Fashion Conversations

Melissa Battifarano was once known as “Rihanna’s right hand.” That’s how Vogue has described her work helping to establish Fenty Corp. as a fashion player with Rihanna. On the episode, Melissa unpacks how she created Fenty X Puma and Savage X Fenty with the diamond-drenched performer. She talks about how rising through the ranks of labels like Sean John, Champion and Tory Sport, she worked with the teams that merged athletic garb with fashion and created athleisure and sport luxury. The downtown New York designer shares how she now balances her work producing Tony 1923, her own luxury sportswear line inspired by her late father, with a new role ideating Diesel’s first activewear line under the brand’s creative director, Glenn Martens.

Timothy Han, the London-based Canadian founder of Timothy Han / Edition, reveals how his passion for literature, and his time assisting one of fashion’s greatest storytellers, John Galliano, inspired him to build his brand. To commemorate the passing of André Leon Talley, Tim harks back to a special moment during his Galliano days when he spent six weeks assisting American Vogue’s legendary editor-at-large. The pandemic prompted Tim to expand his brand to include fashion and considering this, he explains how his training at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and his friend, the model, Cecilia Chancellor, guides his clothing design process. Contemplating the urgent need to move toward a sustainable future, Tim shares why his ethical methods are informed by his Canadian identity.

Anastasia Ivchenko and Eugenia Skibina, founders of the boutique PR agency, Public Kitchen, explain how they helped to establish their city, Kyiv, as the most vibrant fashion capital in Eastern Europe. From Latvia’s capital Riga, where they are temporarily settled, they also share their heartbreaking story of escaping Ukraine in late March, a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of their country.

The Brooklyn-based artist, Patricia Treib, talks about her experience contributing to Valentino Des Ateliers Haute Couture. This is the critically acclaimed autumn/winter 2021 couture collection produced as a cultural exchange by Valentino's Creative Director, Paolo Piccioli, his Rome atelier and 17 international contemporary artists, including Patricia. The conversation begins by exploring Patricia’s background. She explains why she pursued painting, after growing up in a small town in Michigan. She then reveals the creative process of working with Piccioli and his studio. She delves into why working on the collection surpassed collaborating and proved to be a meaningful exchange. Doing so, she recalls her total experience - from receiving the text message that started it all - from the project’s curator, Gianluigi Ricuperati - to the studio visit she conducted via Zoom for the Valentino team and the intricate workmanship with them transforming her canvases into finery. Patricia also describes her 11th hour decision to travel from New York to Venice to observe the collection’s July 15 blockbuster debut.

Alexander Fury is the men's fashion critic of the Financial Times newspaper and the fashion features director of AnOther magazine. He comes back on the show to discuss being front row at what he describes as the “first big return of physical fashion shows.” That is, the live presentations showcasing the Spring/Summer 2022 men’s ready-to-wear collections and the Autumn/Winter ‘21 Paris couture. Alex offers a rare insight to the critically acclaimed debut of Azzedine Alaïa’s creative director, Pieter Mulier, and also the extraordinary reveal of Demna Gvasalia’s inaugural Balenciaga couture collection. This includes details of Gvasalia’s olfactory collaboration with the Norwegian artist, Sissel Tolass. Alex’s view from Venice includes his thoughts on how Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello and Valentino’s Pier Paolo Piccioli “interacted” with the art world. Amidst all of this, he talks about the sort of Covid-19 protocols he encountered during fashion’s return to “business as usual” plus the reported demise of the glossy magazine “super editor.” His ultimate takeaway? “The couture shows very much sent a message about the resilience of fashion,” states Alex. “And they sent a message about the kind of joy of fashion, the joy of dressing up. When people ask for a justification for the existence of couture….you know, couture is really about joy, and about exuberance, and creating clothes that can really make people dream. And I think that was a message that you drew away from these shows. Absolutely.” Please rate, review and subscribe to A Different Tweed. Share it with your friends. Thanks for listening!

The film director Karam Gill talks about spending four years making Ice Cold: The Untold Story of Hip Hop Jewelry. This is the first ever TV series exploring the culture and importance of jewelry in the world of Hip Hop music. It premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and it is airing now on Youtube Originals as well as the Youtube channel of the hip hop trio, Migos. Karam explains how Ice Cold contextualizes the culture of hip hop jewelry by delving into the deeper meaning and purpose of fine jewelry and how the hip hop community forged their own identity in the world of luxury and fashion. He talks about securing Migos and the record label, Quality Control, to be executive producers and enlisting the dazzling roll call of hip hop royalty and inventive independent jewelers who star in Ice Cold.

