Faye McLeod on Luxury World-Building, One Window at a Time

Summary

The Business of Fashion Podcast

Episode: Faye McLeod on Luxury World-Building, One Window at a Time

Date: April 3, 2026
Guest: Faye McLeod, former Visual Image Director at Louis Vuitton

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Episode Overview

This episode features Faye McLeod, a trailblazer in luxury window design, whose 16-year tenure at Louis Vuitton saw her redefine how luxury brands create public-facing, emotionally compelling visual experiences. Faye discusses her career journey—from her childhood influences and accidental entry into window design, to her work with legendary creatives like Marc Jacobs, and her bold move into entrepreneurship. She shares an insider’s perspective on the creative and business logic behind iconic window concepts and immersive brand sets, emphasizing her emotionally driven process, collaborative leadership, and the ever-shifting demands of luxury world-building.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Democratic Power of Window Displays

• Observing and Engaging: Faye describes windows as "a democratic space" that interacts directly with the public, in contrast to exclusive high fashion interiors.
  • “You can’t retouch. You can't hide anything. You’ve just got to be authentically you.” — Faye McLeod (01:17)
• Emotional Connection: She emphasizes designing for emotional impact, aiming to stop people on the street and evoke genuine reactions—joy, curiosity, even indifference.

2. Formative Personal Experiences

• Global Childhood and Trauma: Faye shares her upbringing spanning Jamaica, Namibia, and the Middle East, and a life-altering experience at age five—falling into a desert well and surviving for hours (04:25–06:51).
  • “I had to use my imagination to survive... that’s what makes me so good at designing in boxes.” — Faye McLeod (05:29)
• Linking Trauma to Creativity: She connects her ability to create within ‘boxes’ or limited spaces—like store windows—to having survived in a literal box as a child, calling upon courage and imagination.

3. Serendipitous Path into Window Design

• Career Launch: Initially planning to be an air hostess, Faye’s art teacher intervened, submitting her portfolio to art school and launching her onto a creative track (10:28–11:44).
• Early Roles: A chance offer to help in a shop window revealed her affinity for spatial storytelling, leading to positions at Selfridges, Topshop, Liberty, Limited Brands, and eventually Louis Vuitton.

4. Storytelling and Business in Window Design

• Why Windows Matter in a Digital Age: Faye champions the enduring appeal of physical displays—even as retail shifts digital—highlighting the role of windows in creating memorable, shareable, and emotional moments (13:32–14:21).
  • “I always want windows to be with the emotion…create these little vitrines of wonder.” — Faye McLeod (13:32–14:21)
• Brand Building: She sees windows as both a creative outlet and a tool to make luxury brands more approachable, breaking down the “intimidation barrier” for customers (15:33–16:47).
• Social Media Amplification: Good windows become backdrops for photos, amplifying reach via social media.

5. Iconic Window Concepts and Creative Process

• The 'Tiger Tail' Display (18:16–22:26):
  • Inspired by Chengdu’s store architecture and the Chinese Year of the Tiger, Faye conceived a giant, winding tiger tail installation that drew huge crowds—and spontaneous acts, like people cutting off souvenirs.
    • “One of the things I love about what we do is watching the crowd sing back… you cannot control it, you put it out to the universe and see what happens.” — Faye McLeod (20:32)
• Collaborations with Designers: She details learning from Marc Jacobs, expanding her scope to fashion show sets, and the “journey” of differentiating each window within a run rather than repeating one design (23:42–26:10).
  • “Every window in a run should be different… it should be a journey.” — Faye McLeod (25:55)

6. Building Teams and Global Execution

• Team as Orchestra: Faye describes creating teams with diverse talents—like assembling a soccer team—to execute complex installs globally while maintaining creative integrity (31:42–33:57).
• Collective Ownership: She emphasizes empowering teams everywhere to take pride and ownership in the final work, not just following her vision.

7. Entrepreneurship and Continuing Influence

• Leaving Vuitton: After feeling it was time for a new chapter, Faye launched her own studio while maintaining a contract with Vuitton, allowing for new creative ventures and mentorship (34:43–36:30).
• Mentoring and Building Communities: Inspired by her mother and by working with Virgil Abloh, she aims to build studios that nurture creative talent, opening doors for the next generation (37:04–38:15).
• Expanding Portfolio: Projects beyond LVMH include collaborations with Nike and Skims, focusing on authentic and unretouched representations of the female form (39:24–40:17).

