American Fashion Podcast

Latest Episodes:

044 – Map All The Sources! – The American Fashion Podcast Apr 02, 2015

Show notes

Leo Bonanni of Sourcemap. talks about how his company is helping large and small business find each other and track their materials and products in transit around the globe.

Also in the studio, Manufacture New York CEO Bob Bland, and VP of Sustainability and External Affairs, Patrick Duffy. Bob talks about the Manhattan Garment District and its systematic dismantling by real estate developers, and Patrick discusses the support system Manufacture New York is creating for those manufacturers being pushed out to move into MNY’s new Manufacturing Innovation Hub for Apparel, Textiles & Wearable Tech at 850 Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

Bob asks, “what really makes a garment district?” Is it simply a place, or is it a community of people with skills with access to resources for their craft?

Despite mentioning it in the opening, we did not get around to discussing streetwear or the recent Karmaloop deal.

references:

043 – Lexy Funk Party Time – The American Fashion Podcast Mar 28, 2015

Show notes

Retail, supply chains, and e-commerce strategies… Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce throws a little party for Manufacture New York and local fashion makers, called “Meet The Makers,” and American Fashion records this episode in the middle of it. Andrew Livingston of Knickerbocker Manufacturing spoke on a panel with Manufacture New York’s own Bob Bland, and you can hear him back in Episode 32. But we wanted to talk to the other person on the panel, Brooklyn Industries CEO and Co-founder Lexy Funk. The conversation with her dives deep on retail, supply chains, and e-commerce strategies. Also, Manufacture New York team members Dr. Amanda Parkes and Steven Capozzola drop in and talk a bit about fashiontech, wearables, and Made In USA developments.

“Sometimes what’s happened is we’ve increased the price and its sold even better. So, pricing is a very elastic concept. I think one always has to think about who is purchasing it, and the psychology behind the purchase, rather than the economics going into [a product].” – Lexy Funk, Brooklyn Industries

references:

042 – Shop Helpsy, Or The Rhino Gets It – The American Fashion Podcast Mar 19, 2015

Show notes

Rachel Kibbe, Helpsy founder, talks about her badass non-crunchy online ethical fashion store with a sense of humor. The team talks social media, the end of WWD’s daily editions, the objectionability of some exclusivity, does over-partying kill good design, feminism is trendy, and other world changing events and ideas. Also, this episode is kind of hilarious.

references:

Dirty Librarian Chains
Lush: Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
Social Media’s Elusive Goal: Return On Investment (WWD / paywall)
Alibaba Invests $200 Million in Snapchat (WWD / paywall)
Abercrombie & Fitch CEO doesn’t want fat women wearing his clothes (PIX11)
Chinese designer shoemaker sees 5,000 workers strike (BBC News)
Can Chinese fashion designers go global? (BBC News)
Social Media Today
From the Editors: WWD Launching Weekly Format (WWD / paywall)
Reed Krakoff To Suspend Operations (WWD / paywall)
Japanese Designers are Hopeful as Tokyo Fashion Week Begins (WWD / paywall)
The New Rules of Retail (revised 2014)
Elton John Leads Boycott Against Dolce & Gabbana Over ‘Synthetic Children’ Remarks (NPR.org)
threeASFOUR
Fashion Is Your Business (our sister podcast)
Zang Toi

041 – Brand Strategies For Fun and Profit – The American Fashion Podcast Mar 11, 2015

Show notes

Leland Maschmeyer, Executive Creative Director and Co-Founder of the brand consultancy company Collins, talks about brand strategy as an exercise in storytelling, and how “the personal is universal,” and making corporate choices that define your brand around a quality of meaning. How do millennials process marketing messages? Is the experience economy viable?