The London-based women's wear designer, Mary Katrantzou, discusses her recent collaboration with the Italian luxury brand Bulgari. She explains how her work with Bulgari began by pairing Bulgari high jewelry with her Spring/Summer 2020 collection which she presented in October 2019 at the Temple of Poseidon. Mary references this grand scale fashion presentation throughout the conversation. Staging it amidst the awe-inspiring backdrop of the ancient Athens landmark, she celebrated the heritage, history and culture of her homeland, Greece, and also the 30th anniversary of the Association of Friends of Children with Cancer. Mary explains venturing to Bulgari’s legendary archive in Rome before setting to work on three handbags for a capsule line known as “Serpenti Through The Eyes of Mary Katrantzou.” Mary recalls designing a bottle and the formula for her first perfume with Bulgari. Entitled Bulgari Omnia by Mary Katrantzou, she delves into working on the scent with Alberto Marias. This award-winning Spanish master perfumer has created iconic perfumes like Le Must de Cartier, Giorgio Armani’s Aqua di Gio, as well as Calvin Klein's groundbreaking gender fluid perfume CK One. Mary shares the challenges and rewards of working on this game-changing collaboration during lockdown. She also looks back on her upbringing in Athens, her education at the Rhode Island School of Design and London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She considers the all-important relationship which she forged with American Vogue’s renowned fashion critic, Sarah Mower.

Kerry Taylor explains how she set up the world’s leading auction house specializing in vintage fashion. She reveals how she revived the profession of auctioning one-of-a-kind garments initially for Sotheby’s and then how, after striking out on her own, she set auction records and generated headlines by selling couture worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana as well as a slip dress by Charlotte Todd which a 20something Kate Middleton flaunted on a student fashion runway. Discussing a recent project, The L’Wren Scott Collection, Kerry explains how she helped to orchestrate this Christie’s London sale of ready-to-wear designed by the late L’Wren Scott. Scott was a model and celebrity stylist who launched an independent fashion label in 2006. She became famous for crafting red carpet finery memorably worn by famous women she styled including Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Jeriana San Juan takes a deep dive into her magnificent work costume designing the Netflix miniseries Halston. Starring Ewan McGregor, Halston portrays the untold story of the sensational rise and tragic downfall of the pioneering fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick. Jeriana reveals the intricacies of dressing Ewan McGregor to portray the title character. She also explains how she worked as a consultant to McGregor so he could authentically portray Halston’s technical genius. She sheds light on crafting the screen wardrobe for Krysta Rodriguez’s Liza Minnelli and Rebecca Dayan’s Elsa Peretti. Harking back to her childhood, Jeriana recalls how her beloved grandmother taught her how to sew. She speaks about her upbringing in New York City and her formative experience costume designing Baz Luhrmann’s hip-hop series, The Get Down.

A few days ago Erdem Moralioglu presented his resort collection for 2022. Because it commemorates the 15th anniversary of his fashion house, we are listening back to a recent interview during which he reflected on his life and work. Erdem explains how his fascination with fashion began at school in suburban Montreal. He talks about realizing his dream to study fashion at London’s Royal College of Art and establishing his business in Hackney. He explains harnessing technology to modernize the age-old floral print and also admits how his signature florals once made him an outlier on the London fashion scene. Erdem reveals how that progressively changed but without sharing any of the secrets involved in dressing his starry clients like the Duchess of Cambridge and Madonna.

Vetran Condé Nast magazine professionals, Fiona Hayes and Julia Zirpel, discuss collaborating on The Fashion Yearbook 2021. Recently published by Callwey of Munich, Germany, The Fashion Yearbook features striking images representing outstanding fashion ad campaigns, editorials and covers published last year. Fiona and Julia explain how, with picture editor Katja Sonnewend, they assembled all of this by working with a jury hailing from Europe, North America, Africa and the Asia Pacific region. The jury included Ariel Foxman, Veronika Heilbrunner, Veronique Kolasa, Sebastian Lux, Martien Mellema, Sara Maino, Florentine Pabst, Grant Pearce, Asanda Sizani and Donald Schneider. Julia and Fiona also describe the challenges and rewards of assembling The Fashion Yearbook during lockdown. Magazine publishers were scrambling. Newsstands were closed. The fashion industry was at a standstill. Nevertheless, they gathered 1200 stories for their judges to narrow down to the group showcased in the book. The images meaningfully interpret Black Lives Matter, COVID-19 as well as climate change, gender discrimination and the refugee crisis. Despite the hurdles of publishing this book during the pandemic - and at a time when fashion photography is experiencing total upheaval - Hayes and Zirpel express their hope for the medium’s future. A more diverse group of people are calling the shots in front of and behind the camera, they say. Creativity is flourishing in the hands of a new generation of visionary image makers.