8. Lessons on Feelings, Talent, and Business

• The Importance of Feeling: Faye believes the most successful spaces and experiences evoke strong feelings, not just visuals—advice many luxury brands overlook (42:13–43:14).
  • “Maybe sometimes they forget that creative should be a feeling...it's not just all what you see. It's how you feel.” — Faye McLeod (42:13)
• Advice to Aspiring Creatives:
  • Proactively reach out, be persistent, and experiment locally (45:45–46:27).
  • “I always reply to my DMs.” — Faye McLeod (46:14)
• On Orchestration: Recognizes her role as just one part—perhaps “with the triangle”—in the larger creative orchestra at big houses like Vuitton (47:46–48:01).
• Creative-Business Synergy: Stresses that business realities enable creative dreams, and sustainable world-building requires true partnership with the business side (49:01–50:11).

9. Finale: The Shanghai Ship

• The ‘Ship’ Installation in Shanghai (50:11–52:52):
  • Origin: Building facade in Shanghai inspired a giant ship installation, tying Vuitton’s travel legacy to local history and architecture.
  • Boldness Pays Off: Despite its polarizing nature, it became a major cultural attraction, increasing mall visitors from 30,000 to 300,000 (52:52).
  • “That ship became culture.” — Faye McLeod (52:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Creativity and Survival

• “I think that’s what makes me so good at designing in boxes, because I had to use my imagination to survive.” — Faye McLeod (05:29)

On Democratic Creativity

• “The windows are a democratic space… you’ve just got to be authentically you.” — Faye McLeod (01:17)
• “I love when people get their fingers on the glass… or take a bit home with them.” — (14:25, 21:01)

On Emotional Resonance

• “I can’t create without feeling. That’s part of the process.” — Faye McLeod (43:01)
• "Pour love into everything you do… just get a big jar of love and pour it right on top." — Faye McLeod (46:46)

On Teamwork

• “It’s not my work to own, it’s everybody’s work to own.”—Faye McLeod (33:57)

On Business and Creativity

• “The business side… it’s what sustains and makes that creativity possible.” — Interviewer (49:53)

On Building her Studio

• “I want to build studios that people want to come and work in.” — Faye McLeod (37:47)
• "I wish someone had told me... it was about an orchestra of people..." — Faye McLeod (46:46)

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Important Timestamps

• Formative Childhood & Trauma: 04:25–06:51
• Serendipitous Career Entry: 10:28–11:44
• The Democratic Power of Windows: 13:32–16:47
• ‘Tiger Tail’ Story: 18:16–22:26
• Cabinet of Curiosities / Marc Jacobs Collaboration: 23:42–26:27
• Building Global Teams: 31:42–33:57
• Transition to Entrepreneurship: 34:43–36:30
• Mentoring New Talent: 37:04–38:15
• Advice for Young Creatives: 45:45–46:27
• Shanghai Ship Project: 50:11–52:52

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Summary Takeaways

Faye McLeod’s imaginative, people-centered approach to window design has left an indelible mark on luxury visual storytelling. Her work at Louis Vuitton redefined what windows and facades can do—not just for a brand, but for the public. Now, as an entrepreneur, she is passionately sharing her expertise, building communities of creative talent, and continuing to innovate emotionally resonant, world-building experiences for global brands.
For aspiring creatives, her advice is clear: be authentic, embrace emotion, persistently reach out, and pour love into every project—no matter how small or grand.

Transcript

[Macy's Fashion Expert]

I always think spring is the perfect excuse to dress a little softer and a little bit more romantically. And apparently Macy's fashion experts are saying that pastel dream is the trend. To know right now. What I love about it, it's not really going like full head to toe pastel. It's more about those softer details that make an outfit feel fresh and a bit elevated. Think delicate florals, lace ruffles and sheer layers alongside flowy dresses or tailored pieces in lighter tones. It feels polished, pretty and very spring, but still easy to make your own. And you'll find it all at Macy's.

[Imran Ahmed]

Hi, this is Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion. Welcome to the BoF podcast. It's Friday, April 3rd. During Fey MacLeod's 16 years at Louis Vuitton, she was responsible for the house's windows, facades and fashion show sets. The work that made people stop on a pavement somewhere in the world and look up. She helped define how one of luxury's most powerful brands translated its identity into physical, public facing experiences hundreds of times over across dozens of countries.

[Faye McLeod]

I love the fact that the windows are a democratic space. Like, you're talking to the people on pavements and people can love it and people cannot like it, and that's okay. You can't retouch. You can't, like, hide anything. You've just got to be authentically you. And I think that that's what I'm really good at, is being just me.

