The Glossy Podcast

Ahead of his runway show on Monday night, which featured two styles available for immediate purchase via a Rakuten partnership, Sergio Hudson sat down with Glossy to take part in our New York Fashion Week podcast series. Along with discussing his design signatures, his choice retail partners and his approach to fundraising, he shared the challenges he experiences as a Black designer. He also talked about his clients, including Beyoncé and Michelle Obama, who “choose quality and fit over brand name.”

In 2020, mid-pandemic, Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell launched their fantasy-fueled genderless fashion brand, Tanner Fletcher. In the three years following, the brand gained much industry respect, becoming a CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist and nominee for the CFDA’s Emerging Designer of the Year award in 2023. In this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast, Kasell talks about the highs and lows of being a young brand founder, the state of the genderless fashion category, and Tanner Fletcher’s off-runway plans for debuting its fall 2024 collection.

Twenty-seven years ago, Amy Smilovic and her husband launched Tibi in Hong Kong. Though it was a struggle to get there, the currently NYC-based brand looks much different today. For starters, it’s largely void of prints. And the brand’s direct sales now make up a majority of the business. On this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast, founder and creative director Amy Smilovic discusses her brand’s evolution, including its new, pandemic-driven approach to independence. She also discusses her signature “creative pragmatist” style, her thought process when choosing retail partners and her reason for ditching the runway show for fall 2024. 

The runway show of Pamella Roland, who launched her namesake fashion brand 22 years ago, is a New York Fashion Week staple. As Roland tells it, she’s shown a seasonal collection at the event every season, except for during the pandemic and a hectic headquarters move. It’s an opportunity for her to show her latest work to her retail partners, including Saks, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman — hangers don’t do the styles justice, she said. It’s also a chance to earn new brand fans. They already include Taylor Swift, Angelina Jolie and Madonna, based on their support for the brand on the red carpet. On this New York Fashion Week episode of the Glossy Podcast, Roland discusses her secrets to longevity in fashion, including how her business has evolved. She also shares what she’s come to believe about the importance of retail partners, community and fashion week. 

Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer and founder of Tommy Hilfiger brand, discusses the changes in their approach to fashion shows, the inspiration for their upcoming New York Fashion Week show, advice for new entrants in the fashion industry, the future of the brand and the importance of retail partners, and the evolution of fashion week and the rise of home collections.

In 2018, Chris Echevarria launched Blackstock & Weber, the Brooklyn-based footwear brand that has become well-known for its updated takes on classic loafers. “I own the business 100%, and it’s grown 300% every year since we started,” Echevarria said on the Glossy Podcast.Still, he’s finding time to launch other businesses and tackle new projects: In November, he introduced the brand Academy, which brings his signature preppy-with-a-twist style to menswear. And, after being announced as creative director at Sperry in September, his debut Sperry by Chris Echevarria collection debuted at Paris Fashion Week Men’s last month. On this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, Echevarria discusses the throughline of his projects, as well as his long-term goals for his businesses and a recent advertising pivot that’s working to his brands’ advantage.

This episode discusses TikTok's music shakeup and investment in e-commerce, H&M's new CEO and earnings report, Lyst's latest brand rankings, and the challenges and changes in the fashion industry. Prada takes the number one spot in brand rankings. They also discuss popular fashion items and plans for a mailbag episode.

Based on the way she runs her third fashion label since the 1980s, it's clear that Tracy Reese has learned from the fashion industry's mistakes. Called Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese, the 5-year-old brand prioritizes responsible design and production, as well as positive social impact in its home city of Detroit. Reese, who formerly led brands Tracy Reese Meridian and Tracy Reese, has, for the first time, chosen to self-fund her brand. Plus, she's producing fewer collections than the 10 per year she once deemed necessary. But she's kept at least one business practice alive: selling through retail partners. "Wholesale is the bigger part of the business," Reese said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. Currently, Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese sells through Saks Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie and around 30 specialty stores across the U.S.On the podcast, Reese also discusses the NYC fashion landscape before e-commerce and the reason designers should avoid chasing trends. 

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international correspondent Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.This week, we discuss the backlash brands are facing for the use of generative AI, the shuttering of Neighborhood Goods and what it means for DTC brands, and the ongoing trouble facing Saks Fifth Avenue and its parent company HBC as it struggles with liquidity.

Lauren Nouchi and Amélie Brick technically founded their fashion brand, Apparis, in 2016. But it wasn’t until 2018 that it took off, driven by the popularity of a single style: a colorful faux fur coat. “At the time, it was a third of the price of any competitors,” Nouchi said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. Along with affordability, quality and style, the coat’s ethical materials made it a draw for both consumers and retailers. Bloomingdale’s was the first to buy into the brand, followed by Saks Fifth Avenue.  “We had no marketing budget, so having our product in those doors helped us grow our visibility and credibility as a brand,” Nouchi said. “It would have taken us years to do that with just our DTC business.”Today, Apparis continues to sell through retailers including Nordstrom and Elyse Walker, but the founders have upped their focus on direct-to-consumer sales; in 2023, they updated the brand’s website, among other elements, to better tell the brand story and support the direct side of the business.  They’ve also expanded the brand far beyond a coat. According to Nouchi, outerwear currently makes up 50% of the business, followed by winter accessories and home goods at 25% each. On the podcast, Nouchi discussed Apparis’s evolution and strategies, including its fundraising approach, its prioritization of conscious production and its marketing plans for 2024.