“So many people who have worked in this industry are so sick of slick marketing, and manipulative marketing, and trying to do things that don’t feel like they’re contributing to the world.” – Leland Maschmeyer

references:

“It’s the end of fashion as we know it,” says Li Edelkoort (Dezeen Magazine)
Streetwear Has Officially Gone Luxury (Elle Magazine)
Public relations campaigns of Edward Bernays (psychology in marketing)
The Hidden Persuaders (book)
Down and Out In The Magic Kingdom (book)
FOMO

040 – Camp Capsule Continued – The American Fashion Podcast Mar 02, 2015

Show notes

Interviews with accessories designers Niki English and Mary Lai, Vancouverist Some Product designer Dave Briker, reps Tanya Sheikh and Ivan Gilkes of Aikaz Showroom (who also run the Meatpacking District boutique In Support Of), transformable garment designer Gail Travis of NFP (watch Aeric Meredith-Goujon’s NFP transformation video, “Ravel”), VOS designer Jasmine Etoile Aarons, Bill Smolen of We See Beauty’s MAKE cosmetics line, and Capsule founder Edina Sultanik… all from the floor of the Capsule New York Women’s Ready To Wear trade show.

references:

039 – Bob Bland & Karolyn Pho Hit The Shows – The American Fashion Podcast Mar 02, 2015

Show notes

On the show floor at the Capsule New York Women’s Ready To Wear trade show during New York Market Week. Interviews with Bob Bland (Manufacture New York) and designer Karolyn Pho. Seth and Charles discuss whether a designer can create a brand identity that traps them in a non-creative space. How do you use a trade show booth to communicate with wholesale buyers? Seth talks sales strategies.

“I couldn’t translate that press from the shows into dollars.”
– Karolyn Pho on skipping NY Fashion Week

references:

H Fredriksson
Gemma Redux
Rachel Antonoff
Karolyn Pho
Sourcing at MAGIC
Manufacture New York
SWILL
Designers and Makers (Seoul, South Korea)
Noah Kim Fashion
NAMM Clothing
6AM Clothing (Brennan Manuel)
IndieSource
Tranoï (Paris trade show)
KTZ

038 – Capsule Panel “The Independent Mindset” – The American Fashion Podcast Feb 22, 2015

Show notes

Retailers Jennifer Mankins (Bird), Jill Wenger (Totokaelo), and Steven Alan talk with moderator Lauren Sherman of Fashionista about independent retail and the forces compelling small boutiques to diversify with e-commerce. The American Fashion Podcast team is on site at the Capsule Womens RTW show in New York this week, look for our booth in Row A.

Episode 37: E Pluribus Fashion Week – The American Fashion Podcast Feb 22, 2015

Show notes

Reem Acra gives an exclusive interview about her new Stevie Nicks-inspired collection backstage moments before her show. Udor joins the crew at Fordham University Law School across the street from Lincoln Center between shows to talk about New York Fashion Week. Lisa continues to track the streetwear wave.

references:

036 – NYFW Pre-Game Show – The American Fashion Podcast Feb 10, 2015

Show notes

Richard Spiegel (The Fashion Tribune) and Udor, both veteran runway photographers, talk past, present, and future of New York Fashion Week with Lisa and Charles in the hours before the Fall 2015 collections start rolling down the runways. What’s going on with Fashion Week leaving Lincoln Center? Mens Fashion Week coming in July? How is the Fashion Calendar CFDA transition going? … And lots of great Fashion Week “do you remember that one time when…” conversation.

references:

035 – Patrick Duffy Explains It All – The American Fashion Podcast Feb 09, 2015

Show notes

Manufacture New York‘s VP of Sustainability and External Affairs, Patrick Duffy, talks about building the new Manufacturing Innovation Hub and helping fashion brands change operations to promote social, ecological, and economic sustainability. China, Vietnam, and even Sri Lanka have better facilities than we have here in New York, and Patrick is doing everything he can to change that. Also, several established labels shuttering recently, Seth and Lisa dive into what’s going on in the relevancy war.

sponsored by SWILL: the liquor store in your pocket

references:

Tennaxia – sustainability tracking software
SourceMap – visible supply chain solution
Gap’s Rebekka Bay Exits (WWD / paywall)
Kate Spade Saturday Stores to Close (WWD / paywall)
Jones New York to Shutter Operations (WWD / paywall)

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