The Business of Fashion Podcast

The last time Kim Jones showed in his hometown was 2003, the year after he graduated from Central Saint Martins. London didn’t really host many menswear presentations in those days. Besides, Kim already had his eye on the bigger picture, so he hightailed to Paris. His homecoming on Thursday, with the launch of his Pre-Fall 2022 collection for Dior Men at the Olympia Exhibition Centre, was, in one way, an appropriately spectacular reflection of everything that’s happened to him since. But it also illuminated the way Jones has managed to weave his own story into the brands — from Dunhill through Louis Vuitton to Dior and Fendi — that he has shaped.     His latest Dior collection is infused with the spirit of the Beat Generation, especially Jack Kerouac and his watershed On the Road. Over the past few years, Jones has been building an extraordinary library of rare books and literary ephemera, and Kerouac features strongly. This boho prince might seem unlikely in the context of a French couture house, but Kerouac was writing while Christian Dior was still working. And the rebel spirit of the Beats inspired the Left Bank of Paris, which sparked Yves Saint Laurent who succeeded Dior at the house. So, it wasn’t so tricky for Jones to winkle out a connection. His ability to do so reminds me of Karl Lagerfeld’s knack for joining the dots between eras, people and places.   Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vestiaire Collective is one of the leaders in the fast-growing fashion resale segment. Earlier this year, in its latest round of funding, the luxury resale platform achieved a valuation of $1.7 billion. Max Bittner, Vestiaire Collective’s CEO, attributes this success to a number of factors, including ease of transactions, pandemic-driven closet clean-outs and shifting consumer values. But he also acknowledges the challenges that lie ahead as Vestiaire Collective scales, particularly when it comes to verifying the authenticity of products in the face of ever-more sophisticated counterfeits.  Bittner’s insights are featured in the fifth episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake.  Here, we share the full interview with Bittner, exclusively on The BoF Podcast. Watch the fifth episode of The BoF Show, “Resale: Inside the $130 Billion Secondhand Fashion Market” Explore the new report from BoF Insights, “The Future of Fashion Resale” here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The CEO of the online peer-to-peer marketplace believes the platform’s ability to connect people sets it apart from typical fashion e-commerce.  In June 2021, online marketplace Etsy announced plans to acquire Depop for $1.6 billion. The move was yet another sign of growing interest in the burgeoning fashion resale market, which according to BoF Insights, is now worth $130 billion globally. CEO Maria Raga describes Depop as “combining elements from Instagram and eBay”. The platform is skewed towards lower-priced product exchange between younger traders, almost all of them 26 and under. Raga believes that it’s Depop’s community aspect — facilitating not just online transactions, but also person to person interactions — that attracts these all-important Gen-Z shoppers.  Raga’s insights are featured in the fifth episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake.  Watch the fifth episode of The BoF Show here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marjorie Hernandez and Karinna Nobbs are the co-founders of The Dematerialised — a Web 3.0 marketplace for authenticated virtual goods, which they describe as “the digital department store of your dreams.” They’re part of a new wave of pioneering entrepreneurs challenging the luxury status quo and creating a new reality for fashion.  In the fourth episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake, they share their thoughts on gaming culture and the metaverse — and explain why they believe virtual fashion will revolutionise the industry as we know it.  Here, we share the full interview, exclusively on The BoF Podcast. Watch the fourth episode of The BoF Show, “Dematerialisation: Why the Metaverse Is Fashion’s Next Goldmine” Explore the new report from BoF Insights, “The Opportunities in Digital Fashion and Avatars” here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ledger’s Chief Experience Officer explains how — and when — fashion should tap into the NFT gold rush, as featured in the fourth episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake.  Ian Rogers moved to Paris from Silicon Valley in 2015 when he was appointed Chief Digital Officer of LVMH, acting as a digital whisperer to C-suite luxury executives.  Today, as Chief Experience Officer of Ledger — a security system that provides protection for digital currencies — he is uniquely positioned to speak to the opportunities being created as crypto technologies, gaming and fashion converge. His insights are featured in the fourth episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake.  Here, we share the full interview with Rogers, exclusively on The BoF Podcast. Explore the new report from BoF Insights, “The Opportunities in Digital Fashion and Avatars” here. Watch episode 4, 'Why the Metaverse Is Fashion's Next Goldmine' here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sinéad Burke refuses to be excluded, despite fashion’s poor record on welcoming people  with disabilities.  In a wide-ranging interview, featured in the third episode of The BoF Show, Sinéad reminisces on her fashion journey — from calling out the industry for entrenched behaviours, at BoF VOICES in 2017; to advising luxury brands as Founder & CEO of consultancy “Tilt the Lens”. Here, we share the full interview exclusively on The BoF Podcast. Watch the third episode of The BoF Show, “Belonging: The Business Case for Diversity in Fashion” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2020, Samira Nasr became Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar, the first-ever woman of colour to hold the position in the magazine’s 154 year history. The appointment, whilst joyful, also prompted tough reflection about racism and responsibility. How can a business based on exclusivity throw its doors open to all?  