The Business of Fashion Podcast

Tom Ford’s new creative director opens up to Imran Amed about his progression in the fashion industry and his first womenswear collection for the brand.Background: When Tom Ford started his namesake brand in 2004, his longtime deputy at Gucci Peter Hawkings was his first call — and his first employee. Fast-forward to April 2023, Hawkings’ phone rang again. Only this time, Ford said he was stepping down and putting Hawkings forward for the top job. “I didn't sleep for the first two nights. It was crazy,” Hawkings said of his reaction to the news that he would step into his longtime boss’ shoes and become creative director of the eponymous brand he created. “But after all of that subsided, I realised that Tom [Ford] was giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. And I am, to this day, super grateful to him for giving me this chance to continue the legacy.”This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Hawkings, the new creative director of Tom Ford following his runway debut at Milan Fashion Week to discuss his origins and journey into the fashion industry — and his plans to continue the Tom Ford legacy.Key Insights:It was in 1998 that Hawkings first met Ford, after finishing his master's course at Central Saint Martins. The then-24-year-old applied to the assistant menswear designer position at Gucci, where Ford was the brand's creative director. This would launch a 25-year partnership with the two designers and eventually lead to Hawkings becoming the creative director of the Tom Ford brand. Hawkings, who previously designed Tom Ford’s menswear collections, said that he leaned on his wife when designing womenswear for the first time. “It's been invaluable, you know, having that conversation with her. Her trying clothing on, trying shoes on … for me, it's so important, comfort and fit and all of those elements that are so important when you're designing for a woman,” says Hawkings. During Hawkings’ career, he had the opportunity to learn from not just Ford, but also other fashion talents, such as British designer Louise Wilson, who was one of his professors at Central Saint Martins. “I always go back … to the advice that Louise [Wilson] always gave me, which was one: work hard, absorb knowledge and give knowledge, understand what manners are and deploy them. Take risks. Failure is okay. You can learn from failure, for sure. Have at least one skill and develop it,” says Hawkings. Additional Resources:Peter Hawkings Named Creative Director of Tom Ford: With the sale to Estée Lauder complete, Tom Ford’s longtime colleague and collaborator will take the creative helm at his namesake brand.The Miuccia-ness of Prada, the Gucci-ness of Tom Ford: Brand DNA is marketing speak until it isn’t, as the latest Prada and Tom Ford collections proved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks to veteran modelling agent Chris Gay to understand the shifting power dynamics in the modelling industry and how models can build a career that stands the test of time.Background: In the sometimes fickle and murky world of fashion modelling, the most successful models are taking control of their careers by bypassing the gatekeepers and creating direct relationships with customers, building and engaging their own fanbase.“If you want real longevity in this business, you need to be building your community. It’s community that creates staying power,” says Chris Gay, co-chief executive officer of Elite World Group and president of The Society Management, which is marking its tenth anniversary this year. This week on The BoF Podcast, Gay sits down with BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss the shifting power dynamics in the modelling industry and why developing a point-of-view, something that a model becomes known for, is the key to long-term success.Key Insights:The rise of social media has benefitted models who no longer have to rely on runway shows and brand campaigns to stay relevant. Models can now connect with their fans and followers directly on Instagram or TikTok. “Talent is no longer beholden to anybody. They have real power in their hands. So if you're not chosen for this particular fashion show … that doesn't mean momentum stops for you,” says Gay. Social media platforms also help models create business relationships without the help of fashion’s traditional players. “It was a very small strategic group of gatekeepers in fashion that had an extraordinary amount of influence over all talents. … Now, it's entirely changed,” he says. The power dynamics are shifting in other ways too. For some companies, working on a social ad with a well-known talent like Kendall Jenner or Liu Wen can have a bigger impact than a traditional ad campaign. “The next 10 years is really going to be about talent being a more effective and a more strategic distribution channel for everyone,” says Gay. Gay’s advice to talent looking to break into the industry is twofold: build deep knowledge of the fashion industry and cultivate a style that essentially becomes your trademark. “Care about fashion. … It has nothing to do with the price of the items that you buy. But it really has to do with understanding collective style and what your own individual sense of style is,” he explains. Additional Resources:New Chinese Models Are Reshaping Global Runways: Local agencies are signing more models that don’t have classical Han Chinese features with knock-on effects for who