Everybody Wants This

Summary

Fashion People – Episode: "Everybody Wants This"

Release Date: May 23, 2025

Host: Lauren Sherman, Puck Correspondent
Guests: Erin Foster and Sarah Foster, Founders of Favorite Daughter

---

Introduction

In the latest episode of Fashion People, hosted by Lauren Sherman, listeners are treated to an insightful conversation with sisters Erin and Sarah Foster, the dynamic duo behind the rapidly growing fashion brand, Favorite Daughter. The episode delves deep into the sisters' journey from entertainment to fashion entrepreneurship, exploring the intricate flywheel they've developed to synergize their various ventures. This comprehensive discussion offers a behind-the-scenes look at building a successful fashion brand in today's competitive market.

---

Meet Erin and Sarah Foster (00:48 – 07:28)

Lauren Sherman opens the episode by introducing Erin and Sarah Foster, highlighting their unexpected transition from the entertainment industry to founding Favorite Daughter. The sisters share their background, explaining how their early careers in TV writing and producing evolved into entrepreneurial ventures, culminating in the creation of their clothing brand.

Erin Foster:
"We are sisters who grew up in Los Angeles, and we went into entertainment. We did not go into Fashion."
(07:36)

Sarah Foster:
"We are producing partners. And we had a show together called Barely Famous, which was our first major project."
(07:30)

---

The Flywheel Concept (07:28 – 09:36)

Lauren introduces the concept of a flywheel, a strategic ecosystem where various business elements feed into each other to drive growth. Erin and Sarah describe how their podcast, businesses, and media presence create a synergistic effect that propels their brand forward.

Lauren Sherman:
"Harvard Business School needs to do a case study on you all about your flywheel, because it doesn't. Most flywheels are total bullshit, but you actually have one."
(09:36)

Sarah Foster:
"The flywheel is all the same consumer participating in everything we do—podcast listeners become Favorite Daughter customers, who then engage with our media projects like 'Nobody Wants This'."
(09:36)

---

Launching Favorite Daughter (20:47 – 35:54)

The discussion shifts to the inception of Favorite Daughter in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin and Sarah recount their first collaboration with Suburban Riot, which unexpectedly became a multimillion-dollar success due to the resonance of their "Favorite Daughter" apparel.

Erin Foster:
"Jen Stender Hawkins DM'd us saying there's smart IP in Favorite Daughter and believed it could be its own fashion brand."
(15:17)

Sarah Foster:
"We thought it was a bad idea initially because we weren't fashion designers, but partnering with Centric Brands was crucial."
(19:04)

They emphasize the importance of collaboration and leveraging experienced partners to navigate the complexities of the fashion industry.

---

Design Philosophy and Product Lines (34:47 – 36:10)

Erin and Sarah discuss their design approach, focusing on creating suiting with a feminine twist. They highlight flagship products like the Phoebe Bustier, a strapless suiting piece that blends professionalism with style, appealing to the modern working woman.

Erin Foster:
"Our suiting embodies the cool working woman who wants to dress for both day and night without compromising on style."
(35:54)

Sarah Foster:
"We've leaned into skorts and mini skirts with suiting fabrics, offering vibrant colors like electric blue and yellow."
(36:10)

---

Growth and Success Factors (40:02 – 43:55)

The sisters attribute their success to authenticity and a deep understanding of their target market. They built a brand that genuinely reflects their own style and lifestyle, which resonates with their customers.

Erin Foster:
"Favorite Daughter represents how we dress and who we are. It's authentic and tailored to real women's needs."
(25:27)

Sarah Foster:
"Our customer is someone who admires designer styles but seeks quality at an accessible price point."
(24:18)

They also discuss the unexpected boost from Erin's TV show, which featured their apparel and significantly increased brand visibility and sales.

---

Challenges and Learning Experiences (21:17 – 33:15)

Erin reflects on the early challenges of launching Favorite Daughter, including navigating the technical aspects of garment production and understanding fabric properties.

Erin Foster:
"Looking back, we made mistakes in the first collection that taught us invaluable lessons about fabric and design integration."
(22:50)

Sarah Foster:
"Being obsessive about fabric and fit is crucial because any flaws directly impact our customers' satisfaction."
(22:50)

They underscore the importance of continuous learning and partnering with experts to refine their products and business operations.

---

Insights on the Fashion Industry (37:21 – 43:05)

Erin and Sarah share their perspectives on current trends and the evolving landscape of the fashion industry. They emphasize the shift towards quality, affordability, and authentic representation.

Sarah Foster:
"Our generation is balancing masculine and feminine styles, striving for authenticity without the pressure of exorbitant prices."
(37:21)

Erin Foster:
"We're not driven by luxury for its own sake but by creating clothes that feel good and fit well for everyday women."
(25:27)

They also touch upon the complexities of global manufacturing, discussing their strategies for sourcing fabrics and production internationally while maintaining quality and affordability.

---

Investment and Entrepreneurship Perspectives (49:00 – 51:11)

The sisters transition to discussing their roles as investors, highlighting what they seek in entrepreneurial ventures. They stress the importance of innovation, founder confidence, and dedication to building meaningful businesses over personal fame.

Sarah Foster:
"We look for innovation and founders who are confident and focused on building something people need, not just chasing personal trajectories."
(49:56)

Erin Foster:
"Red flags include founders more interested in personal fame than in the business's success and quality."
(49:59)

They advocate for supporting entrepreneurs who prioritize sustainable growth and product excellence over superficial metrics.

---

Final Thoughts and Conclusion (54:02 – 59:29)

In the concluding segment, Erin and Sarah discuss their relationship with social media, opting for authenticity over performative presence. They acknowledge its role in their success but emphasize the importance of staying true to themselves amidst the pressures of online visibility.

Erin Foster:
"Social media can feel performative, which detracts from being genuine. We focus on authenticity in our interactions and branding."
(54:03)

Sarah Foster:
"Our success isn't driven by social media alone but by genuine engagement and quality products."
(58:22)

Lauren Sherman wraps up the episode by congratulating the sisters on their achievements and encouraging listeners to follow their continued success in the fashion industry.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Erin Foster:
  "We are sisters who grew up in Los Angeles, and we went into entertainment. We did not go into Fashion."
  (07:36)

• Lauren Sherman:
  "Harvard Business School needs to do a case study on you all about your flywheel, because it doesn't. Most flywheels are total bullshit, but you actually have one."
  (09:36)

• Erin Foster:
  "Favorite Daughter represents how we dress and who we are. It's authentic and tailored to real women's needs."
  (25:27)

• Sarah Foster:
  "We look for innovation and founders who are confident and focused on building something people need, not just chasing personal trajectories."
  (49:56)

• Erin Foster:
  "Social media can feel performative, which detracts from being genuine. We focus on authenticity in our interactions and branding."
  (54:03)

---

Key Takeaways

1. Authenticity is Crucial: Erin and Sarah's commitment to genuine representation in their fashion line resonates strongly with their target audience, fostering loyalty and trust.

2. Strategic Partnerships: Collaborating with experienced partners like Centric Brands was pivotal in navigating the complexities of the fashion industry and scaling their business.

3. Continuous Learning: Early challenges provided valuable lessons in design and production, underscoring the importance of adaptability and knowledge acquisition in entrepreneurship.

4. Synergistic Flywheel: The interplay between their podcast, business ventures, and media presence creates a self-reinforcing system that drives growth and brand recognition.

