Intern Pierre (not his real name) is a professional investor who runs an eponymous Substack where he deftly dissects the smoke and mirrors put up by the luxury sector. His specialty is sharing access to privileged, investment grade information that lay people are usually not privy to. On his first ever podcast appearance we discuss the importance of reading a financial statement, on the insolvable paradox of exclusivity and constant growth, on the unraveling of the luxury fashion narrative, and much more. 

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In this two-part episode Eugene Rabkin and Philippe Pourhashemi discuss this past season of many debuts, whether the so-called "great reset" was successful, and address two main narratives that are gripping the fashion media, the power and tact (or lack thereof) of the sideline fashion commentariat, and whether designers are out of touch with the needs of modern women.

In episode one Eugene and Philippe discuss New York, London, and Milan, the debuts of Demna at Gucci, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Simone Belotti at Jil Sander, and Dario Vitale at Versace (pronounced, Ver-says) and the democratization of fashion commentary. In episode two they talk about J.W. Anderson's first outing at Dior, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, Duran Lantink at Gaultier, Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela, Miguel Castro Freitas at Mugler, and sophomore efforts by Michael Rider at Celine and Sarah Burton at Givenchy, among other shows. They also discuss the alleged misogyny on part of some designers. 

It's a lot, hence why we broke up this podcast into two episodes. Substack and Patreon subscribers will have access to both parts early and at once. Consider becoming a paid subscriber; your contribution supports independent fashion journalism, or you can read another article about Kylie Jenner.

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On this episode we speak with Emily Segal, the founder of the brand strategy agency Nemesis, publishing house Deluge, and the author of the novel Mercury Retrograde. Emily came to fame in the 2010s as the co-founder of the collective K-Hole, which coined the term "normcore." She went on to work with everyone from Prada to Supreme, and learned a few things along the way, some of which we discuss in this episode. We mostly concentrate on two pieces of her writing, the Umami Theory of Value and B for Balenciaga, a brand case study. We discuss why the current culture feels like a postmodernist, meaningless, made-for-Instagram slop, or as Emily writes, "Umami is what you got when you did not get anything," why Balenciaga is a cultural apex predator, a vortex that sucks in cultural artifacts and spits them out as memes, why Demna's irony is hollow, whether he will succeed at Gucci, and much more besides.  

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We are back with Philippe Pourhashemi to review the women’s Fall / Winter 2025 season. We discuss the debuts of Veronica Leoni at Calvin Klein, Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford, Sarah Burton at Givenchy, and Julian Klausner at Dries Van Noten. We also give our impressions of what is likely to be the last collection of Daniel Lee at Burberry, and dive into the shows of Undercover, Rick Owens, Comme des Garçons and more.

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Natasha Degen, the chair of Art Market Studies at Fashion Institute of Technology and the author of Merchants of Style: Art and Fashion after Andy Warhol, is back on the podcast to discuss the ever more insidious relationship between fashion and art. We discuss her concept of Art Pop, which are commercial ventures that are given an air of an art project, what the second rounds of collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama signify, and why fashion is increasingly getting into film, TV, and books and literature.

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We are back with the journalist and critic Philippe Pourhashemi to review the Fall / Winter 2025 men's season. We discuss the Setchu runway debut at Pitti Uomo in Florence, and touch upon the meaning of and the need to put on a fashion show, Peter Copping's debut at Lanvin, the new direction at Dries Van Noten, and the shows of Auralee, Comme des Garçons, Rick Owens, and more. We talk about the continuous grotesquery at LVMH, as well as our surprise reactions to the latest collections from Kim Jones and Prada.

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On this episode, we speak with Ana Andjelic, the strategic branding mastermind who knows her Bs from "Brand" to "Baudrillard," author of the Sociology of Business Substack and of the new book Hitmakers: How Brands Influence Culture. We discuss how the luxury industry went off rails through over-expansion, the difference between the luxury and fashion mentality and the luxury and commodity thinking, and what it will take to turn things around. We discuss how fashion trends are really created and why everything looks interchangeable. We finish the episode with a surprising marketing case-study!

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On this episode we speak with Astrid Wendlandt, the founder of the fashion news website Miss Tweed. This year Miss Tweed came to prominence as the first to break many fashion appointment news, and has made plenty of powerful enemies, such as Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, and Johann Rupert, the owner of Richemont. But Wendlandt is no rumor-monger; she is a veteran journalist who for decades has worked at prestigious publications like Reuters and the Financial Times, where she honed her investigative reporting skills. We talk about the arc of her career, including her first job at the Moscow Times in Russia's wild '90s, her eventual pivot to reporting on luxury fashion, the founding of Miss Tweed, her work methods, and the challenges she faces as a fashion reporter, including her being banned by Arnault and Rupert from getting information on their companies. We discuss Arnault and LVMH, the hot air balloon of Jacquemus, and much more.

