Fashion People: “Mission Possible” with Daphne Sebold

Podcast: Fashion People
Host: Lauren Sherman
Guest: Daphne Sebold, CEO of Sky High Farm Goods
Date: December 5, 2025
Summary Compiled By: [Your Name]

EPISODE OVERVIEW

In this thought-provoking episode, Lauren Sherman sits down with Daphne Sebold, CEO of Sky High Farm Goods, to explore what it means to authentically build and lead a mission-driven fashion brand. The conversation goes deep on the intersections of fashion, philanthropy, creative business models, and the challenge of communicating purpose in an industry resistant to lasting change. Daphne shares candid reflections on her time at Comme des Garçons, her move to social enterprise, and the realities of trying to embed social responsibility into luxury and consumer goods.

MAIN THEMES & PURPOSE

• Transitioning from Traditional Fashion to Mission-driven Work:
  The episode unpacks Daphne’s shift from a long career at Comme des Garçons/Dover Street Market to launching Sky High Farm Goods, a brand created to fund and advocate for food equity.
• Building Sustainable, Impactful Brands:
  Detailed discussion of Sky High Farm Goods’ operational model, collaboration strategy, and fundraising architecture—contrasting it with the “flimsiness” of many purpose-led brands.
• The Evolving Fashion Industry:
  Lauren and Daphne debate the structural issues in luxury fashion, shifts post-pandemic, consumer priorities, and the struggle to make ethical, systemic change stick.

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. Daphne’s Fashion Trajectory & the Power of Community

• Daphne recounts her journey—from fashion-obsessed teen in Hong Kong, to studying at Parsons, to a surprising PR career starting at Comme des Garçons (CDG).
• Emphasizes the value system and collaborative approach CDG fostered.
• On moving from journalism aspirations to PR:
  “It occurred to me that if I was even going to consider fashion journalism, I'd actually have to understand how clothes were made.” (10:01, Sebold)
• Discussion of flat structures at CDG and how that led to exposure to every facet of the business:
  • “The organization is very flat. There isn’t a lot of hierarchy...the level of exposure and things you get to do is incredible.” (15:49, Sebold)

2. Comme des Garçons' Unique Business DNA

• CDG’s combination of rigid design principles and pragmatic business thinking.
  • “They were very clear that every single line of business within the business needed to have a reason to exist. They didn’t really believe in diffusion.” (19:19, Sebold)
• Forward-thinking collaborations and unwavering dedication to marching to their own beat.
• Importance of nurturing and buying into emergent designers (21:18)

3. Genesis of Sky High Farm Goods: Collaboration, Crisis, and Change

• The charity project at Dover Street Market, born from Dan Colen (Sky High Farm’s founder), initially focused on limited edition merch collaborations for charity with artists and brands like Supreme, Murakami, Balenciaga, etc. (24:33)
• The growing realization, accelerated by the pandemic and social justice movements, that fashion’s “business as usual” could feel hollow.
  • “After all that happened, I had a really hard time elasticating back to business as usual...I’d become much more interested in the farm’s work.” (27:02, Sebold)
• Her leap to Sky High, while 8 months pregnant, was intensely personal and organic:
  • “It was honestly one of the first things, Lauren, that felt really sort of natural to me.” (27:16, Sebold)

4. How Mission Drives Business: Sky High’s Model

• Sky High Farm Goods is structured to direct revenue and advocacy to its nonprofit farm, which donates all its nutritious produce to marginalized communities.
• Inspired by Newman's Own: 100% of profits go to charitable outcomes. (33:53)
• Partnerships are chosen with brands who share genuine intent, infrastructure, and values—avoiding superficial “purpose-washing.”
  • “We’re literally sort of born out of the soil to kind of support the farm’s work.” (33:09, Sebold)
• Developed an innovative markup system: building a donation into the wholesale price, so every purchase makes the buyer a donor. (35:42)
• Collaborations with ON (running shoes inline collection), Balenciaga (upcycling unsold inventory), and Levi’s (upcoming), each with unique donation and awareness mechanisms.
  • “We built a markup into the wholesale price of the goods and...cleaved a direct donation to the farm, so every purchase made the customer a donor.” (35:42, Sebold)
  • On working with ON: “Rather than just saying, hey Daft, let’s do a small little capsule, we’re going to incorporate you into our inline offering.” (37:34, Sebold)