5. Investment Philosophy: As investors, the sisters prioritize innovation, founder confidence, and dedication to building meaningful businesses over personal fame or superficial success metrics.

6. Balanced Use of Social Media: While acknowledging its role in their success, they advocate for authentic engagement over performative presence, maintaining their brand's integrity.

---

Conclusion

Erin and Sarah Foster's journey with Favorite Daughter exemplifies the power of authenticity, strategic collaboration, and a well-orchestrated flywheel in building a successful fashion brand. Their insights offer valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs in the fashion industry and beyond. As they continue to innovate and expand their ventures, their story serves as an inspiring blueprint for sustainable and meaningful business growth.

---

This summary captures the essence of the "Everybody Wants This" episode of Fashion People, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the discussions, insights, and triumphs shared by Erin and Sarah Foster.

Transcript

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[Lauren Sherman]

Hello and welcome to Fashion People. I'm Lauren Sherman, writer of Puck's Fashion and Beauty Memo Line Sheet, and today with me on the show is Erin and Sarah Foster. They're here to discuss the fast and furious success of their fashion line, Favorite Daughter, and believe me, plenty more. Before we get going, I wanted to remind you that if you like this podcast, you'll definitely love Puck, where I send an email called Line Sheet. If you're a fashion person, you get that reference. It's an original look at what's really going on inside the fashion and beauty industries. Line Sheet is scoopy, analytical and above all, fun. Along with me, a subscription to Puck gains you access to an unmatched roster of experts reporting on powerful people and companies in entertainment, media, sports, politics, finance, the art world, and much more. If you're interested listeners of Fashion people get a discount. Just go to Puck News fashion people to join Puck or start a free trial. Happy Friday, everyone. Hope you are gearing up for a long weekend. This week on Line Sheet, we've got it all. Rachel Strugatz is back with information about Blake Brown sales. So Blake Brown is Blake Lively's uniquely scented hair care line, which launched right around the time that movie that she did last year that I can never remember the name of launched. And it's been. It's been a tricky, a tricky near year of business. Rachel also had a great Estee Lauder scoop. I have a very fun speculative piece on the Vanity Fair head of content hunt or editorial, whatever it is. It's definitely not the title's not editor in chief. I also have a bunch of intel from Europe, Luisa Villaroma. Some rumors that were going around that weren't true, and also just some intel about generally how luxury is doing and what might happen next in the market. Sarah Shapiro is back with the week that was in shopping. It was a very busy week. She's talking about all the spectacle. Spectacle. There's a lot of smart glasses happening right now. And she has an interesting take on that. Never thought I'd say interesting and spectacles in one sentence, but it's true. She is also getting in a little bit into Everlane's rebrand. I think we'll explore that more in the coming weeks. There's just a whole lot going on. I hope you enjoy this interview with Aaron and Sarah. I think many of you watched Nobody wants this. And many of you shop favorite daughter. And many of you listen to their podcast. And that's what we call flywheel people. And we talk about the flywheel. We talk about a bunch of the business y stuff, their investment thesis.

[Erin Foster]

It's.

[Lauren Sherman]

It's a really fun episode. I hope you enjoy it. Erin Foster and Sarah Foster, welcome to Fashion People.

[Erin Foster]

Thank you. Thanks for having us.

[Sarah Foster]

Thanks for being.

[Lauren Sherman]

Thanks for being here. I'm so excited to have this conversation to start. What'd you all have for breakfast this morning?

[Erin Foster]

Ooh, Okay. I made a smoothie with my sakara greens in it and took it down to the gym with me. And then now I'm having my coffee.

[Sarah Foster]

I had a large cup of black coffee with about five, four spoons of sugar.

[Lauren Sherman]

Very nutritious.

[Sarah Foster]

I thought about lying. I thought about being like, I had avocado toast because I had that yesterday. But I was like, can't lie. I'm not gonna lie to Lauren.

[Lauren Sherman]

You know, I would say that that is. Might be the most fun thing that anyone has had for breakfast since coffee with.

[Erin Foster]

With sugar.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes.

[Sarah Foster]

It's not normal. I. I don't recommend it. I always say, don't ever do what I'm doing. I tell our audience that all the time. Don't.

[Erin Foster]

But Sarah also does a thing where she's like, I just drink black coffee, which is, like, a very cool thing to say, you know? But then she doesn't. Then she adds the part about four spoons of sugar, which doesn't make it a black coffee.

[Lauren Sherman]

True. But what I would say is I feel like sugar is such the enemy in our culture at the moment that anyone who uses sugar and is open about it, I respect and appreciate. Because it's all in moderation. Right. Four spoonfuls.

[Sarah Foster]

Well, it's organic. I'll say. The caveat is it is organic. And then the other thing to that is, I. You got to pick your poison. You know, for me, I need coffee with my sugar. But then I'm not, you know, eating donuts at night, so it's like, yes, you pick your poison.

[Lauren Sherman]

I agree. I feel this way. I'm always like, I'm gonna save. I buy a skinny margarita so I can have dessert. Save for the chocolate.

[Erin Foster]

Exactly.

[Lauren Sherman]

So we're gonna talk about many things today. And prior to recording, we were chatting about our mutual friend Claire, Claire Mazer, who, when I told them I was going to interview you all, and she had been the one to suggest it in the first place, but she mentioned there's this word in Startup universe, flywheel, that is used often. And she said, you know, they are really the best example of a flywheel that works and that actually exists and is a legit thing. So I want to talk about flywheels. It's. That is a word that has never been used on fashion people before. But we are really here to talk about Favorite Daughter, your incredibly successful fashion brand. And maybe let's start with everyone who's listening to this knows who you are, but if they don't explain who you are and what you all do, you're not a married couple. You're sisters.

[Erin Foster]

We're sisters. We're not a lesbian couple.

[Sarah Foster]

I don't think everyone knows who we are, that's for sure. So let's tell him who we are, Aaron.

[Erin Foster]

Okay. Well, I would say that we are sisters who grew up in Los Angeles, and we went into entertainment. We did not go into Fashion. I am a TV writer, and Sarah and I are producing partners. And we had a show together, like, what, 12 years ago or something that we created together called Barely Famous. That was really our first thing we ever did together, working together. Because Sarah had been an actress before, I was trying to be a writer. And we put our heads together, together and created this mockumentary style show that was a comedy. And it really changed our. The path of our careers, and that was really the trajectory that we were on. And then it kind of pivoted to some other things. We got into business, we got into investing, and eventually we had this amazing opportunity to start a clothing brand with our financial partner, Centric Brands, and the rest is history.

[Lauren Sherman]

And you also have a podcast.

[Erin Foster]

We have a podcast.

[Lauren Sherman]

And so this is where we'll talk more about the Flywheel.

[Erin Foster]

Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

After we get.

[Sarah Foster]

Who doesn't have a. Who doesn't have a podcast? I mean, really, it's like everyone has a podcast. But we were. We felt like we were one of the last people to have a podcast. Our agent, Gene, who's incredible, was always like, you guys, you gotta. You gotta start a podcast. It will end up being sort of the nucleus of. Because it's really the only place you go to hear, really, Aaron and I. You know, social media's kind of, you know, a heightened version. Aaron's not even on social media anymore. So the podcast really has been this place where we've cultivated a real relationship with our listeners, who then become our favorite daughter customers who then, you know, buy the consumer brands that we're investors in who then go and watch. Nobody wants this. The show that Aaron wrote and I produced, it's. So that's the Flywheel. The flywheel is. It's all the same woman and man. We do have male listeners also. It's really the same consumer who's. Who's participating in. In all the things.