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Eugene Rabkin is back with Philippe Pourhashemi to discuss the Spring / Summer 2005 women's shows in Paris and Milan. They talked about Alessandro Michele's debut at Valentino, the need for change at Rick Owens, their different takeaways from the Dries Van Noten without Dries debut, the stagnant and bland luxury market, why Haider Ackermann is a brilliant choice for Tom Ford and what it means to hire a real designer at the helm of a big brand, and much more.

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On this episode we speak with the London-based fashion and interior design journalist and photographer Mark C. O'Flaherty. Mark is the author of The Narrative Thread, a book about the relationship of fashion collectors to their clothes, and a regular contributor to the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, the World of Interiors, among others.

We talked about the early '90s London club and queer culture and how it influenced London's fashion scene, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's enduring sway over it, his work with Alexander McQueen, about the now forgotten London fashion heroes Body Map. We discuss Mark's almost accidental career, the difference between writing about and shooting fashion and interiors, and frustrations about doing genuine journalism today.

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So, you want to get a job in fashion? But how? Or are you curious about what goes on behind the scenes of creative director musical chairs? On this episode we speak with Alice Bouleau, Partner at Sterling International, a premier executive search agency. Alice places creative directors and high level executives all over the world in some of the most prestigious fashion houses. 

We dive deep into how the fashion recruitment process works, examine why some designers actually don't want creative director positions, the blunders that happen along the way of recruitment, the current creative director musical chairs environment, why you have not gotten a response to your resume by applying via LinkedIn and Indeed, common mistakes applicants make, and qualities Alice looks for in a candidate. Last but not least, Alice gives Eugene some career advice.

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So, you want to launch a brand? But do you know how it all actually works? For this episode we invited our old friend Joseph Keefer, who has had a long career in fashion on all fronts; retail, production, merchandising, and design, and who has launched his brand JKEEFER in 2020 in New York City. Joey is one of us, he grew up in the skate, punk, and hardcore scenes in Washington, DC. He started in retail as a teenager, and has moved from gig to gig, slowly learning the ropes. On this episode we go through Joey's journey that has included gigs at Odin, the pioneering menswear store in New York, and SSENSE, among others. We talk about the golden age of New York City's men's fashion in the mid aughts, in which Joey has participated, working closely with designers Robert Geller and Siki Im, the nuts and bolts of merchandising and production, and how his various roles have informed his design practice. 

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In this two-part episode Eugene Rabkin and Philippe Pourhashemi discuss this past season of many debuts, whether the so-called "great reset" was successful, and address two main narratives that are gripping the fashion media, the power and tact (or lack thereof) of the sideline fashion commentariat, and whether designers are out of touch with the needs of modern women.

In episode one Eugene and Philippe discuss New York, London, and Milan, the debuts of Demna at Gucci, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Simone Belotti at Jil Sander, and Dario Vitale at Versace (pronounced, Ver-says) and the democratization of fashion commentary. In episode two they talk about J.W. Anderson's first outing at Dior, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, Duran Lantink at Gaultier, Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela, Miguel Castro Freitas at Mugler, and sophomore efforts by Michael Rider at Celine and Sarah Burton at Givenchy, among other shows. They also discuss the alleged misogyny on part of some designers. 

It's a lot, hence why we broke up this podcast into two episodes. Substack and Patreon subscribers will have access to both parts early and at once. Consider becoming a paid subscriber; your contribution supports independent fashion journalism, or you can read another article about Kylie Jenner.

Support the show

We are back with Philippe Pourhashemi to discuss this past menswear season. We talk about the shows at Pitti Uomo, Milan, and Paris, from the strange department-store-bound debut of Marine Serre at Pitti Uomo, and an unexpectedly joyful show of Pierre-Louis Mascia, about how bad the Milan shows were this season, the gimmicks at J.W. Anderson, the impotence at Prada, about the grotesque spectacles that Pharrell puts on at Louis Vuitton, and how Japanese designers like Undercover, Sacai, Kolor, and the newcomers like Masu and Taakk continue to make Paris look creative. 