[Imran Ahmed]

Now in a new phase of her career, Faye is building her own studio and bringing her instinct for emotion and world building to other brands and clients. This week on the BoF podcast, I talked to Faye about her path into window design, the emotional logic behind her creative process, and why this was the right moment to strike out on her own. Here's Faye McLeod on the BoF Podcast.

[Interviewer 1]

Fay McLeod, welcome to the BoF Podcast.

[Interviewer 2]

You spent 16 years as a visual image director at Vuitton, the person responsible

[Interviewer 1]

for literally the windows in hundreds of

[Interviewer 2]

stores all around the world. You're the reason people have stopped on a sidewalk or a pavement somewhere in the world and just kind of looked up. It's such a pleasure to have you here. When was the last time something made you pause and look up?

[Faye McLeod]

I pause and look up a lot.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. Like every day. Like, I'm. I've got a curious mind. Do you know what? This morning I paused and looked up. I was looking at the cherry blossom like I was coming down like Bayswater, and I stopped and look up and Cherry Blossom just makes you so joyful.

[Interviewer 2]

Absolutely. I saw them on Westbourne Grove last night, just near where I live. And you can see them all peeking out and it just. First of all, it's beautiful.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Second of all, it's such a great reminder that spring is finally here.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

So that made you pause.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, it does.

[Interviewer 1]

I guess looking up and being very

[Interviewer 2]

observant, it's part of what you have to do all the time in your work.

[Interviewer 1]

Have you always. Have you always been the kind of person who's taking things in?

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, I have always. So I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. I come from a small shipbuilding little town.

[Interviewer 1]

What's it called? The ship building town?

[Faye McLeod]

Clyde Bank. Cly Bank. Yeah. It's where they built QE2 and all different ships. My dad's an engineer, my mom's a social entrepreneur, and I kind of grew up, like. I just grew up with a curious mind. And I'm always taking things in and. And looking at the world and just appreciating, I think that the world we live in and the colors we live around and the objects and. Yeah, I've always been like that.

[Interviewer 2]

When your parents tell you about what you were like growing up, what stories do they tell you about? Little Fay.

[Faye McLeod]

So little Fay, at three months old, we moved to Jamaica. My dad's an engineer, so he was away building power stations. And so we lived in Jamaica, we lived in Namibia, we lived in Middle east, so I lived in Bahrain and Alain. And so I kind of grew up surrounded by beauty, you know, like. Surrounded by, like, beaches and nature and, like, golf buggies and going out into the desert with my mum, like, digging for bottles and crystals. And I've always been kind of around and that's kind of how I grew up. And then when I was five, I had an accident and my world changed because we were actually living in Alain. And one day, accidents happen and I actually fell down a hole, a drain in the desert.

[Interviewer 2]

Like a well?

[Faye McLeod]

Like a well. And I fell down a really deep hole and I was trapped in a concrete box.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you remember this?

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do. And I actually. I've done quite a lot of therapy over it, but I think that's what. What makes me so good at designing in boxes, because I had to use my imagination to survive. Like, I was trapped.

[Interviewer 1]

How long were you down there for?

[VRBO Advertiser]

A day.

[Faye McLeod]

And I had to swim in water. Yeah. And I was in a concrete box and the only way out was a circular pipe at the top of the box. And I watched did you see light? I could see a circle of light, the sky, and that's all I could see. And I was trapped in a concrete box for like eight, nine hours. It was like a day. So it's like. I mean, my mom was. My mom was pregnant with my brother and I just had to use my bravery, I had to use my imagination and kind of survive in this box.

[Interviewer 1]

And could you communicate with anybody or hear.

[Faye McLeod]

Nobody could hear me. I was so far down the sand. So it was in the middle of a desert and I was so far down inside this box that nobody could find me, nobody could hear me. And eventually, like, the search parties came out and I was found and I was pulled out of it. And when I was pulled out of it, all I remember is, like, all I remember is our life changed. We flew back to Glasgow and my mom and dad didn't leave Glasgow again.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

My brother was devastated. I had this life of growing up in beautiful countries. Jamaica being like one of the countries I love, maybe.

[Interviewer 2]

I mean, what a stunning place, you know?

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Yeah, beautiful. And.

[Faye McLeod]

And so, yeah, so Glasgow was so my home.

[Interviewer 2]

So that that moment was clearly a defining moment to you.

[Interviewer 1]

Tell me more about

[Interviewer 2]

the insight you had just now that designing boxes, you're good at designing in boxes. Like, why do you think it came from that moment?