[Lauren Sherman]

So Harvard Business School needs to do a case study on you all about your flywheel, because it doesn't. Most fly wheels are total bullshit, but you actually have one.

[Sarah Foster]

Well, but can I say, though, we didn't sit down and go, what's our flywheel? That was never an intention. Like, truly, the flywheel really came out.

[Erin Foster]

Of, I would say, us trying to see what our career path should be. Right. Like, okay, I'm trying to write a show, but the show just didn't get picked up. So then this person comes to us and says, you know, Whitney Wolf comes to us in 2017 and is like, do you want to work At Bumble. Like, why? We don't know how to do that. We don't even know what that entails. And she's like, I just have a feeling that you guys know what women are looking for and you can speak to women. So she hires us, that sends us down this business path. And we're like, okay, maybe this is our path and maybe the TV stuff isn't going to work out for us. And I guess that has to be okay. And then we get the favorite daughter opportunity. We think, well, this is a very cool path for us. And I think that, you know, it's a. It's all about follow through, right? Because you can start a million things. But what Sarah and I have been really lucky with is that we have partnered in every one of the things that we're talking about. We've partnered with really smart people who teach us how to be in that lane and how to do it well. We don't. We can't pretend like we would have known how to start an investment fund and run it by ourselves. We have a partner, Phil Schwartz, who teaches us and who guides us all the time. We didn't start Favorite Daughter by ourselves in our garage. We would not have been able to turn it into what it is today at all. We don't understand the supply chain or we didn't at that point, Right. So we have a partner who teaches us those things. Like, we have a great producer on our podcast who teaches us how to keep it consistent and, and how to get, you know, we have an ad salesperson. It's not like we're doing this on our own. We know how to partner with the right people so that we can have the follow through so they can be successful.

[Lauren Sherman]

I think the idea of not knowing, knowing what you don't know is so important in business, 100%.

[Sarah Foster]

I would also say, too, that there would also be no Favorite Daughter if we hadn't have done this collaboration with this T shirt company. And when this T shirt company asked, hey, do you guys want to do a collaboration? I'm not going to lie, I sort of felt like that feels small. That feels so niche. Like, that came at a time where I was kind of like, who am I? What am I? What am I even doing? I'm doing this little T shirt collaboration where I'm not going to make any money. No one's going to see it. I'm not a designer. Who am I? And without that little collaboration, there would be no favorite daughter. So it also, I would say, not only has it been this, this. This very not straight line of taking new opportunities, but also doing things that you aren't quite sure where it's going to lead, doing things that don't have a clear path to. To that thing that you think you want to be doing or should be doing? Does that make sense?

[Lauren Sherman]

For sure. And let's talk about that. That collaboration and what it was and how it did end up becoming a multimillion dollar company.

[Sarah Foster]

Well, that came. That came through, Aaron.

[Erin Foster]

Well, okay. Do you know this company? They're called Suburban Riot. Do you know who they are? They made like the. The kale sweatshirt.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Erin Foster]

Okay. They made this kale sweater the Beyonce wore in a music video. Sorry. It kale looked like Yale. I would, like, wear their stuff sometimes. So they reached out to me and they were like, would you ever want to do a little collaboration? I was like, sure. Do you mind throwing a bone to my sister and, like, letting her be a part of it? And they're like, yeah, sure, Sarah can be a part of it. Sarah and I go to, like, Hugo's and we signed a contract that, like, without even a lawyer. We were just like, sure, let's do a T shirt collab.

[Sarah Foster]

No, we didn't have a lawyer. We literally. She's not exaggerating. They were like, okay, here are the papers. We're like, cool sign.

[Erin Foster]

We didn't, like, talk to anyone about it. We just thought, like, I don't know, sure, we'll do a T shirt collab. Like, we just didn't think that much about it. We liked the brand. They made sweatshirts and T shirts that said cute things. So then we came up with all these different phrases and things to put on them. I really thought that my ideas were going to do really well. I had, like, dying alone with a cat on it. I had, like, currently peaking. I had like, like undiscovered model. And Sarah was like, why don't we do one that says favorite daughter? Because we had this LLC with our sisters who called favorite daughter because our sisters and I had to put together this LLC for something for our dad. So we. I came up with his Name Favorite daughter 10 years before, just as a joke.

[Sarah Foster]

10 years. Yeah.

[Erin Foster]

Right? Every.

[Lauren Sherman]

Every favorite daughter.

[Erin Foster]

It's me. It's me.

[Lauren Sherman]

Do people ask you that every single interview?

[Erin Foster]

Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes.

[Sarah Foster]

But the difference is Aaron's really excited to be the favorite daughter. I don't care. I'm like, I don't. I really don't.

[Erin Foster]

Why? You're not the favorite because you know, I'm like.

[Sarah Foster]

I'm like, I got my own problems. I can't worry, you know?

[Erin Foster]

Anyway, so then Sarah's like, I want to do this shirt, and they write favorite daughter with a heart on it. And I was like, I don't love it. It's, like, cutesy. I don't know. It's like, so. Like, feels so junior. I don't know. And. But we were doing, like, 20 things, so we did it. That fucking shirt.

[Sarah Foster]

Oh, can you swear on this, Aaron?

[Lauren Sherman]

Oh, yeah. You could swear.

[Sarah Foster]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Erin Foster]

This is an NPR one shirt sold. $2 million. $2 million of. Of income from that one shirt. And we realized that parents were buying it for, like, you know, three or four of them at a time. They'd buy them for all their kids, and then they'd wear them in a photo. It was like a. Like a kitschy thing, and it became a thing. So then from that, this woman, Jen. Was it Jen or Susie? Jen, I think. Jen Stender Hawkins. She who runs our company now, Favorite daughter with us. She DM me. And she was like.

[Sarah Foster]

She DM'd both of us.

[Erin Foster]

Yeah. But I was the only one who responded.

[Sarah Foster]

I didn't.

[Erin Foster]

I didn't respond and said, I have this idea. I feel like we should create you guys.

[Sarah Foster]

Someone's, like, typing or something. I'm, like, hearing crazy, crazy things in my head.

[Lauren Sherman]

I got a text. I'm sorry. I apologize.

[Sarah Foster]

I don't care. I'm just saying. Is this gonna be okay for sound?

[Lauren Sherman]

Oh, yeah, no.

[Sarah Foster]

Okay. Okay, fine.

[Lauren Sherman]

But I won't do it again. That was rude. I'm sorry.

[Erin Foster]

I guess I was. My story is, like, really boring.

[Lauren Sherman]

No, very good. I just got, like, an annoying text that I was like, well, I have to. I have to deal with this, but I don't know.

[Sarah Foster]

Please. I literally don't care. But, Aaron, you got to land the plane. You're really dragging this story out, clearly.

[Erin Foster]

The point is, is that Jen's tender Hawkins DM'd me and Sarah and said, I think that there's really smart IP in favorite daughter, and I think that it could be its own brand, its own fashion brand. They took us out to lunch, and, I mean, it's not something that had ever occurred to us before, but these women were working at Centric. They were running brands like Joe's and Herve Leger, and they had, like, you know, they had a history of. Of taking brands, and, you know, those were brands were making a lot of money, and they wanted to do something.

[Lauren Sherman]

They had.