We go in depth about Dries Van Noten’s last bow, the show itself, and Van Noten’s legacy. We discuss the spectacle of the Rick Owens show, asking when is spectacle good and when is it not enough? And much, much more. 

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Eugene Rabkin speaks with the writer and fashion commentator Derek Guy. Derek has come up in the days of forum culture, has written much about menswear, and has become a reluctant Twitter star. We talk about his style journey, the death of masculine shame about fashion and its unintended consequences, about why so much clothing has by and large has gotten so bad, why the notion of quality and expertise disappeared, why the level of discourse in the glory days of forum culture was so much better than anything you can find on social media today, and about considered consumption and taste in general. 

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On this episode we speak with Lorenzo Osti, the son of Massimo Osti, about the life and legacy of his father, the pioneer of modern men’s fashion. We talk about Osti’s design ethos, work methods, and innovations, and how the newly established brand Massimo Osti Studio carries on Osti’s legacy today.

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On this episode we review the Fall/Winter 2024 fashion season in Milan and Paris, including the Alexander McQueen debut and the feedback it has received, the state of Balenciaga and Demna, Ann Demeulemeester, Sacai, and more. Philippe shares thoughts on his new favorite brand, Hodakova, and we talk about why the Dior show was an ad, why the smaller brands like Gaucherre and Lutz Huelle are important, and much more. The question of the day, considering the debuts we have witnessed over the last twelve months - is the new generation capable of producing a great designer?

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On this episode we speak with Natasha Degen, Professor and Chair, Art Market Studies, Fashion Institute of Technology about the uneasy symbiosis of fashion and art that she examines in depth in her recent book Merchants of Style: Art and Fashion After Warhol,. We talk about the encroachment of corporate luxury fashion on the art world with Warhol as the pivotal figure, the degradation of the art museum, art and fashion collaborations, Raf Simons and Sterling Ruby, Marc Jacobs and Takashi Murakami, Virgil Abloh and Pharrell, Bernard Arnault's and Francois Pinault's forays into art as the new Medici, and what is lost when art becomes sponsored by the private sector and consumed by the masses.

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On this episode we are back with Philippe to discuss this past men’s season shows at Pitti Uomo, Milan, and Paris. We talk about the contrast between Luca Magliano and S.S. Daley, Gucci, Prada, and Zegna (best of season in Milan), why Rick Owens was the show of the season and Yohji Yamamoto was a letdown, the continued elegance of Dries Van Noten, and Rei Kawakubo’s uncharacteristic feeling of lightness, Hermès’ uncompromising quality, why the Japanese newcomers TAAKK and MASU (not covered by Vogue Runway, but covered by us) made Paris exciting, and which small brands we loved and why we are going to lean into supporting smaller brands this year. We wonder out loud, how bad can Louis Vuitton and Dior get? We cheat a little in the end by discussing Galliano’s Maison Margiela Artisanal show, because how could we not?!

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On this episode we speak with Maria Wiesner, the styles editor of Frankfurt Allgemiene Zeitung and the author of a book about the life and work of Jil Sander (published earlier this year in German by HarperCollins). We discuss the formative years of the Queen of Minimalism, how Bauhaus and Hamburg honed her aesthetic, how her trail-blazing, uncompromising vision of minimalism paid off handsomely in the ‘80s and the ‘90s, and her ill-fated deal with Prada.

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On this episode we discuss the work of Phoebe Philo and the role she has played in defining contemporary fashion, the aesthetic direction and the business model of her new eponymous brand as compared to her work at Celine, the reception of the first two drops, and what the future holds.

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We are back with our regular guest Philippe Pourhashemi to review the Spring / Summer 2024 women’s season. We discuss in depth the debuts of Peter Do at Helmut Lang, Sabato de Sarno at Gucci, Peter Hawkings at Tom Ford, and Stefano Gallici at Ann Demeulemeester. We talk about the brilliant Undercover outing (spoiler alert: best of season!), Sacai, Rick Owens, Comme des Garçons, Dries Van Noten, Prada, and many other shows.

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On this episode we speak with Julie Zerbo, the founder of the Fashion Law, a fashion media outlet dedicated to fashion, law, business, and industry analysis. Her being a lawyer by education, we find Julie's perspective on fashion both original and pertinent. We talk about Julie's professional journey, the obstacles she faces running an independent publication, and her views on the current state of fashion.

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Our guest on this episode is Gene Pressman, of the great retail family that made Barneys into a New York fashion institution that has become part of the city lore and that has left an indelible mark on fashion itself. Barneys was a trailblazer, a temple for true fashion cognoscenti. Gene's new book, out September 2nd is called "They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World's Greatest Store." We see no lies; Barneys was the world's greatest store, and we all came there. 

