If you want to stay in the know about the latest luxury news,
social media innovations and in-depth fashion
industry podcast interviews, subscribe
to Jessicaโs newsletter ASAP.
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 donโt 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 itโs all in good fun.
Fashion can be an unforgiving place. Where once you are out โ you are out. Especially when the departure is sudden and unexpected. This was the situation that Alber Elbaz found himself in at Lanvin almost three years ago. From one day to the next, he was ousted from a company he transformed from a sleeping beauty into an international powerhouse with unique and identifiable codes
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.
2018 is looking to be a big year for Gabriela Hearst. Hearst is no overnight success. In an industry built on the idea of the accumulation of things, Hearst is finding her global success with a less, but best, philosophy.
The rise of Brian Phillips, the President of Black Frame, to the top echelons of the fashion industry, is both well-known and impressive.
Next year shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of his signature label.
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.
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.
Mary Kantratzou is a fashion designer who has built a highly successful independent business by transforming everyday items in the world around us into vibrant prints that have been at the foundation of her collage-style clothing. Trompe lโoeil garments that have reimagined images of everything from perfume bottles, banknotes and paint by numbers kits to postage stamps, insects and topiary. Her outfits are sartorial feats of daring, designed to stand out from the crowd. When a woman slips on one of her outfits she is instantly metamorphized into someone to be reckoned with, because who else would take on a Kantratzou creation?
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.
Sigourney Weaver is an icon and a role model for women across the globe. Not just for the breadth and width of her work as an actress in films as varied as the Alien and Avatar series as well as Gorillas in the Mist, The Ice Storm, Galaxy Quest and Dave; but also in the way she has lived her life and career fully on her own terms. Weaver has worked consistently over the past 40 years while raising a daughter alongside her husband of over 30 years, stage director Jim Simpson. If she has one defining characteristic, it is her endless curiosity about the world around her. And it is this inquisitiveness that makes her such a delight to watch on screen and to speak with in person.
You know that classic lineโฆabout looking up a word in the dictionary and you would find a photo of a particular person there, as an embodiment of said word? Well, in the case of Ines de la Fressange if you looked up the words Parisian chic in the dictionary you might actually find a photo of her there.
Eugenia de la Torriente is the incredibly articulate and fashion savvy editor in chief of Vogue Spain and is considered to be one of the most respected fashion voices in Spain. Before she got her current gig at Vogue last year, she was editor-in-chief of the Spanish edition of Harperโs Bazaar, as well as fashion editor of El Pais, and editor of El Pais Semanal.
IKEA is a brand that is no stranger to collaborations. Itโs a company that loves to elevate everyday item to artwork, while still making those designer home designs something accessible even for the first time home owner, young adult or student setting out on their own.
Marcelo Burlon a fashion designer somehow seems so limiting. This is a man who doesnโt shy away from a challenge and, more importantly, whatever project he is working on he comes at it with such a sense of positivity, playfulness and joy that itโs no surprise that he has been so successful.
As far as first impressions go Paul Andrew knows how to make an impact. On the top floor of the Salvatore Ferragamo headquarters in Milan he greets me inside a giant glass veranda. There, the cityโs rooftops frame an impressive display of his first shoe collection for the house.
Stephanie Phair, the chief strategy officer at luxury online marketplace Farfetch, has been in the news lately because she was just appointed as the new Chair of the British Fashion Council, succeeding Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet, who stepped down in December 2017 after five years in the role.
I was lucky enough to be a moderator of a panel that Adam Pritzker, the Chairman and CEO, Assembled Brands, was on at the famed Fashion Tech Forum conference that took place in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by the renowned Karen Harvey, who founded the Karen Harvey Consulting Group and is known for her ability to make high level connections between fashion and tech companies around the globe.
The clothing that Phoebe Philo creates for Celine has often been described as wearable artwork. She elevates the everyday wardrobe of modern women to a place where it feels both relevant and yet revolutionary. And from the beginning of her time at the house she has found creative ways to incorporate inspirations from other artists into her sartorial universe.
The first thing you notice about Paula is her smile. It is always there...from ear to earโฆhonestly she is one of the most positive, up beat people you are likely to meet working in fashion. And her colorful headquarters in Milan, where we did this podcast interview, beautifully reflects her personality. As do her vibrant shoes and her eye catching bags, with their very distinctive clasp.