[Erin Foster]

Had this idea to have a talent facing brand, but they didn't know who to do it with. And it all kind of merged for them. And they thought, like, we want to test this out. So they really campaigned with Jason Rabin, who started Centric to say, like, trust us, we think that this could work.

[Sarah Foster]

And his daughter, actually, Morgan was like, no, no, they're good. Like, I think that it would be a good idea. But Centric had never incubated a brand from, like, from start to. We were sort of like a case study in a lot of ways. And I remember saying to Aaron, I don't get it. Like, we're not fashion designers. We don't even care really about fashion. Who's going to buy clothes from us. I swear to God. I remember thinking, this is a very bad idea.

[Lauren Sherman]

Well, it ended up being a good idea really quickly on Centric. So it's one of these brand management firms, which means you mentioned, like, they don't usually incubate brands. They take brands like Joe's Jeans that already are very well established and manage them.

[Sarah Foster]

They're a big licensing. They do a lot of licenses too.

[Lauren Sherman]

So when they say, so you think this is a bad idea, why did you say yes? And what were sort of how as people who maybe you don't feel like you care about fashion, but I would say maybe the better way to say it from my perspective is that you're not like obsessed with designer clothes or whatever. You just want to be comfortable.

[Erin Foster]

Right.

[Sarah Foster]

I guess the right way to say it would be we are not obsessed with the culture of, of the fashion business or the scene or the fashion shows. It's just, we respect it, but it's never been anything that we've felt like maybe we would have. We just never really felt a part of it, to be honest with you. We're not people that get invited to all those things. So at the time, it just wasn't anything that was on our mind. But what was on our mind is that we want to look and feel good, that we run in circles with people who do care about those things and are part of those things. So we want to look good, but we don't want to look good having to spend, you know, $5,000 on. On a jacket. So that was the hook. We were like, okay, what if the brand thesis is really us, is like, we want to look good, we want to feel good. We want to be in tailored clothes that are so nicely good quality fabrics, but for a price that, like, makes us feel okay.

[Lauren Sherman]

And why did you feel like Centric was the right partner because they were excited about it and wanted to do it with you? Or was it, what was it about them that made you feel like, okay, it's worth, worth taking this risk?

[Sarah Foster]

Well, it was their idea.

[Erin Foster]

It was their idea. There was no doing it without Centric. Many people advised us, just do this on your own. Like, why would you give up half of the business to somebody else? But we never even consider doing this on our own. Running a business is so hard and there are so many challenges that are always threatening to take you down. We were not in a position to take that on by ourselves without people who were experienced in this field and in this lane able to support us and guide us. So there was no doing it without Centric. If it wasn't going to be Centric, then we just weren't going to do it.

[Sarah Foster]

They also, it was a great meeting too. They were very clear. The vision was so clear for them. They just saw it. They saw it. They saw that combining Aaron and I with the IP with the name Favorite Daughter, it lends itself to so many categories. They saw it. We did not see it. I did not see it. Maybe Aaron saw it. I didn't see it, but they saw it. And, and that has served us well in all of the ventures that we have participated in. Teaming up with people who are clear and confident in the road.

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[Lauren Sherman]

So what year did you launch?

[Erin Foster]

2020. Great year.

[Lauren Sherman]

Which? Five years. It's amazing. It's amazing how, how well executed this all has been and how well it's fit into your flywheel and all that stuff, but. So you launched 2020. What does that first collection look like? What were the things that you all felt like? I'm sure they came to you and said these are the items that you should have. But what did you all feel like should be in this collection other than the sweatshirt and the merch element?

[Sarah Foster]

Well, it started as like, what's missing from Sarah's closet? What's missing from Aaron's closet? Aaron and I have really different style. Like, we have different style. Half the time I wear things. She's like, you look terrible. You know, like, we don't necessarily.

[Lauren Sherman]

I'm like, yes. I'm shaking my head yes. And I'm like, what? No, I didn't do that.

[Sarah Foster]

So that's how it started. But this was the end of 2020, and then everything got started. Stuck overseas. So then we pivoted to a masked hoodie.

[Erin Foster]

Yeah, that was like, we really launched with that. That was like a big thing. But. But also, I mean, I look back at our first collection and I'm, like, horrified, you know, because there's a lot that we had to learn working with Centric, and a lot that Centric had to learn working with us. For instance, we had some ideas that wouldn't necessarily make sense when you put them into practice. But Centric at the beginning was like, whatever Aaron and Sarah want, we want to implement. So I may have said, like, I want a dress with buttons down the front and, you know, cutouts on the side. I want it to be this material. Well, you know, each item of clothing has to have a fabric that makes sense. It has to have a cut that makes sense. The button has to make sense. The seam has to make sense. Everything goes together. And we were coming in flying blind. So we made some things that, like, looking back, we would never make that mistake today. You know what I mean? Like, we. We now have learned from them about how each garment has to work. I mean, Sarah's obsessed with fabrics, obsessed with knowing this has to have stretch and this has to have this, and this isn't going to be dyed properly. And those are things that we had to learn. So I look back and I'm like, you know, it was a real starter.

[Sarah Foster]

I am obsessive compulsive about fabric and fit because at the end of the day, Aaron and I are on the hook for things that don't work. We have a direct connection to our customer. They write us. They're going to write us and say, this is itchy. This is terrible. I just spent, you know, $250 of my hard earned money on this thing that you told me is great. It's itchy. So I. We think about that. Like, we talk to our girls and nothing makes us happy. We know that we're in the price point where people are spending money that they have saved up for. We know that we. And we didn't realize, honestly, that we would also have the girl that can wear anything she wants. That's been the most surprising thing to me is like we have the girl who buys luxury, you know, Dior, Celine, all these things. And she's writing us going, I'm not buying the Celine belts anymore. I'm only wearing the favorite daughter belts. That is something I think we did not, I did not think would happen.

[Lauren Sherman]

Well, in some ways it's like you all are the, the proto of that. You, as you said, like you hang in circles where people wear a lot of designer clothes. You have access to, to designer clothes, but you are like, I don't want to spend. The price value equation for a lot of those clothes is not computing for people anymore. And so they want something that feels good. Like you said, quality. But like that doesn't seem insane to spend that much money.

[Erin Foster]

Also, I think that something else that really works for Favorite Daughter is that some of the talent front facing brands, they don't echo who that person is out in the world. And for Sarah and I, Favorite Daughter really represents how we dress and who we are as people. This is what we're wearing to a fancy dinner with our fashion friend and it's what we're wearing day to day. It's what I'm wearing to work. It's genuinely the clothes that we, it's like really authentic to who we are. And I think other people may have gotten into it because they want to make money or they, they're seeing like their Forbes cover way down the line. They're not sitting there in the fittings obsessively like, like we are meticulously making the clothes that we want to wear. Because Sarah and I, while we might not, you know, present to people as like the everyday girls, we really do function in a lot of ways. Like that girl, we know who the girl is that's like 27 in her first job in New York City and she wants the blazer that she sees, you know, on a the Kate Runway, but she can't afford it. Like that girl has more in common with us than we do with our fashion friends. So we understand that girl.

[Sarah Foster]

It's true. I mean, Lauren, you know, we have never, and this isn't just like us trying to, to inhabit some sort of personality. We have never at any point in our lives been the girl who walks into Louis Vuitton and buy something. I mean, it's just, it's just never happened. It's just we've never been that. And by the way, there's nothing wrong with that person. It's just not who we are.