Gene walks us through the ark of his career, through the changes he has witnessed in the store and in New York City since the '60s and through the '90s. He talks about the seismic changes in fashion he has witnessed firsthand, such as the rise of Giorgio Armani, the ascendance of Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, the wonder of the Antwerp Six, and his long-lasting friendship with Azzedine Alaia. We also discuss the current state of fashion and retail, and much, much more. 

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We are back with the journalist and critic Philippe Pourhashemi to discuss the recently finished Spring/Summer 2024 fashion season. We review shows from Pitti Uomo, Milan, and Paris, including Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten, Lemaire, Sacai, and more, and we discuss Pharrell's Louis Vuitton debut.

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On this hot-take episode with Philippe Pourhashemi we discuss the recent firings of Ludovic de Saint Sernin from Ann Demeulemeester and Rhuigi Villasenor from Bally and their implications. We speak about hype versus talent, what makes the right fit between a creative director and a brand, the relationship between management and creative, brand building and reputational risk, and much more.

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We reconnect with the journalist Amy Odell to discuss the problematic legacy of Karl Lagerfeld, the late designer of Chanel, and the new exhibit devoted to his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. We try to answer one of the central questions of creativity - can you separate the art from the artist? - and dive into other aspects of Lagerfeld's life and work.

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Our guest is Lauren Sherman, former senior correspondent at the Business of Fashion, a top-notch reporter whose no-nonsense writing cuts through much of the industry noise. We discuss why fashion journalism used to be a much richer field, why honest reporting is beneficial to fashion, why it’s imperative for a brand to develop a core audience, why LVMH excels at retaining talent, why brick and mortar retail matters, and talk about her new and exciting role at Puck News.

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We speak with the casting director James Scully about his trajectory of working in fashion, from his days at the iconic New York boutique Charivari in the ‘80s to his days at Harper’s Bazaar and the changes he witnessed while being there, to becoming one of the best casting agents in the fashion industry; his whistle blowing on the rampant abuse of models and the changes it engendered. James’s is a brilliant story of working his way up in fashion through sheer love of it and his talent. It is also an important one because it provides a rare glimpse of what goes on under the hood of the fashion industry. 

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We are back with Philippe to review this past Fall / Winter 2023 Women's fashion show season. We dive into many shows, concentrating on the many debuts, of Daniel Lee at Burberry, Ludovic de Saint-Sernin at Ann Demeulemeester, and Harris Reed at Nina Ricci.

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We are back with fashion journalist and author Amy Odell to discuss Pharrell's appointment as the creative director of Louis Vuitton Menswear and what it means for fashion, what it says about the power of celebrity, Louis Vuitton's business model, and the fashion media.

Check out Amy's Back Row Substack, amyodell.substack.com

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We dissect Demna's first post-Balenciaga scandal interview in Vogue with the journalist Amy Odell. We discuss Demna's mea culpas and the various statements he makes, dive into the mechanics of the interview, its possible causes and effects, Kering's corporate strategy, and Vogue's journalistic integrity. We also try to guess who actually conducted the interview. Odell is a seasoned fashion journalist, and together with Eugene, based on their extensive experience they give a glimpse of what probably went on behind the scenes. You can read Demna's interview here.

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On this episode we reunite with our regular guest, fashion editor and critic Philippe Pourhashemi, to reflect on the Fall / Winter '23 Men's season. We discuss Pitti Uomo, Milan, and Paris shows, from Jan-Jan Van Essche to Rick Owens to Yohji Yamamoto to Sacai, the debacle that was the Gucci show without Alessandro Michele, and more!

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We speak with Peter Ettedgui of Misfits Entertainment, a co-producer of the new docu-series Kingdom of Dreams, out in the UK on Sky and coming to the US market soon. The 4-part documentary traces the rise of Bernard Arnault's LVMH and François Pinault's Kering on the backs of John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford. The documentary is full of insight and rare footage, and we speak with Peter about the making of it and what he learned along the way.

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Our guest is Patrick Van Ommeslaeghe, one of the most talented Belgian designers you have probably never heard of. We speak about his career arc, from assisting Josephus Thimister at Balenciaga to building out the womenswear at Jil Sander with Raf Simons, to the short but brilliant life of his own brand, why he quite the fashion rat race and has quietly worked behind the scenes at houses like Loewe, and why the current fashion system is broken.