[Faye McLeod]

So I think when I was trapped down there, I think, I believe that I had to go inside myself to survive, right? Like, so I had to use my imagination. I had. Tap into what goes on inside your body when you're in a situation where you could die, right? Like, you could never be found, your body could never be found, you could never be found. And I think I'd really tapped into that and I believe spiritual. Spiritually, right? I'm, I'm. Spirituality is something that I. I'm really. I'm open about, you know, like, it's how I work, it's how I create. And I believe that when I. When my good creative comes in flow, I. I do go inside. And that's something that I've. I've really thought about because I'm like, how did I get into windows, like, when I started my career? Why am I really good at this? Like, I'm good at designing in a contained space and I've got no fear. I feel brave in that space and I really tap into that. Like, I'm. I'm aware of that. I'm quite courageous in everything I do. Like, I come at things like, with heart, I come at things with speed, and I just pour like love into what I do. And it's what I've always done and I've done it without even thinking, you know, like some people would be maybe a little scared about going to a big brand or to work with other, with companies, but I like go at things with like real force and real openness and I'm not scared of being in the dark, you know?

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, clearly.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, let's, let, let's go back to when you first you said, you know,

[Interviewer 2]

how you ended up getting into windows? Clearly this moment at the age of five, you know, that did not come up in my research.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

So I don't tell many people that.

[Interviewer 1]

Thank you for sharing that with me.

[Interviewer 2]

But because from there, you know, you came out to Glasgow. When did you discover that there is even a career for developing or creating concepts for windows?

[Faye McLeod]

I'm glad you asked me that one. I didn't know there was a career in it. Right. I really didn't. I'm from Glasgow. It's not luxury houses, not something that's, that's in every street corner in Glasgow. But like, I was studying at school and I was really into art and I was, I'm good at it. So when I decided, like from an early age, my dad was always traveling, right? So I decided I want to travel. And the only thing I thought I could do was to be an air hostess. So I decided I was going to be an air hostess. And my art teacher, this guy called Mr. McDonald, he called my mom and said, listen, your daughter's got a really special eye. I'm going to build her portfolio and you're going to send her portfolio to art school because she shouldn't be doing. I think she should be going to art school.

[Interviewer 2]

And how old were you at the time?

[Faye McLeod]

I was about 16, 17.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Faye McLeod]

And so my mom did it in secret, so I decided I was going to be an air hostess. And my mom submitted my portfolio and I got in and I studied fashion design.

[Interviewer 2]

Where was that?

[Faye McLeod]

Just in Glasgow, in a place called Cardano College. And I wasn't really that good at

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

it, to be honest.

[Faye McLeod]

At the weekends, I'd work in a shop at weekends. And one day this girl said, do you want to try? Do you want to come in the window and help me? And I went in the window, window. And it just, I came alive. I love the fact that the windows are a democratic space. Like you're talking to the people on pavements and people can love it and people can not like it. And that's okay. You can't Retouch. You can't, like, hide anything. You've just got to be authentically you. And I think that that's what I'm really good at, is being just me, you know, like, the creative that you do is just so honest and it's there, you know? So that's how I got into doing Windows. And then I ended up getting a job at Selfridges where I worked with Vittorio Adichi.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, wow.

[Faye McLeod]

Who was amazing.

[Interviewer 1]

Legend.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. And he's.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

He's still my friend today. He always, like, I'm really proud of you.

[Faye McLeod]

So I worked with Vittorio dci, and I then went from there. I went to Topshop, where I worked with Jane Shepherdson.

[Interviewer 2]

Another legend.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Another legend.

[Faye McLeod]

Like, she's, like, she's iconic and amazing.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And again, still a friend today, which is amazing.

[Faye McLeod]

And then I went from there and I went to Liberty, where I worked on the rebranding of Liberty, and then I went to America, where I worked for Limited brands out there. And then I was out there and then Louise Trotter came knocking at my door and she brought.

[Interviewer 1]

Where was she at the time?

[Faye McLeod]

She was. She was working on Jigsaw. So she was rebranding Jigsaw because Jigsaw, they were about to rebrand and Louise was the creative director and I was the visual director, and it was a

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

match made in heaven. She's still.

[Faye McLeod]

She's just wonderful. And she. She brought me back to the UK and then she went off to Paris to work for Joseph, and then I went to Paris to work for Vuitton.

[Interviewer 2]

So that gives us a sense of, like, all of the different places that you were before you ended up at Vuitton, which has, I think, been your kind of longest standing gig. And we'll get to that in a minute.

