Guillaume Delacroix is a luxury brand whisperer. His entire career, from his early days working at Karla Otto and KCD to his time at Giorgio Armani and Balenciaga, to his current role as the founder and CEO of DLX, he has been helping leading prestige companies craft their narratives in ways that spark conversations, engage the public and create lasting impressions. Guillaume launched DLX nine years ago and since then he has built up a reputation in the industry for both spotting and...

I don’t think I have ever been as nervous about interviewing someone in my entire career as I was when my former boss and colleague Suzy Menkes agreed to speak with me for this podcast. I worked side by side with Suzy for 16 years at the International Herald Tribune, which is now known as the International New York Times. Over that period she mentored me, encouraged me and guided me. Shaping my career as I moved from her assistant to fashion writer and finally the Online Style Editor of the...

From the moment Alexandra Van Houtte first told me about her newly launched platform in 2016, describing it as Google for fashion, I knew she was onto something. Since then TagWalk, the website she founded and is the CEO of, has grown by leaps and bounds and has become a linchpin platform for anyone working in the fashion industry. It is the first runway image keyword search engine in existence. In a nutshell, the former stylist’s assistant created a site that, in just a few simple clicks,...

Talk about an inspirational story. Paula Wallace, the president and founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, better known as SCAD had a singular vision back in September of 1978, To create a world-class art and design college that would prepare students for a global workforce. Under her leadership, SCAD has grown from a small art school with 150 students to a global university that spans three campuses around the world with thousands of students enrolled. Over the years it also...

Fashion entrepreneur Anine Bing is a very savvy business woman who knows how to seize her moment. An early adapter to the social media space, Anine, who is a former model and blogger, was one of the first to translate her online following into a successful fashion brand business. She launched her signature line back in 2012 out of the garage in her home in California. Her collection of chic staple pieces, inspired by her Scandinavian heritage and the casual cool of her Los Angeles home...

Kaat Debo is the Director and Chief Curator of Antwerp’s famed ModeMuseum fashion museum, better known as the MoMu; a museum that has spent the last three years under renovation. But now, after years of waiting, Kaat is able to reintroduce the world to her second home. A museum with over 35,000 pieces of Belgian fashion in its archives and a unique history that celebrates sartorial storytellers who have helped the world see fashion from new and unexpected angles. But while the MoMu is all...

I’ll never forget the first time I discovered the work of Mary Katrantzou. It was in London in 2008 I believe, and I just happened to wander into a room where a rack of her now-famous perfume bottle printed dresses was on display. On hand was her mother who was proudly showing off the stunning creations her daughter had dreamt up. And Mary’s mom had every right to be proud. Her work was unlike anything else going on in fashion at that time. Advancements in printing and computer technology...

Designer Spencer Phipps is a born risk-taker. There isn’t a limb on his body that doesn’t have a scar from one escapade or another - that he jumped into with both feet before asking questions. The man is even missing a significant portion of one of his pinkie fingers from one memorable misadventure. And when it comes to taking risks, Spencer also has no problem doing that in business. It was, after all, an impulse decision to launch his signature menswear brand Phipps back in 2017. When,...

You get the sense, when you speak to designer Joseph Altuzarra, that he is that perfect combination of creativity and commerce. That as a French American, he has an innate sense of style coursing through his veins. While his American roots give him savvy business sense and a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” attitude. From a young age, Joseph - who was raised by his French Basque father and Chinese- American mother - has always believed in the transformative power of fashion. A...

I wanted to interview Alisa Volskaya, the founder of the public relations firm AVEC, for a few reasons. First of all, every time I would bump into her at a fashion show or event, our conversations about the state of the industry, future trends, and fashion in general always went well past surface chit-chat. Secondly, I was impressed by her drive and third, it just takes a lot of guts to launch a PR company during a moment when that field is in the middle of such a paradigm shift. Not to...

Consummate creative Alexandre de Betak is an industry touchpoint in the world of fashion. He is behind some of the most era-defining fashion shows, events, and exhibitions of the past three decades. The proverbial man behind the curtain, Alex has brought to life the visions of designers as diverse as Raf Simons, Michael Kors, and Gabriela Hearst, and brands big and small, from Dior and YSL to Jacquemus and Rodarte. Throughout our fascinating conversation, we talk about where the spark of...

Fashion designer August Getty is a gentle soul whose goal is to create a fully inclusive, fully immersive sartorial world where everyone is welcome. All that is required is that you be yourself 100% both in the real world in one of his one-of-a-kind couture creations, or in the digital sphere where he recently created a whole new virtual universe he has baptized Tinitus. It is inside Tinitus that August brought to life four digital gowns for this past haute couture season, with 3D imagery so...