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We speak with the author W. David Marx about his new book “Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change.” We dive deep into the book and explore its basic premise that our cultural and consumption tendencies, especially when it comes to fashion, have to do more with the desire for status than we let on, how conspicuous consumption works, how the old and the new money signals their wealth, why logomania is in full swing today, and more.

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On this episode we speak with one of the most interesting designers working in New York (and the world) today, Peter Do. Peter has caught fashion's eye with his sharp, elegant way of dressing that goes against the predominant sportswear and streetwear ethos that American fashion is known for. We sat down with Peter to talk about his journey, his design process, and the challenges he has faced along the way.

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On this episode we speak with one of the most interesting designers working in New York (and the world) today, Peter Do. Peter has caught fashion's eye with his sharp, elegant way of dressing that goes against the predominant sportswear and streetwear ethos that American fashion is known for. We sat down with Peter to talk about his journey, his design process, and the challenges he has faced along the way.

Listen to the full episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stylezeitgeist

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In this free-wheeling episode we talk to designer Sruli Recht about his journey and about his thoughts on design, the fashion industry, death, and circumcision, amongst other things. When we first met, Sruli was making menswear, technically. But it was apparent that Sruli is not a fashion designer but a product designer, or an artist, if you will. His science fiction-level approach to designing clothes and objects has always intrigued us, as has his unabashed openness and a sober and inquiring way with which he has tackled taboo subjects such as self-deliverance.

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In this episode we discuss the (rather underwhelming) Men's Spring / Summer '23 fashion season. We look at the ups and downs, highs and lows, and pick our favorite collections.

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On this episode we speak with Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, the founder and editor of Vestoj magazine, a publication that aims to bridge fashion and theory, and a bible for all fashion fanatics with an intellectual bent. Anja is one of the most formidable brains in the fashion media and it was a pleasure to speak with her about her journey to Vestoj, her view of fashion criticism and its place and how she's shifting her attitude from being a critic to an informed observer.

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On this episode we speak with three young fashion media people - Luke Meagher of the YouTube and Instagram channel Haute Le Mode, Mario Abad, the fashion editor of Paper magazine, and José Criales-Unzueta, a regular contributor to I-D, Them and the Business of Fashion about the challenges they face and the problems they see with the current fashion media landscape.

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On this episode we are back with the critic Philippe Pourhashemi to review the Fall / Winter '22 season, including analyzing how Balenciaga, Rick Owens, and Armani responded to the war in Ukraine, and the reaction of our colleagues, amongst other things.

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On this episode we are back with the journalist Philippe Pourhashemi to review the Fall/Winter '22 men's season.

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On this episode we host Aitor Throup, one of the most innovative menswear designers who has conceptualized menswear like no other. We discuss his meteoric rise, the difficulty of translating conceptual fashion into a ready-to-wear proposition, his stints at Stone Island and C.P. Company, designing a uniform for the English national football team at the age of 28 , his two upcoming exhibitions, and his new project, Anatomyland.

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The Turkish Cypriot designer Hussein Chalayan burst onto the London fashion scene with a brilliant 1993 graduate show Tangent Flows. With work that blended philosophy, science, technology, history and fashion, Chalayan became the pinnacle of conceptual fashion. Today, Chalayan designs and makes art, teaches at HTW in Berlin, and is a mentor at Forecast Mentorship Program 2025. In this wide-ranging episode Chalayan we discuss his career arc and the spirit of intellectual inquiry that has driven him to create some of the most memorable collections in the history of contemporary fashion.

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On this freewheeling episode we host Jon Caramanica, the New York Times pop-music critic and “critical shopper” columnist. We talk about forming our style journeys in parts of Brooklyn you’ve never heard of, discuss our favorite stores, New York shopping, the demise of Barney’s, death of directional retail, argue about hip-hop and pop culture and much, much more.

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We are back with the journalist and critic Philippe Pourhashemi to discuss the (few) ups and (many) downs of the S/S ’22 womenswear shows that just finished in Paris and Milan.

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We speak with the American designer Geoffrey B. Small, who has for decades operated outside of the corporate fashion system, about his experience of building an independent fashion house in Veneto, Italy.

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We are back with our friend, the journalist and critic Philippe Pourhashemi to give you our (not very favorable) impressions of the Paris men's Spring / Summer 2022 and Couture Fall / Winter 2021 shows. Find out what we thought about the Balenciaga couture debut, Chanel and Fendi, Margiela, Rick Owens, Prada and Raf and much more.

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