[Interviewer 1]

But I guess when you think about

[Interviewer 2]

storytelling through window concepts.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Why.

[Interviewer 1]

Why is it, you know, you called

[Interviewer 2]

it democratic right now I understand that, but why. Why is that even relevant anymore? The. The kind of window concept, Everything's becoming digital. Everything is moving so fast.

[Interviewer 1]

People don't take that much time to

[Interviewer 2]

kind of stop and look anymore.

[Faye McLeod]

But isn't it beautiful? Beautiful when you can do it? Isn't it beautiful when a window stops you in your tracks and you engage with it? What I love for Windows and what I think we've been doing really well at Vuitton for a long time is I always want windows to be with the emotion. Right. Where you tap into something that you didn't know before, you know, like where you can go into the Archive. And you can pull out these beautiful little stories from, like, 1924, like all of those Gaston years, when you can tap into the past and then you make it modern and then you bring it into the future and you get to create these little vitrines of wonder. You know, like, that's what I'm always. We're always trying to do is just really try to stop people on the street.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Like, that's my thing.

[Faye McLeod]

Like, I love when people, like, get their.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Their fingers on the glass.

[Faye McLeod]

Or you can always, like.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Like right now, I'm always wanting people at Christmas time, for example, right? I walk.

[Faye McLeod]

I. Because I. I'm. We put windows in, and then I stand on the other side of the street. And you watch people. I do. I like.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And some people now know that I do that. Like, I do it in Shauns Elysy.

[Faye McLeod]

And I sit and I just. I stand in a watch because I always want to know how people react to the work. And I love it. I love when people get joy from it and they understand or they smile or it's that something. Or people come up to me and say, I want to do that. I want that as a career, because I didn't know this job existed and I didn't know that that's what people could do and get paid well for it.

[Interviewer 1]

But is it then more like creative act for a brand or is there

[Interviewer 2]

a real kind of business goal around it?

[Interviewer 1]

Like, are you actually trying to get

[Interviewer 2]

people to go into the store or

[Interviewer 1]

is it more just a creative expression for a brand?

[Faye McLeod]

I think it is. I think it is both. I believe that. That you can get people through the door and people can feel. Because people can feel like it's like. Like it could be a barrier, you know, like, oh, I don't want to go into that store because it's intimidating. It's intimidating. And I believe that what we. That what I do and what my team do is we take that barrier down. We create that emotion or that sense of joy or humor where the brand feels like more heart. And then people believe that. That it's just much more of an engagement. And yeah, I try to take the defenses down of. Of. Of the brands that I work with and just really tap into the heart energy of it. And I believe, like, that the windows are street theater and that you should entertain and you should engage. And I've been trying to toy with the idea, like, because everybody takes photos of our windows. And I believe if you do really good windows, it's a great backdrop and that Sharing of social media. It just amplifies. And so, yeah, I love.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, it could be both, basically. It could be both a creative expression for the brand, but it also can be a brand building tool. It can be something that brings people in the stores. I don't know if you remember the first time we met. Do you remember?

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

I came to your studio near Pont Neuf in Paris, and I was trying to learn about how visual merchandising, when it came to Windows in particular worked. And I found that conversation so illuminating. And I was hoping that we could replicate a bit of that conversation today because I don't think necessarily everyone understands, like, how much work and thought goes into the creation of these concepts.

[Interviewer 1]

So could you maybe just. Let's pick one of your favorite concepts

[Interviewer 2]

that you've ever done.

[Faye McLeod]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

And let's start from the beginning of how.

[Interviewer 2]

How you come up with a window display or a window concept that kind of marks a specific moment or show or campaign or whatever it might be.

[Faye McLeod]

Okay.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

There's so many to choose.

[Interviewer 2]

I know, but you have to choose.

[Faye McLeod]

Okay.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

I don't know which one. There's so many.

[Faye McLeod]

Like, there's a Yoyo Kusama where we. There's the Tiger Tail. Tiger Tail's always a favorite one for me.

[Interviewer 1]

So then let's do Tiger Tail, the train show.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

I don't know.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, let's do Tiger Tail.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Okay.

[Faye McLeod]

Tigertale.

[Interviewer 1]

First of all, what was the original

[Interviewer 2]

source of that idea?

[Faye McLeod]

Okay, so Tigertale, it was Chinese New Year. It was the year of the tiger. And it was when. Remember when brands were getting into, like, cultural appropriation, like, you know, it was.

