The Jedburgh Podcast #049: The Establishment - Founder & CEO Anita Bitton
Anita Bitton is one of the fashion industry's most iconic and leading drivers of talent. Anita is the Founder and CEO of The Establishment, the go-to casting director for brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Bottega Veneta, Marc Jacobs, and Balenciaga. She was instrumental in the rise of Alexander Wang.
Anita was born in South London. She was raised by foster parents. She modeled as a kid to find a way out of London and a better option than her job at TGI Friday's. For this episode Anita invited host Fran Racioppi to her Brownstone on Manhattan's Upper West Side for a chat in her parlor about defining trends, being bold and disruptive, evaluating talent, resiliency in life and business, raising kids in New York City and her dedicated Spotify channel.
Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website.
Highlights:
-Anita defines the fashion industry, it’s meaning in society and how designers are artists whose style represents their current attitudes and feelings about society.
-Fashion is a subjective industry. As the coordinator and facilitator Anita must define what is actually fashionable while bringing out the best in people.
-Anita describes the importance of being bold and creative; driving clients to explore new and different ways to represent their visions, but without being pushy.
-Fran challenges Anita to describe disruption, fighting the mundane and how growing up in South London with foster parents and adversity shaped her drive and accountability as she consistently looked for ways to move to New York City.
-Anita explains the good and bad of social media, how luxury brands use the platforms, the ease of access and the hard work required to make a name for yourself.
-Resilience is a key component of success. Anita shows us the importance of rejection in our growth and evolution; which allows for our longevity.
Quotes:
-”When I think about fashion…it dictates the era that we have been through. It predicts the future that we are going into.”
-”Fashion leans into politics. It leans into identity. It leans into rebellion…It all starts with where we are in the world.”
-“Fashion is a reaction to what’s going on in the world.”
-“There is no right or wrong answer in what we do, there’s just ideas.”
-”My job here is to help you be the best version of yourself.”
-”I try to meet the talent where they are…one size does not fit all.”
-”My biggest fear in life is working in an arena that is irrelevant and mundane.”
-”I’m not into the idea of generic. It’s not interesting to me…if they think it’s too bold, that’s exciting to me.”
-”I wasn’t good at not being good.”
-“There is always a part of society that just wants to put people down.”
-“I don’t want to live in the past. That’s done. I did that. I still remember the headache.”
-“There is no fast track.”
-“Resilience isn’t about taking a job for no money. It’s about knowing your next five moves.”
-“There is a solution to every problem. It’s just how you choose to get there.”
Anita’s Three Daily Foundations to Success:
-Create a gratitude list at the start and end of the day (because it changes)
-Meditate to find space
-Walk my son to school
This episode is brought to you by Jersey Mike’s, 18A Fitness and Analytix Solutions.