Fashion Conversations

Lucy Wallace Eustice and Monica Zwirner, co-founders of MZ Wallace, explain how the quilted nylon Metro Tote bag, which they designed together, became an urban phenomenon and generated millions for their accessories brand. This inspiring success story portrays two fearless women who triumphed over adversity and operate a thriving label that competes with the biggies.   

The Oscar-nominated costume designer, Arianne Phillips, explains the circumstances which prompted her to craft the wardrobe for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood. Known for working repeatedly with some of the greatest image-makers of our time - James Mangold, Tom Ford and Madonna - Arianne recalls her first meeting with the “Queen of Reinvention” and how Courtney Love played their matchmaker. She also reveals how Madonna’s philanthropic enterprises motivated her own charity work. And she provides a sneak preview of her next project – the musical stage adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada.

The winner of the French Ministry of Culture’s ANDAM fashion prize talks about founding her haute sportswear brand, Koché, after working for Bottega Veneta, Dries Van Noten, Chloé and Martine Sitbon. She explains how she balances Koché with her roll as artistic director of the Chanel-owned fashion house, Maison Lemarié.

The most decorated designer of his generation talks about working over the last few years as a freelance creative director as well as the impact of winning an array of coveted fashion prizes - including the first LVMH Prize For Young Fashion Designers.

The stylist whose directional flair made the red carpet mandatory viewing discusses her work for the stars of Big Little Lies, Meryl Streep and Shailene Woodley, and harks back to the crucial moment which kick started her career – the debut of Lupita Nyong’o at the premiere of Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave.

From her Belgravia boutique/atelier, this legendary fashion jeweler draws upon her experience designing for Vogue, the runway, feature films like The Favorite, as well as her new collection for the fabled Buckingham Palace Gift Shop.

Cora Sheibani’s fine jewelry collections have long proved to be a bellwether for fashion. Her presentation of ‘Clouds With a Silver Lining’ – shimmering silver and white gold diamond-embellished jewels – revealed Edeline Lee’s first independent designs. Cora’s ‘Glow’ collection pre-dated Saint Laurent’s glow-in-the-dark Fall 2019 women’s fashion show.  

Where will Batsheva Hay go now that she has made the Elizabethan-inspired, ruffled collared dress a must-have for hipsters from Brooklyn to Dalston and Tokyo, not to mention Lucy Boynton, Céline Dion and Courtney Love? On this episode of the podcast, A Different Tweed, Mosha Lundström Halbert discovers Batsheva’s forward direction and also the origin of her eponymous brand, the success of which is based on her trademark “Batsheva dress.” Informed by sartorial hallmarks evoking restraint and repression – namely, those high collars plus voluminous sleeves and full, ankle-grazing skirts – as well as quotidian feminine fashion references – Little House on the Prairie; earthy Hippie and the Upper West Side Housewife – Batsheva’s eclectic togs have been selling like wildfire since she launched her brand in 2016. Mosha meets up with Batsheva at her New York studio and revisits the places where her fashion story began – namely her grandmother and mother’s Laura Ashley-laden closets – as well as Queen’s New York (where as a “sad preteen” at her local branch of Barnes & Noble she devoured the latest issues of Vogue and W), her fashion photographer husband, Alexei Hay’s spiritual quest and the “stuffy white shoe” law-firm where the “suppression” she experienced sporting a Club Monaco white button - down ultimately propelled her to the vanguard of the fashion world.  

The Met Gala, Killing Eve, Phoebe Waller-Bridge – on the latest episode of A Different Tweed, meet Elizabeth Saltzman, the fashion stylist who is involved in all of these cultural phenomena.  Tune in to hear Elizabeth explain her trajectory from working on Vogue and Vanity Fair to rank among the Hollywood Reporter’s top 25 “Power Stylists” because of her work with Waller-Bridge as well as Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer plus Gwyneth Paltrow and Saoirse Ronan, who she is dressing for the 2019 Met Gala.  Elizabeth is the first stylist to feature on A Different Tweed and her episode is a special audio diary. Recorded at Claridge’s hotel in London, she recalls leaving behind her Upper East Side family home in the 1980s to immerse herself in downtown New York’s avant-garde fashion scene and its vibrant club culture. “Night life was my university,” she reflects. Hear how she changed it up at the turn of the new millennium, leaving New York, when she was nine months pregnant, to live in London where deploying her clout as Vanity Fair’s fashion director, she helped nurture a new generation of designers who established the British metropolis as a bonafide fashion capital. She also divulges how preparing Vanity Fair’s annual Oscar party prepped her for her current role as a movie star stylist. “I was styling people before I knew I was a ‘stylist’,” she reflects.  Elizabeth also talks about how a mix of Killing Eve creepiness, sustainability and the #MeToo movement all inspire her craft.