[Interviewer 2]

They're finding themselves in some hot water.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. And like, I believe in China, like, we've done really brave creative in China. There's a. There's an energy and a courage when we create in China. And I love creating there. I've done. We've just done the ship in Shanghai, which was.

[Interviewer 2]

Which, I want to tell you, another epic one.

[Faye McLeod]

So we were coming up with the idea. Okay, so Year of the Tiger. How do you create something where we're opening Chengdu. Chengdu is the most beautiful store in the world. Like, it's so beautiful and it's kind of old and new and there's a. Just the architecture, like, what the teams have done there is just phenomenal. And we were coming up with the idea and we were like, I had this idea, like, I was getting my car cleaned. Right. Like, I was in the car wash and I was thinking, you know, I've Always wanted to do, like, you know, like, the brush. Brushes that clean your car. I've always been like, oh, there's something I did in there. And I came back and I was like, I've got this idea, guys. And all the team. And I was like, okay, what about if we had. We did. We did tiger tail. And you were searching for the tiger, but the tiger was never there. Right? So we took the tiger tail and it was a little bit like a car wash brush. And it actually went through every bit of the architecture of the new store. So it went in through a window, through every single floor, upstairs, downstairs, through buildings, and it went into the more heritage side of it. And it just went. It went on and on and on. There was no end to this tiger tale. So I came into Vuitton, presented the idea. It was Michael Burke at the time, and I was like, listen, this is a wild idea.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And he was like, it's amazing. Like, do it, do it, do it.

[Faye McLeod]

And. And then Ramon, who's the president, and Michael Shriver, like, we're like, just do it, do it, do it. And. And we installed it.

[Interviewer 1]

And so this was just at the Chengdu store?

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, just at the Chengdu store. And we installed it. And one of the things I love about what we do is watching the crowd sing back. Right? Like, and it's something that you cannot control, Right? With. With creative. You cannot control it. You just put it out to the universe and see what happens. Right? And the crowd sung back. We had lines of people with scissors

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

cutting the tiger tail and taking it home.

[Interviewer 2]

So I. I didn't see this display.

[Interviewer 1]

I'm trying to. It's that thing.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

So the team afterwards, like, made it all into little.

[Faye McLeod]

Keep safe.

[Interviewer 1]

Should we take it down just so

[Interviewer 2]

that we can see it? Because I want everyone to understand.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

I didn't plan that, by the way. I just. I thought it was, like, it was a good omen.

[Interviewer 1]

Just explain that to us again, because I don't. So this.

[Interviewer 2]

This thing was wound throughout the whole store.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. So it was a huge tiger tail. Like, it was huge. It was like 4ft wide, 3 foot, 4 foot wide. And the tiger tail was all made of. Of these kind of spiky tiger tail finish.

[Interviewer 1]

And this is like a.

[Interviewer 2]

Like a.

[Faye McLeod]

It's like a foam. Yeah. And it went through the store. It went out the window, and it went through into the next building. And then. Yeah, then people were, like, queuing up and taking their bit of the tiger tail because it was good luck. And that was a window Scheme that. I loved it because people really sung back to you and they. Everybody loved it.

[Interviewer 2]

It was a very interactive experience. It was like an immersive thing, Right. Like, people participated in it.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. But we never knew. You just. You didn't know it was going to end up being that.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Faye McLeod]

And it's. I think that's the best.

[Interviewer 1]

Isn't that the best when you.

[Interviewer 2]

When you do something and you get a response that you could never have?

[Faye McLeod]

Like, I love it. I love it. I love how humans. Humans, nature is, you know, like when we did the New York trunks, Right. Like, that was another one. And now when I go to New York, it's the first place I go, and I just watch people and people are, like, kissing by it, you know,

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

like, it's become, like, it's now officially a tourist attraction.

[Interviewer 1]

But is that a temporary thing?

[Faye McLeod]

Yes, that's covering the building.

[Interviewer 2]

The store is going to come in there eventually, right?

[Faye McLeod]

Exactly. They're, like, building it behind. But the reason it's trunks and stacked, because the building's coming down behind it. So one trunk comes off, another trunk

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

comes off, another trunk comes off.

[Interviewer 2]

Wow.

[Faye McLeod]

So it all makes sense.