gets cast by megabrands in Europe and the US.Models, the New Power Publishers: Social media has turned fashion models into powerful digital publishers, some of whom have far larger audiences than brands or traditional magazines. BoF 500 | The People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As London Fashion Week kicks off, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with four London-based creative talents to explore how the city’s rich creative scene stems from its unique cultural diversity and the sense of community and collaboration this provides.Background: With over 300 languages spoken within its city limits — more than any other metropolis — London has cemented its place among the world’s most global cities. This has boosted its reputation not only as a creative hub, but also as a source of inspiration for creatives around the world working in sectors from fashion and media to music and art.“London has a rich Diasporic culture, and it's where… you have the opportunity to build a community around you,” says fashion designer Jawara Alleyne. “London, being such a vast city, gives that space [for] these multiple different cultures that are existing on top of each other and inspiring each other and feeding off of each other.”This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed chats with four exciting Londoners shaping the city’s creative scene.Alleyne joins conceptual artist Amber Pinkerton, musician Bradley Miller and Dazed editorial director Kacion Mayers to discuss their experiences of living, working and creating in London and to hear their advice for other creatives looking for their big break.  Key Insights:London’s history of thriving subcultures has helped create an inclusive community spirit, says Alleyne, where “the people around you actually have a shared experience that you can amplify. You're no longer just speaking for yourself, you're speaking for all of the other groups of people who feel the same way that you feel.”Creatives starting out in London should channel their inner courage, says Pinkerton. “Don't be afraid to approach people or bother them… not being afraid to ask for advice, not being afraid to also get… feedback or criticism about things,” she says. Boldness alone isn’t enough, Mayers believes. “You need to really find your community, hone in on that and just work with each other and build on each other and create with each other and stay true to what you want to communicate and what you want to create,” he says. Mayers added that his own London community is a frequent reference in his work. “I always want to reflect back to the community. I always want people to open Dazed and… see things that they can recognise and see things that's aspirational… And I think that's key to a lot of people’s success, just being able to reflect a reality,” he says. Miller believes the industries that hindered creatives of colour in the past need to change if they want to remain relevant. “These systems and infrastructures… have to adapt to what we're [industry creatives of colour] doing because this is what's happening right now. For them to be relevant or seem to be functioning, they have to [provide] support in these things that are happening in their city,” says Miller. Additional Resources:Meet the Creative Agency Behind Those Viral Dazed Covers: New School, a agency out of London reps a fast-rising group of tight-knit creatives, including members of the teams behind last fall’s Dazed covers featuring Rihanna and Harry Styles, campaigns for Apple and Klarna, and a show for Thebe Magugu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The founder of the streetwear sensation broke into fashion thanks not only to his steely determination and breakthrough creative ideas, but also the unwavering support of the community he built from the ground up.Background: Within a decade, Colm Dillane, the New York-based founder and designer of streetwear label KidSuper, went from selling T-shirts to fellow students out of his New York University dorm room to winning the the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize at the LVMH Prize in 2021 and designing a one-off menswear collection for Louis Vuitton. But it wasn’t a straight shot to success. The now 32-year-old has had to learn the ropes of fashion the hard way, maxing out his bank account, taking risk after risk to figure out how to transform his creativity into a bonafide business. Through it all, Dillane has focused on community-building as an end goal.“It's always funny when brands reach out to me and they're like, ‘We love the community you created’. I would always be like, ‘They're creating community to sell product. I was selling product to create community. What are you doing this for? If it's not to meet interesting people?” says Dillane. This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Dillane to discuss his journey as a designer and his lessons for emerging fashion designers and entrepreneurs. Key Insights:Dillane came from outside fashion, and from the start, has used his creativity to get the industry’s attention. “When I was young, [I felt] the fashion industry was the most elitist, stand-offish, impossible thing to break into,” he recalls. But in navigating his way further into the industry, he saw that “creativity and new ideas are embraced and supported and championed more so than I thought they would be,” When musicians started asking about the brand, Dillane didn’t simply ship off