Fashion hairstylist Sam McKnight has worked on Chanel’s blockbuster runway shows for a decade. Hear him discuss the artistry he conjures for this venerable fashion house and also the intricacy of the styling process which he masterminds for the world’s most beautiful women like Kate Moss. Over his four-decade career, McKnight has racked up 100 British Vogue covers and on A Different Tweed he also explains why the magazine’s editor, Edward Enninful, appointed him to be one of his contributing editors. McKnight also ponders if Instagram has replaced fashion magazine covers as fashion’s position of power, why he “adored” Diana, Princess of Wales and how his London garden is his “oasis.” McKnight is A Different Tweed’s ultimate guest. Firstly, he hails from tweed’s homeland, Scotland, and while he recalls that his grandparents lived in tweed suits he also recounts how for Chanel’s legendary Fall 2014 show – which was staged amidst a fantastical supermarket backdrop - his team spent days ripping to shreds Chanel couture tweed from which they produced “massive ponytails.” One of Sam’s team members, hairstylist Helen Reavy, who worked on Chanel’s supermarket show during the five-and-a-half years she assisted him - also joins us on A Different Tweed to celebrate the technical virtuosity of Sam McKnight. About A Different Tweed A Different Tweed is fashion’s equivalent to Inside The Actors Studio. So while this podcast champions the craft of fashion and luxury through dynamic, informed and entertaining storytelling, the tone is intimate as the industry’s leading professionals reveal the creative process, challenges and personal journeys which have been integral to their artistry. Hosts Bronwyn Cosgrave and Mosha Lundström Halbert are globetrotting fashion journalists, broadcasters and friends. A Different Tweed is, in many ways, an extension of their camaraderie and actions their belief that the podcast is an ideal medium to explore fashion change through entertaining, informed storytelling. A Different Tweed comes to listeners from an array of destinations because today fashion is a global operation which is thriving beyond its traditional capitals. Fashion professionals are also nomadic and capturing them at work on the go - or in their professional domain - enhances the experience of tuning in. Upcoming guests include Batsheva Hay, Elizabeth Saltzman, Cora Sheibani and Vicki Sarge. For appearance, press and sponsorship enquiries, please email: info@adifferenttweed.com For more information about A Different Tweed visit: www.adifferenttweed.com

In the lead-up to the Oscars, a conversation with the nominated costume designer on her prolific work. Ruth E. Carter is nominated for an Academy Award for the masterly screen wardrobe she conceived for Black Panther. Here, she tells A Different Tweed why for her big night, Duro Oluwu is designing her Oscar dress. She also reveals the mashup of influences – from Afro-Futurism to Gareth Pugh, Winnie Mandela and the Wakandan Bible – which went into conceiving her look for Ryan Coogler’s Oscar nominated Marvel blockbuster.

Hear fashion virtuoso Paul Andrew tell co-host Mosha Lundström Halbert about his fairytale rise. From his upbringing in England, to his trajectory designing footwear for the likes of Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Narciso Rodriguez and then launching his eponymous shoe brand in 2012, of which Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are loyal clients. Today, Paul Andrew is Women's Creative Director at Salvatore Ferragamo and, as he shares, he’s loving every minute of his nomadic lifestyle shuttling between his Uptown New York design studio and Ferragamo’s headquarters in Florence. Long familiar with the rigor and discipline required to design for footwear connoisseurs, Paul explains how he cultivated his craft and how he relies on superb manufacturing assets and craftspeople in Italy to mastermind his designs. With his wealth of experience and peerless manufacturing resources, Paul reveals to Mosha his passionate approach to crafting the modern shoe silhouette.

How did Rihanna get that opulent headdress on her head at the 2018 Met Gala? Why did Meghan Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, flaunt a green beret at the 2018 Royal wedding? Why is Kim Jones’ Dior Men’s Saddle Cap the must-have men’s hat for spring/summer 2019? Discover answers to these questions and so much more on the first episode of A Different Tweed. The inaugural episode of this new fashion podcast features one of the industry’s leading artisans - and surely its finest raconteur - Stephen Jones OBE. Stephen is high fashion’s leading milliner and, from his stunning boutique and design atelier in London’s Covent Garden, he explains working with Rihanna, Ms. Ragland and Mr. Jones as well as his role in reviving the making of hats for the Paris couture and for the great names in ready-to-wear - Marc Jacobs, Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo and Grace Wales Bonner. Also hear him talk about the hats he has made for the Hollywood screen, rock stars and royalty, including Diana, Princess of Wales. Stephen reveals how Christian Dior became a big part of his brand identity and how, after John Galliano invited him to be Dior’s house milliner, he has played a part in the revitalization of the venerable LVMH label. You can also hear Stephen explain his rise to fashion greatness as a Blitz Kid on London’s 1979 New Romantic club scene and how Jean Paul Gaultier challenged him to dream up headdress for one of his early Eighties runway spectacles. As Stephen tells it, he survived and his work for Gaultier led to him designing hats for the most memorable fashion shows staged over the last 25 years. So tune in to A Different Tweed. And stay tuned for the next episode featuring Salvatore Ferragamo’s women’s creative director, Paul Andrew.

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.