[Erin Foster]

We have a mom who, like, shops on Montana. You know, like, that's our vibe.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna ask. Do you think that has to do with just your personal tastes, or do you think that's a. That your parents.

[Erin Foster]

I think it's a value thing. Our mom is, like, very chic, and she shops on Montana, and that's where she gets.

[Sarah Foster]

Explain what Montana is. Aaron, for the list.

[Erin Foster]

Sorry. Well, Montana is a street in Santa Monica, and it's got a lot of linens, and it's, like, earthy, and it's. It's like small shops. You know, there's not, like, big brands. Brands there. And she. She does, like, a lot of high, low. You know, she might want to get a nice bag for herself that she'll wear for 10 years, and it'll be her favorite bag. But she just puts herself together in a very accessible way, and she's not a person. Like, I think something that she really instilled in us is. Is not presenting in a showy way or a materialistic way. She. She never was impressed with the women who were, like, bags, shoes, jewelry. Like, that's just not her energy. So we didn't grow up in a house that was focused on that.

[Sarah Foster]

I mean, don't get me wrong, though. I love my Manolos, and I love. You know, I wear a row coat that I bought on sale at the Outnet. Okay. And I'm obsessed with it. I'm obsessed. It's the chicest. It's the scuba coat. It's so chic. I look on Moda when Moda's doing their 60, 70 off. That's when I'm gonna buy a coat. Don't get me wrong. I want a row coat. I want a Kate dress. I for sure do. They're so Chicago. There's just something about spending $2,500 on a dress. I cannot. Maybe if I was, like, a billionaire, I think differently, but I don't think so. Like, I just cannot wrap my head around it. I don't know if I feel, like, guilt. It just doesn't feel like how I want to spend my. My money that I work really hard for.

[Lauren Sherman]

I think that is a sentiment that a lot of people feel, including some billionaires who are like, yeah, I can be. Buy all this stuff, but it's kind of dumb. It just starts to feel dumb. Yeah, at some point.

[Sarah Foster]

But I don't want to act like we don't love nice things. Like, we just did a commercial for Chase, which was Like a big, you know, it's going to be like a national commercial. It's a big deal. Yeah, it's a big deal.

[Erin Foster]

Right? Way to drop that in there, Sarah. Like that.

[Sarah Foster]

And our sister Jordan is our stylist. And I said to her, I was like, oh, I'll probably get to keep, like, what I wear, right? She's like, well, yeah. I go, there's a Gabriella Hearst dress I've been dying for, but, like, I'll never go buy it, you know, So I. But I got that Gabrielle stress. So we do, like designer clothes. It's just a. You get what I'm saying?

[Lauren Sherman]

Totally. I. I think it's a valid point of view and helps explain why this has resonated. So when did you all. Because the first time I realized it was going to be a thing was, do you know this woman, Madeline Hill? She does this podcast called the Sports Gossip Podcast, but I've known her since she was in college. She's just like a very interesting. She was like very early social media editor type person, and she was a former teen model. And she, when she was like in grad school or something, she was wearing a lot of your stuff and kept saying, favorite daughter is so good on her social media. And I thought Madeline, who understands the fashion world, was involved in the fashion world, had access to these kinds of clothes, is buying this stuff that it's gonna be a thing. And when did you all start to feel that word of mouth element of it, like DMS on social media, that sort of thing?

[Erin Foster]

It's a good question.

[Sarah Foster]

It is a good question.

[Erin Foster]

There was a point where, I don't know what the point where. The point is, but there was a point where we went from kind of desperate to get people to wear our clothes to people asking to wear the clothes. You know, us trying to push it, where people asking for it, like, us, you know, pushing our friends to like, hey, you know, get this pair of jeans to our friends saying, like, hey, I. I like those jordy jeans. Like, can you send them to me in my size? There just became like a shift from us, you know, wanting it to be a thing to it being a thing. And, And I think it's a slow progression. I mean, I'm sure you're familiar with, like, sometimes there could be a micro influencer, like a random mom that has 3,000 followers and, like, she'll sell out a trench coat for us, you know, and then there's going to be like a person with 20 million followers and, like, nothing.

[Sarah Foster]

I think I remember Lauren Santo Domingo posted lsd, posted herself in her dentist's office wearing the favorite trouser. And that was like, whoa. You know, LSD is not trying to do favors for pe. She is a businesswoman. She is the chicest. She's not going out into the world wearing a pair of trousers for a. For a. You know.

[Lauren Sherman]

No, she's not going to be nice to you guys if she doesn't.

[Erin Foster]

She's.

[Lauren Sherman]

She's not going to. She does. Feels no obligations to be nice to you. Yes.

[Sarah Foster]

I mean, she's a nice person.

[Lauren Sherman]

She's a very nice person.

[Sarah Foster]

Yeah. And will always be supportive and all those things. But there's a very big difference in. Because early on, I would ask her advice, and there's a very big difference between. Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, that. You know, looking at sketches and then actually wearing the garment out into the world in New York City. So I remember when I saw that, I was like, like, whoa, that is crazy. And it's not like a T shirt. It is a pair of pants.

[DSW]

You know?

[Erin Foster]

Like, I also think that, like, I don't know how other people approach their businesses, but Sarah and I are not. There's no point where Sarah and I become hands off. There's no point where we go, okay, it kind of runs itself. It's never gonna run itself. Sarah and I are in every fitting now. I've not been as present with the TV show lately, so Sarah, like, really holds up our, you know, her end, and she'll send me pictures and stuff. But we are in every single fitting, looking at every single thing, going, like, we thought I was going to hit the ankle, but it's definitely hitting the calf. And that looks weird. And we think that that seam doesn't look right there, and that fabric doesn't feel like we thought it was going to feel like. We are obsessive. And I don't see a point where that changes. We had thought when we started it, like, we'll be in the first few fittings, then we'll sort of let it run. But the truth is, like, we have to be hands on because it's us and it's. And we. We're gonna care about it more than anyone else.

[Sarah Foster]

Not only is it us, but this is it. If this doesn't work, we're not gonna go start another fashion brand, you know? Like, it's like, this is it. And we look. We treat it like that every day. This is our only opportunity is how we look at this. It's like our dad used to always tell us, aaron, I'll probably butcher it. But, like, the microphone comes around one time, you know, you better grab it. And this is our one time in this lane. Yeah, we'll.

[Erin Foster]

We'll do other things.

[Lauren Sherman]

Wow. Words of wisdom.

[Sarah Foster]

I know, I know, but it's true. It's true and true. And so we do not take this opportunity for granted for one second. We know how lucky we are to have found the partners we have to be in this opportunity. Because to echo what Aaron said earlier, if we were doing this on our own, we would not be a profitable business. The only way that we are profitable is because we have linked up with Centric, who allows us to utilize all their other things that don't even touch our P L, which makes us have a profitable business. I mean, a lot goes into having a profitable business, but we just don't take it for granted. And I think that, that when you sit in your gratitude, not to sound cheesy, but I think we now know it works.

[Erin Foster]

Yeah, we're not like coasting like we. We feel excited to be here. Lucky to be here, grateful to be here. And we're not gonna it up.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah.

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[Lauren Sherman]

Speaking of not fucking it up, what has been the biggest, like, what are the. I assume denim is a big category for you, but what, what are the, like, styles that have really hit with people that you feel like are emblematic of this thing that you're building?