his T-shirts, hoodies and hats to them. Rather he wanted to build a relationship. “I always wanted to meet people, so I would never send clothing, I would send myself,” he says, recalling how meeting the late rapper Mac Miller in person led to one of the brand’s first breaks — with the musician sporting a KidSuper hat on an album cover.Even amid the big breaks, perseverance is critical, he says. In 2019, he thought his brand would catapult to fame overnight after receiving a rave review in Vogue following his first show, a hastily produced off-calendar event during Paris Fashion Week. The reality was different. “I get this amazing review… I'm now a superstar designer. [But] nothing changes in my life,” recalls Dillane. The designer didn’t give up — “I’m not a quitter” — and by 2021, KidSuper held its first official PFW show, “Everything’s Fake Until It’s Real.”Dillane believes young designers can look to KidSuper for inspiration. “I've never deleted an Instagram post, so you can scroll down and see like me buying my first sewing machine or and kind of chronologically follow how I got here,” he says. “I think it's pretty cool for how far I've gotten.”Additional Resources:Louis Vuitton Taps KidSuper Designer Colm Dillane For Next Menswear Collection:  Designer Colm Dillane, whose label KidSuper won LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2021, has “embedded” with Louis Vuitton’s menswear studio in recent months to help design its men’s collection set to be revealed 19 January. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahead of New York Fashion Week, The Washington Post’s Rachel Tashjian speaks with BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed about how the industry is changing post-pandemic. Background:There's a good reason why New York Fashion Week isn’t the all important agenda-setter it once was, according to Rachel Tashjian, a fashion writer for The Washington Post. US consumers, she says, now take their fashion cues from influencers and social media as much as they do the runway. “Some of the more interesting things happening in American fashion are just outside of fashion week,” says Tashjian. “I just wonder if American designers feel like, is this [New York Fashion Week] really worth it for me to be doing? Is this where my audience is?”This week on The BoF Podcast, Imran Amed, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief, sits down with Tashjian to discuss her perspective on the state of the fashion industry today and her expectations for the evolution of NYFW in a post-Covid world.Key Insights:As some established brands look beyond NYFW to connect with customers to showcase their designs, Tashjian believes this shift has opened up space for emerging designers. “These smaller or more emerging brands are dominating [NYFW] because we don't have a lot of the larger brands showing,” says Tashjian.That relationship will be seen up-close at NYFW this season, Tashjian predicts. Because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, which leaves actors unable to promote their films, Tashjian says celebrities will dominate the front row. “This is going to be kind of an unprecedented season in terms of celebrity presence at fashion week because, with the strikes going on, these are things that celebrities can promote these relationships that they have with fashion brands,” she says.How celebrities embrace fashion can impact how the public perceives them, as well, says Tashjian. “Fashion has this really interesting ability to recontextualise someone we think we know really well,” she says. “Margot Robbie during the Barbie Press tour, wearing these fun, campy Schiaparelli [looks] and hot pink Chanel. All of a sudden we're thinking, ‘Oh, this is a woman who has a really fun and playful understanding of fashion.’”Tashjian believes the role of fashion criticism is different than it was in years past. “Perhaps because of the availability of fashion, we need critics more than ever before,” she says. “I think about my role as to provide an insider perspective or context. I was actually at this show and here's how it felt to be sitting in that room.”Tashjian is also known for her newsletter, Opulent Tips, which she began when she was working at GQ. In the newsletter she discussed womenswear, products and smaller brands she admired. “I felt like it could be kind of fun to have a little space where I can talk about those things and maybe introduce those brands to some people who maybe wouldn't come across them,” she says. Additional Resources:The BoF Podcast | Karl Lagerfeld at the Met: Designer, Polymath, Jigsaw Puzzle: Andrew Bolton’s latest curatorial miracle celebrates the creative process of one of fashion’s greatest icons. Bolton sits down with Tim Blanks for BoF’s latest podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Darnell Strom, a former political worker turned entertainment agent, shares his insights on the convergence of fashion, media, and entertainment industries. He reflects on his career representing influential cultural figures and emphasizes the importance of diverse talent representation. Strom discusses his experiences working for President Clinton and navigating elite circles, highlighting the challenges of imposter syndrome. He also explores the qualities that make a talent great in 2023, including global appeal and transformative abilities. The podcast concludes with discussions on cultural convergence and future collaborations.

Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer of Google X, discusses the future of AI and emphasizes the importance of ethics. He predicts that AI will surpass human intelligence in 2049 and compares our relationship with AI to that of a parent and child. The podcast also explores the impact of AI on society and the development of machines with sentience and emotions.

Beauty founders Ben Gorham of Byredo and Monique Rodriguez of Mielle Organics share their entrepreneurial journeys, emphasizing the importance of purpose over quick financial success. They discuss building authentic brands, navigating challenges in the beauty industry, staying true to their values, and the significance of community support and giving back.

Tim Brown, co-founder of Allbirds, reflects on leading a company through highs and lows. He discusses the challenges faced by Allbirds post-IPO and how they are opportunities for growth. Brown also shares his journey from sports to entrepreneurship. The podcast covers Allbirds' sustainability mission, expansion into apparel, and transition from DTC to wholesale. It also explores the shift in clothing choices post-COVID and the importance of maintaining focus and gratitude.

Kering’s new deputy CEO of brand development shares her luxury brand management playbook in this archive interview with Imran Amed from BoF VOICES 2018.Background:  Last week, Francesca Belletini was appointed deputy CEO of brand development at Kering, making her arguably the most powerful female fashion executive in the luxury sector. As part of her new role, not only will she retain her position as CEO of Saint Laurent, she will also oversee Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. It was at Saint Laurent, where the former investment banker cemented her reputation for razor-sharp merchandising strategies that married seamlessly with the work of creative director Anthony Vaccarello.“When you clarify the brand positioning, then everything comes together,” said Bellettini, on revitalising the Saint Laurent brand. “People recognise the authenticity in the way that we do that.”BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sat down with Bellettini at BoF VOICES 2018 to discuss how she balances the priorities of fostering creativity, cultivating customers and running a profitable business.Key Insights:Credited for growing Saint Laurent into a multi-billion-euro powerhouse, Bellettini believes that a key is to connect with customers in their home markets. "I'm a huge believer of building business first with local clients. Conquer a consumer at home, then when they travel, they follow," she said.Another key is authenticity. “It's better to present yourself the way you really are… Be authentic. If they choose you, they remain with you,” said Belletini on the importance of building meaningful relationships with customers.At Saint Laurent, Bellettini had a clear vision for growing both the top and bottom lines, “but in reality it's the profit that makes your business sustainable," she explained.Striking a balance between growth and continuing to resonate as a brand is top of mind for Bellettini. “How do we remain relevant? How do we continue growing without compromising on the positioning of the brand? How do we continue to launch a successful product?” she asked.Additional Resources:Who Should Be Gucci’s New CEO?: Following this week’s announcement that longtime Gucci chief Marco Bizzarri will exit the company in September, Imran Amed shares his top picks for one of the top jobs in the global luxury industry. As Gucci’s CEO Steps Down, Saint Laurent’s Chief Steps Up: Marco Bizzarri led the Italian luxury giant through a historic expansion before the business struggled to bounce back from the pandemic. Parent company Kering announced the move as part of a broader executive shakeup after which Saint Laurent CEO Francesca Bellettini will oversee all the group’s brands.How Saint Laurent Became a $3 Billion Powerhouse: Chief executive Francesca Bellettini breaks down how she worked with designer Anthony Vaccarello to double sales in 5 years, leaning into an amped-up take on Parisian glamour, seasonless merchandising and a rapid expansion in leather goods. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.