Nasr’s insights on what real inclusion looks like in fashion — and her hopes for the industry as it emerges from the pandemic — are featured in the third episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg QuickTake. Here, we share the full interview with Nasr exclusively on The BoF Podcast. Watch the episode three of The BoF Show, “Belonging: The Business Case for Diversity” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We’ve been expecting you…” In Paris, everything is prepared for the return of big-spending tourists. Stores are open, mirrors shined, brand leaders bullish that the global capital city of luxury remains irresistible. But when BoF founder and CEO, Imran Amed connects to Angelica Cheung in Beijing, she sounds a caution. For 16 years, Angelica was Vogue China’s Editor-in-Chief. Today, she’s a venture partner at investment leader, Sequoia Capital China. She tells Imran that Chinese customers used to travel to Paris for choice — which they can now find at home; for price — yet prices are now balanced around the world; for “Made in France” — yet they’re increasingly proud of “Made in China”. Her insights on what it’s going to take to lure the Chinese back to the City of Light are featured in the second episode of The BoF Show, now streaming on Bloomberg QuickTake. Here, we share the full interview with Cheung exclusively on The BoF Podcast. Watch the second episode of The BoF Show, “Re-Invention: How Fashion’s Megabrands Will Adapt to Post-Pandemic Customer Behaviour” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The podcast dives into the luxury fashion industry's urgent need for systemic change amid the climate crisis. It uncovers the staggering greenhouse gas emissions linked to fashion and emphasizes the potential for luxury brands to lead in sustainability. Listeners learn about the integration of agriculture with fashion, the role of transparency and innovative tech like blockchain, and the necessity for collaboration across stakeholders. The discussion highlights a shift towards being 'nature positive,' reflecting on how responsibility can redefine luxury.

For fashion aficionados of a certain age, the name “Thierry Mugler” throbs with memories of showgirl spectacles cast with extraordinary beauties and weirdos, garbed in looks of an other-worldly glamour. Such was their alien dazzle that there are times in this more prosaic era when I wonder if they ever really happened. Fortunately, there is now ample proof of their existence at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where Thierry Mugler: Couturissime is on display until April next year. It’s been on a world tour since it first opened in Montreal in 2019, but its homecoming was significant enough that Mugler sat down to talk about it, and everything else, for The BoF Podcast. And, being one of those fashion aficionados of a certain age, I was slightly awestruck.Mugler turned his back on fashion at the millennium, reclaiming his first name Manfred and devoting himself to costume design for the likes of Cirque du Soleil. He dressed Beyoncé's 2009 world tour. But the only fashion outfit he has designed in the past two decades was the “wet look” dress Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala in 2019. It apparently took eight months to make. Mugler had never seen her TV show, but when she walked into the room — not a word to anyone else, never a smile or a handshake — he said, “It was love at first sight.” He saw her body as that of “the original female, an antique goddess.”It’s clear what kind of woman has always attracted and inspired Mugler. In his fashion heyday, it was Iman and Jerry Hall who embodied his very particular aesthetic. “Fashion needs a great animal to wear it,” he told me. He photographed his clothes on those women, draped over the Art Deco eagles on the Chrysler Building in New York, posed against massive Saharan sand dunes and Arctic icebergs. They were dressed like superheroines but Mugler made them small against the monumental backdrops. “It looks like they’ve been dropped from another planet,” he says now. “That was the idea.”He claimed he wanted to help people find something strong in themselves that they could bring into their real lives. That’s why he loved photographing the acrobats and circus people he worked with after his fashion life. And, talking to Mugler, I sensed that struck a chord for him too. Metamorphosis was always a theme. The natural world was an obsession. “When you look up close, the gorgeous creatures on our planet are so out of this world.” In his couture, he never used fur, or rare feathers, or exotic skins. “I don’t want to torture animals for that,” Mugler said.That sensibility made him an outlier in fashion at the time. He was often criticised. Now, it simply looks like his radicalism was ahead of its time. Mugler embraced queer culture, showed men and women in exactly the same clothes, was open to experiment of all kinds. His queer peer Jean Paul Gaultier offered a similarly idiosyncratic humanist vision, couched in the most extreme style fashion could offer. Look back at their work now and I defy you to deny their status as totems of a golden age in fashion.Obviously, Manfred and I had a very busy podcast. Reeling out of the exhibition, head spinning with extreme visions of accomplishment (memorably celebrated in a bizarre, funny Iman-Bowie video), I had questions. Hopefully, you’ll find the answers when you listen. But one thing that stood out was Mugler’s obsession with technique. He tracked it back to his early days, when his ambition was to be a ballet dancer. “I learned at the barre how you can do nothing without technique,” he said. And his greatest points of pride related to that: personally, the body he has built for himself; professionally, his perfume Angel, a battle he waged for years with fragrance industry orthodoxy. It’s still a global top-five seller. There is supreme vindication in that, as there is in Couturissimeand clothes which will boggle minds for centuries to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.