[Sarah Foster]

Actually, denim is not as big for us as you would think.

[Lauren Sherman]

Interesting.

[Sarah Foster]

Like, we want it to Be bigger. I mean, we want to start investing into denim campaigns and things like that because our denim is really good. But as you know, denim is tough. The customer is married to their denim. It's very hard.

[Erin Foster]

Our denim is so good. It's all I want. I mean, obviously, I love it so much. It's so good. But we. We are working to make it a bigger category. It's really. Suiting, I would say, is the biggest category for us. And. And coming up with creative suiting, like, we have something called the Phoebe bustier, and it's like suiting, but it's strapless, and it holds you in, and it has buttons down the front, and it has a matching trouser and a matching blazer. And I do think that that item, it kind of broke us out of this. You know, there's like a. There's a crossroad between suiting and fashion. And I think right now, kind of like in the 80s, like, suiting is really fashionable, and it's fashionable to wear a blazer to the office. It's not dorky. It's cool.

[Sarah Foster]

And so some blazers are very dorky. Ours are just really chic.

[Erin Foster]

Sure. But the concept of wearing a blazer is. Is in a good place right now, and we are really playing into the cool working woman and how she wants to dress at work and then also being able to we that out at night and still feel cute. So that's been, like, a real sweet spot for us.

[Sarah Foster]

We always say we want to do suiting kind of different, like, with a little bit of a feminine twist. Like. Yes. Having your oversized blazers with maybe a little shoulder pad and a tailored waist. But then also, we've been leaning into skorts. So, like, mini mini skirts, you know, in a suiting fabric. Mini skirts with a. With a short underneath it with a little vest and an oversized blazer. And we're doing those in, like, colors in an electric blue, in yellow. So girls. I feel like a lot of girls are in their sort of feminine era, so we're giving them suiting with a little bit of a feminine twist. And that's selling really well for us.

[Lauren Sherman]

Do you all feel. And I. I actually don't know how old you are. My guess is late 30s. I'm not gonna. You don't have to say it. I don't know if you all. I don't usually ask people how old they are. I don't like asking personal questions. But do you all feel, like. You mentioned feminine. Do you feel like there's also something with your generation that is about, like, being. Looking, like, a little sexier than you did in your 20s.

[Erin Foster]

Sarah and I have very different takes on this. Sarah's very into sexy, and I'm not as into sexy. Or I guess what. What is sexy is a little different to us because I feel sexier when I'm wearing kind of layered, drapey things. But I do think that our generation of women are struggling to figure out the masculine and the feminine, the working mom with the housewife. Like, we are trying to figure out that balance of where we sit, because there's been a lot. There was a lot of pressure on our generation as women to do everything and do it at, like, a very high level. And so we're always trying to figure out what that balance is.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah. What about you, Sarah? What do you think?

[Sarah Foster]

I don't know, you guys. I mean, can I just be honest? I don't. I don't know that I even think about it. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe there's. As you get older, you care less and less how people view you. You know, I'm actually in my 40s, and I wear crop tops, and I wear, you know, a dress with, like, a high slit in it. And where some people might be like, oh, God, like, act your age. Like, I literally do not care. Like, I work out like a psycho. I'm really healthy. I take a lot of supplements. I'm more fit now than I was in my 20s. I didn't care about my body. I chain smoked. I was skinny, but I was. I didn't lift weights. You know, I was. I wasn't healthy in my 20s and in my 40s, I feel, I think, a lot better about myself in so many ways. I feel better about myself mentally more than anything, you know? So I don't know. I. I just don't really care what people say anymore. I mean, I do, but I don't.

[Lauren Sherman]

You know, it's funny you mentioned that being in your 40s and wearing what you want and then also skorts, because I do think skorts are having a real moment. So the fact that you all are just, like, understand that and already making that stuff is great, but I had a conversation with a friend of mine. I'm 40. I'm gonna be 43. And my friend is, I think, 45. And I. I. There was a skort that I really liked, and she was like, I can't. I'm too old to wear that. And I was like, I'm not too old to wear that.

[Sarah Foster]

No. But I don't think I'd wear just a mini skirt with nothing under it. Like, I don't know. I just. I've never been a person that wears really short tights. I think. I just. I don't know. Like, I just. We're not big leg people, you know, I don't.

[Erin Foster]

I don't know.

[Sarah Foster]

But the, the. When you have a short. Under the mini skirt, you just feel a little better. At least I do.

[Lauren Sherman]

Maybe I'll try the Favorite Daughter skort. I. I'm not. I have. I'm. My legs are the only part of my body that I'm not that I feel comfortable with. So I've always been like, it's fine because I'm gonna wear like a big T shirt with the skirt. But I just like the. I think this skort is so cute.

[Sarah Foster]

No, it's really so kicky and with an oversized blazer.

[Lauren Sherman]

It's, it's.

[Sarah Foster]

It's a vibe.

[Lauren Sherman]

So let's discuss how favorite daughter. Because since Favorite Daughter launched five years ago a it's been incredibly successful. Very successful for Centric. I bet they're looking at you and thinking, wow. I mean, they don't have part. You're. You all are very special. So that's part of the reason been so successful. But since then, I mean, you have this podcast that's very successful. Nobody wants this has become a phenomenon. You have this, as we were talking before, this startup Flywheel that means basically nothing to most people. You have created a Flywheel. Tell me the ecosystem of how all this works together and sells more stuff and builds your global business that you are creating.

[Erin Foster]

It works. It works very well together in a way that we didn't even know was going to happen. You know, like when I was taking time away from Favorite Daughter to work on the TV show, the TV show hadn't come out yet. I had no idea what was going to happen. Right. I knew it was taking up a lot of my time. I knew that I wasn't able to be in fittings. And we would do fittings sometimes. So four times a year we do proto reviews where it's like, you got to see it in person, you got to feel it. It's important. And so the whole office from downtown would come to the writer's room last year and we would do 8am proto reviews with a model. And then the writers would come into the room at 10am and like see a model walking around changing in the bathroom. And we were trying to like get it all done. And I'm, like, so grateful with how much everyone was accommodating to my schedule. And I was just feeling guilty that it was taking me away from the business. When the show came out, you know, there's not a ton of Favorite Daughter in the show because there's a few reasons for that. Disney, which is 20th, which is our studio, they've got very serious like. Like, you know, legal boundaries about any kind of quid pro quo stuff. And so the costume designer, she pulled Favorite Daughter. If she liked Favorite Daughter, she paid the, you know, discounted rate that she pays for any other brand, brought it to the talent. Anything that they liked in fittings and that they wanted to wear, great. If they don't want to wear it, great, there's no, like, pushing of it. So I didn't really think it was going to have a big effect on Favorite Daughter. And then when the show came out and it was a hit just by osmosis, it, like, completely blew up our sales in the best way possible. And I was like, okay, well, it makes sense that I took so much time away. You're welcome. I didn't realize it was gonna be a good thing.

[Sarah Foster]

And by the way, we gain listeners on the podcast because people kept going, oh, the Real Life podcast is the world's first podcast. That is nothing I ever anticipated either.

[Erin Foster]

No. So all of it is. It's not like we're going like, oh, wow, this happened without us meaning for it to. It's just that we focus on each lane individually and try to be as present and. And do as well as possible in whatever lane we're in at that time. And then it sort of has like a, like, unintentional synergy between all of these things. That's great. Like, Sarah's the one who kind of came up with this idea when we were having a conversation with Booth at Women's Wear Daily where she was like, you know, the girl who's watching the TV show is wearing Favorite Daughter, is drinking Juliet wine, is reading 831 books, is, you know, listening to the podcast. It's like, she's the same girl.