The writer and director, Elza Kephart, discusses her new film Slaxx. Described by the Guardian’s film critic, Peter Bradshaw, as an “often amusing and sharp, horror satire...set in an unbearably cool clothes shop,” Slaxx shines a light on the inhumanity of the cotton trade and fast fashion. Kephart explains how her commitment to climate change activism and Andrew Morgan’s documentary, The True Cost, prompted her to craft a macabre yet darkly humorous movie about Keerat. She’s a young Indian girl who perishes while picking cotton. Her spirit lives on in a pair of “killer jeans” which, ultimately, exact revenge on the employees of a fast fashion store. As the atrocities of Xinjiang cotton dominate the fashion conversation, Kephart candidly addresses the human cost and environmental toll which the manufacture of inexpensive throwaway garments is exacting on our world. She discusses honing her craft by working in the art departments of some Hollywood blockbusters and the rewards of collaborating with an array of Montreal, Canada fashion and film creatives - including her writing partner, Patricia Gomez, the practical effects company, Blood Brothers FX, the costume designer, Eric Poirier and the sustainable denim brand, Naked and Famous - to create the “killer pants” that steal the show.

On April 24th, the fashion designer, Alber Elbaz, died in Paris. He was 59 and the cause was Covid-19. This episode is a tribute to the women’s fashion designer who rose to fame when - after a stint designing ready-to-wear at Guy Laroche - Pierre Bergé appointed him to be a creative director at the House of Saint Laurent. Following his short tenure at Saint Laurent, Alber Elbaz went on to resurrect the house of Lanvin. He reigned there as creative director for 14 years and the fashion world fell in love with the modern femininity he channeled into the long dormant brand. Special people talk about Alber Elbaz including the award-winning independent film producer, Christine Vachon. She worked with Alber Elbaz when he was Senior Designer at Geoffrey Beene in New York and Mr. Beene asked him to supervise the making of Tom Kalin’s short film, Geoffrey Beene 30. Christine produced the film with her partner at Killer Films, Pam Koffler. Christopher Petkanas - the author of Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de la Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent - weighs in on how Alber Elbaz made the leap from Guy Laroche to Saint Laurent where he was charged with rejuvenating Rive Gauche women’s wear. The author Dana Thomas assesses Alber’s contribution to fashion and - how just prior to his passing he had launched A-Z Factory. This was his own fashion house that was size-inclusive, seasonless and technically innovative.

Brothers Alexander and Sebastian Adams explain why they founded their brand, Varsity Headwear, to create the perfect baseball cap, simply because they couldn’t find one. They reveal putting everything on the line to launch a boutique for their brand in Saint Tropez, France and how their caps have sold seven at a time from their destination shop. Looking back, Alex and Seb observe how their design journey really began when they grew up as the children of architects in Oslo, Norway and why it was vital for them both to break away from the family fold to study in London. The siblings share the advantages and challenges of operating a business with a family member.

Claire Wilcox - the Senior Fashion curator at London's Victoria and Albert Museum discusses her new book, Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes. As the title suggests, Patch Work is a memoir. But as the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that Patchwork is an unconventional memoir. The original storytelling method Claire conceived for this book portrays the facts of her life in an abstract manner, prompting the reader to imagine the finer details. The writing process, Claire explains, was as much of a therapeutic exercise as a creative release. She embarked on this book in 2014. She then experienced the passing of her beloved parents and also undertook the most challenging curatorial project of her career - staging the Metropolitan Museum's blockbuster exhibition, Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty at the V&A. Claire Wlicox has worked closely with some of the biggest names in fashion from McQueen to Vivienne Westwood and the Versace family. And along with discussing her new book, she provides a peek behind the closed doors of the V&A, its groundbreaking fashion department, where she has worked for decades. She also discusses some of the legendary professionals who elevated the museum onto the world stage including Sir Roy Strong and Valerie D. Mendes. Related Reading Claire Wilcox, Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes (Bloomsbury Publishing)Claire Wilcox, “Who Gives A Frock?” - Valerie Mendes, Jean Muir and the Building of the National Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Fashion Theory, 8 June 2018Claire Wilcox & Valerie D. Mendes, 20th Century Fashion In Detail (Thames & Hudson) Sir Roy Strong, Splendours and Miseries, The Roy Strong Diaries, 1967 - 1987 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) Join The Conversation To send episode ideas, feedback, ask questions and also enquire about sponsorship and partnership opportunities please email the host and creator: Bronwyn@Bronwyncosgrave.com

