
Hosted by Eugene Rabkin · EN

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. Support the show

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.Support the show

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.Support the show

We are back with the fashion journalist Philippe Pourhashemi to reflect on the Spring / Summer 2026 menswear season. We discuss many collections, starting at Pitti Uomo in Florence and ending with Paris. We dissect J.W. Anderson's debut at Dior, including the new ad campaign, Julian Klaussner's runway debut at Dries Van Noten, Rick Owens's moment of grandeur, Craig Green's return to the Paris catwalk, how the Japanese continue to make Paris look good, what we saw at the showroom and why the best clothes are coming from small brands, and much more. Support the show

On this episode we speak with the German fashion designer Lutz Huelle, who has built a brand with a cult following from scratch. Lutz tells us about growing up in a small German town in the '80s, his friendship with the photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, the dream world of the '90s London youth culture and Central Saint-Martins, how he ended up designing the Artisanal and knitwear lines during the golden years of Martin Margiela, and eventually launching his own line in Paris. We discuss the challenges of the fashion system and his teaching job, and speak about why it's important to remain kind in the industry that often isn't.Support the show

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.Support the show

On this episode we speak with Rick Owens about the role of sex and death in his life and work, about his journey from the Los Angeles underground to one of the most celebrated fashion designers of today, and about the importance of retaining that edge along the way.Support the show