[Lauren Sherman]

And.

[Erin Foster]

And that's. I don't know if it's a happy accident or if it's intentional somehow, but, like, it's amazing for us to witness.

[Sarah Foster]

I would say that the thing that was. Has been intentional with us is we made a decision when we took the Bumble position. You know, when we became creative directors of the company in 2017, we were like, we need to start coming from the place of, yes, we need to start taking opportunities when they come. We need to start betting on ourselves. We need to start taking risks. We need to start living. You know, for so long, when you're. When you're a struggling actress or a struggling writer, every day you were at the mercy of someone else's decision. Are you good enough? Will they pick you? You know, and when you live like that. I lived like that my entire 20s. And then up until honestly, like, 33 years old, I guess we started.

[Lauren Sherman]

We.

[Sarah Foster]

We created Barely Famous when I was 33, I guess. Yeah. And that is when things change for us, when we bet on ourselves. And it's been a long ride. This is not some, like, overnight situation. But yes, we did not sit there with a Ouija board going like, ooh, like, let's have this flywheel. And let's. That wasn't the plan.

[Erin Foster]

And favorite daughter, when we were focusing on it in Covid when it launched, I was honestly feeling self conscious that I wasn't a writer anymore. You know, I was like, maybe my tv, My TV career is not going to happen, and maybe that's okay. Maybe I'm going to be. You know, it wasn't my dream to have a clothing brand. It was just this, like, cool thing that came into our lives that I really enjoyed. But was it, like, the thing I was put on this earth to do? Like, I was meant to be a writer? Like, I felt that pole inside of me to be a writer, you know, I felt like I was kind of abandoning that. And so the fact that they can merge now is like the ultimate success for me.

[Lauren Sherman]

And it feels like you all are not. I see a lot of people can get a little too myopic and too focused on this thing. Needs to point A, needs to get me to point B, needs to get me to point C. And it does feel like whatever you all are working on, you put your everything into it. And that's part of the reason that it all has come together. Like you said, Erin, about you, you still felt the ambition to have success as a writer. And I will say you all grew up here. The thing that is craziest to me about this industry, Hollywood, and living here as someone who works outside of it, is the, like, you just don't know. Everybody's just waiting for decades for something to happen. I can't imagine operating like that. So it takes a lot of patience, but it does feel like you took hold of your own destiny in some way, but at the same time didn't let the like tiny, tiny little details of how that you were gonna get there, hang you up and like, drag you down.

[Erin Foster]

Well, you have to have a certain amount of faith, you know that, like, I'm also really comfortable with failure. Like, I'm used to it and I'm like, you know what if this doesn't work? That has to be okay. Everything has to be okay. Like, you can't put all your eggs in one basket. I remember when I finished the Nobody wants this and I finished editing it, I looked at it and I was like, I can't tell if this is good or not. I think my friends will make fun of me for it. And that's all I can say. I think they will make fun of me for it. And that's all I know. And if it fails, then I tried. I really tried. And I put my all into it. And I think that that is kind of how you have to approach things because you have to take the risk and be willing to for it to not work.

[Sarah Foster]

And also, if you have friends who are going to make fun of you for anything, I think that's. You need to get some new friends. But that is honestly, like in la, it is true though.

[Erin Foster]

It.

[Sarah Foster]

People are so judgmental. And that is something that Aaron and I have dealt with. You know how many people talk about us when we took the bumble position? Like, yeah, I'm sure so many people talk about like, oh, these, they're gonna go take this tech job. And then like, what do you see? Like a couple years later, everyone's looking for a different brand to, you know, be the chief creative officer for the chief whatever. And I'm not saying we started that trend, but we've taken a lot of when. When we started doing barely famous people, like, oh, what are they doing? Blah, blah, blah, you know, and then all of a sudden people are like, oh, like, how do we create a barely famous. So we kind of just keep our head down. We know people talk shit because that's what people do. But you know, what we've realized. And it's not like I've never talked. Of course I have. But I. I think that. So you hope that I've talked shit? No, but listen, you know, this wor. This world that we're all sort of living in or circle hovering over is just judgmental and jealous, and it's a huge bummer, which is why my circle is small. Like, I really only surround myself now with people who are happy for my wins, you know, and unfortunately, not everybody is.

[Lauren Sherman]

Well, I'm Happy for your wins. I love it. And my last question for you all is, you're also investors in different companies. What do you. At this point, you've been doing this. You've been working together and building businesses for, what, 15 years?

[Sarah Foster]

Not that long. Not that long. I mean, barely famous. I was, you know, I don't know, like, 11. Yeah, 11 years.

[Lauren Sherman]

10 years.

[Sarah Foster]

Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

What do you see right now in entrepreneurship or brand building that you think is exciting? What are you looking for as investors? Like, what. What do you. When. When you meet a founder, like, what do you all think? Okay, that person has it, or I, I want to support this person. Attempt at having it.

[Sarah Foster]

I would say there needs to be some sort of innovation in what we're looking at. You always have to look at who else is doing what you're trying to do in your space. You also want a founder to be really clear and confident in what they're building, because as an investor, like, you can't feel confident in somebody who isn't confident in what they're doing. So that's.

[Lauren Sherman]

That's.

[Sarah Foster]

That's really huge. I think women's.

[Erin Foster]

Ha.

[Sarah Foster]

Yeah.

[Erin Foster]

I was gonna say, also for us, you know, there's a lot of red flags with founders these days who are thinking about their own trajectory more than they're thinking about the business. And as we all know, it's really hard to run a business. It's not glamorous, and you have to be really smart and really focused. And if you have a publicist already and you're looking to get invited to certain parties or get your self on the COVID of something because you want to be a known founder, that is a huge red flag to us because we live in a time right now where founders are more visible than they ever have been. And so a lot of founders get really distracted by that, and they're really, like, thinking about being whatever quote a founder is. And I don't know what being a quote founder is. It's just a person with an idea and a business that you have to run properly. So seeing that distraction, seeing, like, you know, we live in a time right now where everyone's obsessed with profit, and profit can. Can be the. At the detriment of the quality of the thing that you're creating. So anyone who's focused more on that than they are with building something people need and want is a huge red flag.

[Lauren Sherman]

So final, final question. You've been in the fashion business for five years now. What is the, like, craziest or most surprising thing that you found operating. I mean, we're not even going to talk about tariffs and all that stuff.

[Erin Foster]

Please don't.

[Lauren Sherman]

But what is the thing that you're just like, I can't believe that it operates this way or I'm so shocked that we have to go through that process.

[Erin Foster]

I mean, it is crazy that you can't build, you can't make clothes in America that people can afford. You know, that's shitty. You know, we would love to make clothes in America that you. That can have affordable prices. It's. It's shitty.

[Sarah Foster]

But then on the flip side of that, I would say that in order to have a functioning global economy and global relations, certain countries just do certain things better. Like, I would rather have my pasta from Italy. I don't want my pasta from America. I want it from Italy. I want my watches from, from Switzerland. You know, so I actually, we can talk about tariffs. Even though I'm sure everyone is going to tell me, you know, say that we should not.

[Erin Foster]

But yeah, so what, so what surprised you then, Sarah?