Over the last month designers in London, New York, Paris, Milan - and some other places - have streamed presentations of their fall/winter 2021 ready-to-wear collections. Alexander Fury - AnOther Magazine’s Fashion Features Director and the Financial Times’ Menswear Critic - joins Bronwyn Cosgrave to assess the direction of fashion for the season ahead and beyond. Alex shares details of the interviews he has conducted over the last year for the FT with some of the most important designers at work right now, including Kim Jones, of Dior and Fendi, Givenchy’s Matthew Williams, as well as Prada’s collaborators, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons. He reveals his belief that London's fashion community will survive the double challenge it is facing. That's the pandemic and Brexit. He offers his expert opinion on the future of the suit, why the red carpet remains relevant as a fashion forum and some details about his forthcoming book about Dame Vivienne Westwood.

The writer and director of Audrey - a new documentary exploring the life and work of Audrey Hepburn - discusses how her own life prompted her to craft a film about one of the greatest movie stars of all time. Helena Coan explores the craft of working with archive footage and voiceover narration to reveal Hepburn’s life story. She discusses Hepburn’s triumphs on the Broadway stage, at the Oscars and campaigning for UNICEF in war torn Somalia. Coan reveals how she grappled with telling the story of Hepburn’s personal struggles with her parents and her husbands. The filmmaker also sheds new light on Hepburn’s creative partnership with Hubert de Givenchy including how they battled to get her long black Breakfast at Tiffany's dress exactly right.

Anna Sui discusses her fall 2021 collection, Phantasmadelic, and making a film to showcase it with her family. She recalls her rise from operating out of her New York apartment, as an indie designer in the early Eighties, to be a global fashion force. She considers her longtime creative partnership with Steven Meisel and how Madonna, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell wearing her signature baby doll dresses helped to establish her brand. To honor Chinese New Year, Anna ponders her Chinese American identity, and explains how the rise of her ancestral homeland has played a part in her success story

The new book, Glossy: The Inside Story of Vogue, is a comprehensive history of American Vogue magazine – and some of Vogue’s international editions. The author, Nina-Sophia Miralles, reveals why she told Vogue’s history through the lens of its editors. She discusses the careers and cultural impact of renowned Vogue editors including Edward Enninful, Grace Mirabella, Alexandra Shulman and Anna Wintour. She also tells the story of the unsung heroes who edited Vogue like Edna Woolman Chase who worked her way up from a job in American Vogue’s mail room to edit the magazine for 38 years, from 1914. Discover how Michel de Brunhoff - who edited Vogue Paris from 1929 to 1954 - saved the magazine from a Nazi German takeover during World War II. We also revisit the career of the late Liz Tilberis. She applied her expertise editing British Vogue to relaunching American Harper’s Bazaar in the early Nineties. Find out what happened to two French Vogue editors who challenged the unspoken rule that Black women were not the right fit for the magazine’s cover. Nina also delivers her expert opinion on American Vogue’s controversial February 2021 cover fronted by U.S. Vice President, Kamala Harris.

P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes talk about producing and directing House of Cardin. This documentary tells the story of Pierre Cardin’s life and work. House of Cardin premiered at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. But on December 29, when Pierre Cardin passed away - at the age of 98 - Ebersole & Hughes’s film attained new relevance as the last word on a design giant. In the early Sixties, Pierre Cardin created ready-to-wear. He also pioneered logomania by affixing his circular initial insignia to a staggering array of 850 products which were sold worldwide. Pierre Cardin dressed the Beatles and costumed movies. He produced rock concerts and plays at his own eponymous theater. He had a record label. He owned and operated the celebrated Belle Époque restaurant, Maxim's de Paris. Ebersole and Hughes explain discovering Pierre Cardin by collecting his furniture and acquiring a rare sports car which the designer customized for AMC in the early 70s. The filmmaking duo reveal how their mania for all things Pierre Cardin prompted them to venture from their home in Palm Springs, California to Paris. There, after a series of fortuitous events, they settled in at the House of Cardin and let the cameras roll.