Photographer Sasha Samsonova is generating quite a buzz with her striking images of women who are comfortable in their own skin and unabashedly sexy. A female Helmut Newton, Sasha is all about celebrating the beauty and strength of the women who stand before her lens. Born and raised in Ukraine, Sasha is an autodidact photographer who was already shooting for Harper’s Bazzar by the time she was 17 years old, having picked up a camera after her plans to become a professional ballroom dancer...

Romeo Hunte first registered on my radar in a way that I have never connected with a young designer before. He sent me a DM on Instagram during the global lockdown last year and suggested that the two of us jump on an Instagram Live to talk about the state of fashion in the throws of a global pandemic. And that is exactly what we ended up doing. I am telling you this story because I think it perfectly illustrates who Romeo is. He always takes the initiative, he has a clear vision of where he...

Declan Chan is one of those front-row fashion fixtures that you always keep an eye out for at the shows. A fashion editor and stylist by trade, Declan has also become a favorite subject for anyone who loves to appreciate those who take the time to put together a look. Declan always looks put together, but with flare. And his outfits are just as eye-catching as the spreads he creates in the pages of publications like Vogue Hong Kong, The New York Times, the South China Morning Post, and Men’s...

It is hard to miss Pascal Morand when he arrives at a fashion show. Not only does he tower above most of the guests, but he is also always surrounded by the who’s who of the industry, designer hopefuls, and fashion journalists who all want to bend his ear about one aspect or another pertaining to the business of fashion. But that is what you sign up for when you are the executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. However, Pascal wears his title with the ease of...

Anna Dello Russo is a fashion force of nature. To the uneducated, she is the eternal star of the concrete catwalk. The colorful, upbeat and sometimes outrageous outfits she wears to the fashion weeks she attends are always the must get shots for the photographers that stalk the streets outside the show venues. But for those who know Anna, she is much more than a fabulous clothes horse. She is one of the industry’s leading stylists and art directors. After getting a master’s degree in fashion...

Steven Kolb and I have traveled in the same circles for years. But until this podcast, we never really had the chance to have a deep dive discussion about life in general and more specifically, life in fashion. As the CEO of the CFDA, Steven is basically the ringmaster of New York Fashion Week, so it is a bit difficult to pin him down. But what I have always appreciated about him is how level headed he is. Even in the eye of the fashion tornado, you can count on Steven to be matter-of-fact...

Creative director and stylist Sascha Lilic is a fashion month’s fixture. His distinctive look, of a beret and monocle, always makes him easy to spot at a show. You can also always count on Sascha to give you a great sound bite about what he thinks of a presentation, and it’s often something that will make you laugh out loud or blush. Maybe it was all those years working alongside his mentor, the iconic photographer Helmut Newton, who was also known not to mince words, that formed Sascha’s...

As Japan Fashion Week is almost upon us, it is fitting that I finally post my Fashion Your Seatbelt interview with Nick Wooster. Nick and I met up at Japan Fashion Week back in October of last year; long before anybody had ever heard the words COVID or Coronavirus. Originally, I had planned on posting this podcast in March, when the last Japan Fashion Week was scheduled to start. But then the world shut down and the fashion week didn’t take place in the real world. But what do Japan Fashion...

I am going to be very honest here and say that every time I end up being placed next to Milan Vukmiorvic at the front row of a fashion show, a smile spontaneously forms on my face. And at the exact same moment, I say a little prayer that the show will run a bit later than normal. This is because Milan is just a great front row buddy. He and I end up always getting into these extensive philosophical conversations about the current state of fashion. We discuss the nuances of shifting tides of...

This intro is going to be a very short one. Basically, I want to jump right in and let you all listen for yourself as the French fashion critic Carine Bizet, who is not one to live her life as an open book on Instagram, finally gives us a glimpse into her life in fashion. Carine is one of only a handful of true “take no prisoners”, speak truth to power fashion writers working in the industry. Well, actually she is no longer working in the industry. Earlier this year, after building a name...

For decades in the world of fashion, there has really only been one man who has given the industry its sonographic soundtrack. And that man is Michel Gaubert. Michel eats, sleeps, and breaths music. It has been the framework of what he does in his career, as a sound director for most of the leading fashion houses on the planet, and it has been the guiding force in his life as well. His fascination with music is what pushed him to learn English, move to California in his youth and it is...

Sometimes it just feels like destiny when a designer lands at a fashion house. This is the case for British designer Louise Trotter, who took up the mantle of creative director at Lacoste at the tail end of 2018. Growing up she played a considerable amount of tennis and Lacoste was always her go-to label. Her husband is also a bit of a tennis nut and over the years has built up his own collection of Lacoste pieces that take up considerable room in his closet. But perhaps the most profound...