[Sarah Foster]

You know what's interesting? I've. This is just something that is, is very technical, but it's, it's about fabrics. I did not realize that you can take the exact same fabric and, and make it have a completely different feel and texture by how you treat it. That is something very technical, but it's something that is mind blowing to me. I mean, I've learned so much about fabrics in this process. I'm obsessed with fabrics. I should probably do that full time for another business. I would probably do really well. But. But yeah, I mean, look, I'm going to be honest with you. We have been looking at other countries to. Do you want to be diversified?

[Erin Foster]

Right.

[Sarah Foster]

You don't. And we are diversified. We've always been diversified. We've always done denim in Mexico and we're looking to doing T shirts in Guatemala and we've been looking at Turkey for denim and Portugal for this. But you know, China does good suiting and China does great suiting, as we know. And I think China's gotten a bad rap. But they are meticulous. They are artisans. They are really good at what they do.

[Lauren Sherman]

100. I mean, it's where nice clothes are made now.

[Sarah Foster]

It is where nice. Yeah. This whole, like, made in China, like, it's totally wrong. The optics are wrong, the narrative is wrong. And the whole thing has been a huge bummer to say the least.

[Lauren Sherman]

Okay, one, one more last question. I know, I keep seeing that. But Aaron, you mentioned, or Sarah mentioned That, Aaron, you're not on social media anymore. Like, why? And also, how is that affecting your flywheel? Because you all are. Like, my husband knows who you are because of social media.

[Erin Foster]

That's cute.

[Lauren Sherman]

Not because of. Of barely famous. Even though it was a brilliant show, we, you know, we're not watching that channel.

[Erin Foster]

So I. I think Sarah talks in extremes sometimes. I am on social media, but I'm not very active in it. On it anymore. And I think for me, you know, we were just talking about this yesterday. We had Tinks on our podcast, and she's. She's really bright. And like, for me, personally, when I first got on social media, I was doing a sense of humor and bits that were unique to me. And now it just feels like it's what everybody does. Everybody's the same, you know, and it makes me feel like there's certain, like, dorky moms doing, like, funny bits that aren't really authentic to them that make me not really want to be a part of that group, you know? Like, I just. My sense of humor feels like. Like it's. I don't know. Everyone has. Everyone's, like, got a bit. Everyone's got a. Like, their angle, their stick. It feels very performative. And I honestly feel like it's kind of hard for me to remember how to be myself on social media now because, a. When there's a lot of people watching and commenting on everything that you say and do, it makes you change how you behave inherently. And I really like to be open and honest. And I don't know, things get take out of. Taken out of context, or it just. It's kind of taking the fun out of it for me.

[Sarah Foster]

Yeah, I just say whatever the hell I want to say, and I don't care. I mean, I. I don't want to say, like, I'm so laissez faire, like, oh, I don't care about it. Of course I care, but I just don't care.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, well, I think not caring what other people think is a big reason you all have been successful. I'm sure you care to an extent, but, like, you can't believe me. I'll.

[Sarah Foster]

I'll call someone. I'll be like, can you facetune my neck in that picture, please? Like, my neck looks insane. I care. Like, I care.

[Lauren Sherman]

I care about.

[Erin Foster]

She cares more about her neck than people's stances on, like, political takes, you know?

[Sarah Foster]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Lauren Sherman]

The neck thing is a. Is in. It's tough.

[Sarah Foster]

I didn't sleep on my stomach. Do you understand? I sleep on my stomach. And sleeping on your stomach, if you are a vain person, is. Guys, for, for longevity anti. You do not want to sleep.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah.

[Erin Foster]

Doesn't Kim Kardashian sleep like a vampire, like on her back with, like, without her head moving? You need to be doing that, Sarah.

[Sarah Foster]

I, I know you would think that I would because I care about that, but I just can't do it. I can't sleep if I'm not on my stomach.

[Erin Foster]

Yeah, no, but I mean, I think that we just, I think that growing up in the industry and in Los Angeles and in our circumstances that we're very used to people sort of having an assumption that they know who we are, how we live, what kind of people we are. And I think in our 20s we were very defensive about it and had felt like we had a lot to prove. And now in our 40s are kind of like, what are you gonna do? All I can do is like, when I was making the TV show, I wasn't going around saying to my friends, I'm making a show and this is who's in it and this is what's gonna happen with it. I. If the show's a success, they will know. I don't need to tell them. And if it's a failure, I'll be glad I didn't mention it.

[Sarah Foster]

But I also want to say that I have such respect for Brian.

[Erin Foster]

You didn't like let that land, you know, you just didn't let it land. It's like we had a moment. Me and Lauren were having a moment. She looked at me like, wow, Aaron, that was beautiful. And you just like jumped right in.

[Sarah Foster]

Sorry. Okay, well, it was beautiful. But I want to say about social media, like, I don't want to, I don't want to leave this out. That, that I don't take lightly for one second. That. That is not a huge driving force in the success of our brand. You know, I don't want to be like, oh, we're not on social media. Like, when I think about the Donna Karen's of the world and the brands from the 80s and 90s that did as well as they did and they had no social media, they had no click to buy swipe up. They just had to do it the old fashioned way. I'm in awe because when I see that something isn't selling well, I am the first person in my closet trying it on, showing it from all the angles, posting it, it is true to generate a big, big sell.

[Erin Foster]

I mean, literally this morning, Sarah texted our social chat and said the Paloma dress is selling. And they were like, yeah, because you were posting it. Like, it. It works. You know, it really does work.

[Sarah Foster]

Yeah. So I just, I want to remind people, listening, that that is a huge part of why favorite daughter is. Is successful. So, yeah, I'm grateful for social media. I'm very grateful for it.

[Lauren Sherman]

We love Instagram. Thank you, Eva Chen. Yeah. So I thank you both. This was so fun. You're such pros. Everyone. Also listen to Sarah and Aaron's podcast because it's. It's really professional.

[Erin Foster]

It's very unhinged.

[Sarah Foster]

No, no, ours is very unprofessional. What are you talking about? Yeah, no, I can't wait.

[Lauren Sherman]

I'm going to look at the. Oh, I'm looking at the Paloma dress right now. It's beautiful.

[Erin Foster]

By the way. Are we going to acknowledge that you and I are dressed the same?

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes, we have the same. So Aaron and I are both wearing, I believe. Are you wearing gray T shirt also and a black V neck sweater? It's. It's a real uniform of a certain generation.

[Erin Foster]

Yeah, it really is.

[Lauren Sherman]

And. And Sarah has on a great favorite.

[Sarah Foster]

Daughter sweatshirt and sweatpants. Yeah. Not cropped. Not cropped. Oversized.

[Lauren Sherman]

Cute.

[Sarah Foster]

Cute.

[Lauren Sherman]

Thank you both so much. You're awesome. Congrats on all of your success.

[Erin Foster]

Thank you, Lauren.

[Lauren Sherman]

We look forward to covering your fashion business forever.

[Erin Foster]

Awesome. Thanks for having us. We appreciate it.

[Sarah Foster]

Thank you. Thank you, Lauren.

[Lauren Sherman]

Fashion People is a presentation of Odyssey in partnership with Puck. This show was produced and edited by Molly Nugent. Special thanks to our executive producers, Puck co founder John Kelly, executive editor Ben Landy and director of editorial operations, Gabby Grossman. An additional thanks to the team at Odyssey, JD Crowley, Jenna Weiss Berman and Bob Tabador.