5. Sustainability, Authenticity, and Strategic Challenges

• The balance between making covetable products and upholding sustainability—deadstock materials, farmer-tested products, waste minimization.
• Confronts the fatigue around “greenwashed” branding/ESG and wants “products that repurpose waste and genuinely do good.”
• Sky High’s reach: raised $1.5M+ in 3 years, collaborating across brands otherwise considered competitors.
  • “What has been satisfying, honestly, is that we’ve been able to invite these incredible brands...to participate in the same work. And you know, oftentimes they’re competitors. And that part is really satisfying for me.” (41:26, Sebold)

6. State of Fashion: Disillusionment and Optimism

• Daphne on the industry’s resistance to systemic change and the “race to the bottom” in retail pricing.
  • “Why are we proceeding like business as usual? …In some ways, it’s time to revolutionize the way we raise money or make money.” (43:21, Sebold)
• Points out that people’s lives — and therefore shopping habits — have fundamentally changed, but brands are still clinging to old paradigms.
• The hope: smaller brands with agile purpose models can “infect from within” and effect more lasting change.

7. Beauty Expansion & Circular Design

• Hints at upcoming launches:
  • “I'm in the middle of raising for it, but I had a huge sort of contract manufacturer reach out to me because they were like, the type of ethos you're talking about is really the next wave after Clean Beauty.” (46:31, Sebold)
• Their cult product, “Tallow,” is a study in upcycling and nutrient density: turning a byproduct of grass-fed cattle into high-efficacy cream.
  • “What we’re really trying to accomplish is something that is both very high in efficacy and...actively repair[s] the planet and heal[s] the soil while you do it.” (46:31, Sebold)

NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• On Brand Values:
  “I would have a very hard time selling products or ideas that I didn’t believe in or couldn’t really kind of endorse.” (12:12, Sebold)

• On Leaving CDG:
  “...after all that happened, I had a really hard time elasticating back to business as usual.” (27:02, Sebold)

• On Fashion’s Current State:
  “The best work you do is the stuff you do when no one’s watching…this particular moment demands totally different thinking.” (43:21, Sebold)

• On Beauty and Sustainability:
  “Clean beauty’s mantra is like do no harm…But it’s not impact-driven. What we’re really trying to accomplish is…use products that are excellent for you…but you can also actively repair the planet and heal the soil while you do it.” (46:31, Sebold)

• Lauren’s Industry Commentary:
  “The reason to buy things has changed totally. Even if you're not consciously thinking about the social impact…you're thinking about it just by habits changing and the world changing.” (45:02, Sherman)

TIMESTAMPS FOR KEY SEGMENTS

• [04:22] — Introduction of Daphne Sebold; context of episode
• [05:28] — Daphne on Sky High Farm Goods & recent ON collaboration
• [06:47] — Brand iconography and the story behind Sky High’s logo
• [09:13] — Daphne’s entry into fashion; journalism/PR crossover
• [15:13] — Deep-dive into working at Comme des Garçons
• [19:19] — What makes CDG’s business culture unique
• [23:51] — The initial Dover Street Market x Sky High Farm project
• [27:02] — Deciding to leave luxury fashion and the influence of 2020’s societal shifts
• [32:03] — Sky High’s business and giving structure; Newman's Own inspiration
• [35:34] — Innovative wholesale-donation mechanism
• [37:34] — Case study: collaboration with ON Running
• [39:43] — Upcoming Levi’s partnership and the challenges/opportunities in circular design
• [41:26] — Bringing historic competitors together around a cause
• [42:40] — Reflections on modern fashion’s existential challenges
• [46:20] — The next evolution of beauty: regenerative products, Tallow
• [49:36] — Closing gratitude and shout-outs

CONCLUSION

Daphne Sebold and Lauren Sherman’s candid, insider conversation is a must-listen for anyone interested in how real social responsibility can coexist with fashion and entrepreneurship. Through her experiences and experiments at Sky High Farm Goods, Daphne offers a playbook—and a few reality checks—on what it takes to build a business grounded in values and community, and why rewiring the industry from within may be the only way forward.