prepare a healthy breakfast for her son and travel vicariously with her to some of fashion’s most glamourous events.

All of which is to say, trying to pin Tamu down for an interview is a tall order. For this podcast we ended up setting up the mic in the back seat of her town car and chatted while we waited for our next fashion show to start. And, fair warning, Tamu was a bit under the weather, but she was such a good sport and soldiered on, giving me a wonderful interview between her bouts of coughing.

But that’s Tamu for you. She will do anything for a friend. And in the world of fashion everyone is her bestie.

Jessica Michault 9/7/18 Jessica Michault 9/7/18

🎙️ Phil Oh

If there is one person more dedicated to fashion coverage than me, it might just be photographer Phil Oh (AKA Mr. Street Peeper) who is a fixture outside pretty much every fashion show under the sun. He is there (alongside Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman) rain or shine, morning or night, fall, winter, spring or summer.

You can’t miss him with his long black hair, dark rimmed, slightly geeky glasses and one colorful, eye catching outfit after another.

Also eye catching are the photos he captures on the concrete catwalk. Phil has a tendency to snap his subject in action, on the go and in a hurry. Less posed than the work of most of his colleagues, his photos harken back to the oeuvre of the great Bill Cunningham – the grandfather or godfather (depending on who you ask) of street style photography.

On a personal level what makes Phil such a fun person to hang out with during the shows, besides the fact that he barley ever sleeps so he is always reachable, is that he has no filter. He says what he thinks and doesn’t care who hears it. Phil is a true free spirit, with a fantastic sense of personal style and a brilliant eye for capturing fashion moments as they happen with unforgettable images that will mark generations of fashion lovers as visual signposts of how the world dressed up for life.

I am particular proud of this podcast because, if you look online to learn about Phil, well there is not a lot out there, he is not a big fan of self-promotion. But even so, I hope with this interview you will be able to discover for yourself why he is such a worthwhile member of our global fashion family.

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