[Interviewer 2]

So, you know, when I met you, the thing that I was so fascinated about is that you'd work with like a. A fashion designer. At the time, it was like Marc Jacobs or if it was Kim Jones.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And you take one of their show concepts.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You turn that into a window, and then you'd replicate it all around the world. Like, how. How did that work? Talk a little bit about the collaboration with some of the designers.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. So the first window I ever, ever did for Vuitton from start to finish was New Bond street, opening in 2010. And it was a really big deal for me because it was in my home, like London. It's where I learned my. My craft. Right. And. And I'm sure a lot of people were like, do you think she's going to do that? She thinks she's going to be good at Beat On. And so I had a lot to prove, you know, like, I was young and I was like, I was really kind of. I was excited about being in my home turf and doing windows where my family could see it, you know, come down from Glasgow and come and see the work. And so I wanted to do. The whole idea there was about doing cabinets of curiosity. So I turned the windows into cabinets of curiosity. And when I was at Von, when I first started in Von, I remember one of my first days, I used to always see the cool people Getting out at floor two, right? And I was getting out on floor four. And I remember saying to my boss at the time, Severin Merle, what's on two, right?

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Like, where are all the cool people going?

[Faye McLeod]

And. And she was like, oh, that's Marc Jacobs floor. You'll never go there. And then one day, like, she said, oh, can you go down? Mark wants to you to take him through New Bond street windows. So I went down, took him through the windows, and he's like, honey, like, good luck. And I was like, okay. And then we did the windows.

[Interviewer 2]

Good luck. Why?

[Faye McLeod]

Because I think he said he was like, I don't think anybody had done such. They were a little complicated. Let's just say there was a lot of work and a lot of curiosity, and I was really looking at creating windows that felt very London. They're very like a collector, right? So it was. They were. Yeah, they were very different to what Vuitton had done before, and they were beautiful before. But these ones, every window is different because when I came into Vuitton, every window was like. Would be designed the same and it would just be in repetition. And I believe every window should be different. It should be like, you can only get.

[Interviewer 2]

You mean every window in a specific store, or do you mean every window at every store at every part of the world?

[Faye McLeod]

Every window in a run of windows, right? I believe that they should be like, that should be a journey, right? So you have one window that's different. Next window, next window, next window. Like in our. In the work I do, you'll never see the same window in repetition.

[Interviewer 2]

So you're. You're talking to Mark about the Cabinet of Curiosities windows.

[Interviewer 1]

And.

[Faye McLeod]

And then he came to. We opened the store and he came to the store and he was like, where's Faye? And.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And I came down and he's like, bravo. These are so good. They're better than what you presented.

[Faye McLeod]

And I was so happy. I was so delighted because he's. I mean, his just such a legend for me. And. And the next day I got on the Eurostar and I went back to Pont Neuf and I got a phone call and they said, can you come down to two? And I went down to the cool

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

people, to the cool people floor.

[Faye McLeod]

And.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And.

[Faye McLeod]

And Mark said, listen, Faye, like. And he was with Katie grand at the time. And he said, if you can do windows like that, you can do fashion show sets. And I was like, no, no, no,

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

no, I can't do fashion show sets.

[Faye McLeod]

And he said, no, no, I'll build a team around you. So that was how my career developed, because he really saw something in me that I hadn't seen in myself, and he built a beautiful team around me. And I learned from some of the world's best on set design, and I got really welcomed into a little crew of super talents. And I had so much fun learning how to get out of a window and into a space where I would always design it as if I was sitting in that seat. And how the show would feel like I'd always want goosebumps on my arms.

[Interviewer 1]

So is that then how they started

[Interviewer 2]

to see this connection between the show sets and the actual windows? Because you were getting involved in the early stages of the process.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, because that's. That I was. I was really. I was really privileged, you know, Like, I. I was sitting in that team. In that. That team with Mark and all of those amazing talents, and. And I was like, really? I take everything in, right? I take every mood board. I take everyone's energy in, and I. I sit with it. And then I was like, there's just so much rich creative here. Like, you, like, look, even looking at materials on the collection, the buttons, the. The everything about it. And then I would go and I would do what I do, which is, like, I take it all in. I take all the different perspectives. I listen to the CEO, I listen to the cmo, I listen to the artistic director. I take my magic is, like, I take everything in. I sit with it. I let it, like, work, like, my sleep. I sleep a lot and process, and then I'll come up with ideas for windows that. That feel magic, you know, like. Because I always want to inspire, like, the future generation of people that want to do what I do, you know? And I want people to be really engaged with the work because I. Because one of the facts for me, like, I Can Count Christmases by Burdoff Goodman windows.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

It's part of my.

[Interviewer 2]

I really admire what they do.

[Faye McLeod]

I do. Like, I grew up. My first interaction with a window was going to Barney's and having my nose pressed against the glass at Simon Doonan's work, you know, like. And I remember being 18, I think I was going to buy my first Calvin Klein jacket or something. And I remember going to Barney's, and I was actually, like, standing on the pavement going, I'm going to do that. Like, that's what I want to do. And then I went around to Berdof Goodman. I saw what Linda does, and I was like, I'm going to do that. Like that is. That's a career I want.

[Interviewer 2]

And it happened.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

It happened.

[Imran Ahmed]

We'll be right back with more on the BOF podcast.

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[Interviewer 2]

So through the collaboration with Mark, you started getting much more involved with the actual show sets, and then those show sets started manifesting themselves as part of the windows, and then those windows would be replicated all over the world. I mean, that was what I was trying to learn from you when we first met.

[Interviewer 1]

Like, how did, how did you make

[Interviewer 2]

that happen so that a window display was consistent in terms of quality and impact anywhere in the world? Because when we started getting to the details of how to do that, it was complicated.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, I built a phenomenal team. I really, like, I look at my time in Paris is like going to luxury university. I learned about the people, the talent, the savoir faire, like how to build, like super powered teams. And that's something. The talent in Paris and the talents that we have globally at Vuitton are absolutely incredible. So, yeah, so I kind of. I mastered the art. The way that I put teams together, though. I put teams together like soccer teams or football teams, you know, like, it's like you look at people from all different disciplines and you put everyone together a little bit. Like what Mark did to me when

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

he put me into the shows,

[Faye McLeod]

I think it's really important to create dynamic teams from all different disciplines and make them all work together. And that's what we do so beautifully. There you could have the design, the creative ideation, the technical and the production, and then the master. The thing that's beautiful is how do you install them all over the world and make everybody take that creative and then put as much passion into the installation as as much as been put into the original idea. And that's something that is really important to how I work.

[Interviewer 1]

How do you do that? Because there's all these people that maybe

[Interviewer 2]

you've not even met, some of them in a store in Jakarta or something. And how do you. How do you get them to put the same energy?

[Faye McLeod]

I did a little film called the Art of Windows and I. The way that. Because I look at it is when you go to the theater, right, when you. The theater travels, all these people are producers, they produce that. That. So it's about taking that creative and handing it over with such love that it goes into their hands and then they're so passionate about it. And then when people are standing on the street and looking at the work, they're owning it, you know, because it's not. It's not my work to own, it's everybody's work to own.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Faye McLeod]

And that's something that I really tried to do and everything, but it's about having people that are better, more talented than me in the team. And then we all work together and. Yeah, you build a community of creative talents, that the work is our work, you know, it's not any one person's. It's our. It's a collective.

[Interviewer 2]

So after all of that, after this, like, incredible run, I think 16 years at Vuitton, you told them you were going to leave or you decided at some stage you wanted to leave, and then you shared that news with them. I mean, why.

[Interviewer 1]

What was it in you that made

[Interviewer 2]

you feel like you needed to make a change?

[Faye McLeod]

Good question. I believe that. I think everybody has an entrance and everyone has an exit and, you know, when your time is. Is right, you know, And I have. I have this. My mom's an entrepreneur, right? My mum. I grew up watching my mum build her businesses. And I've always wanted to build a business. Like, I've always wanted it all my life, right? Like, I've all. I admire Monsieur or no, like, he's. He's just. He has been so good to me, right? Like, and I am so loyal to him and I. I've learned from him, you know, like, I've been in, I'm in like in that. Where I kind of, I look at what he does and I look at what the CEOs doing, Pietro and everybody and I, and I, and I've been in that, in that brand so long and I put so much love into it that I didn't want to leave, right. Like I really did. So I came at it with full, like my heart is so grateful, right. But it's been 16 years and I

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

want to go and build a company, right?

[Faye McLeod]

I want to build an amazing company. And they, they basically said, well, we

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

don't want you to leave either.

[Faye McLeod]

So we came to a solution where I could build my company and they would give me a long term contract. So I'm still doing all of the

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

creative and I'm still pouring all the

[Faye McLeod]

love into it, but I do it now from my business and it allows for Von. For someone else to kind of step into that role, you know, like, because it's always good to know like that because I work with such beautiful people and such amazing people. So I still get to do all the work, I still get to pour

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

the love in and I still get to see all my friends that are

[Faye McLeod]

all there and, and I get to build my business at the same time, which part of why I want to do that is the UK has been really good to me, right? Like his book helped me build a career and Paris has been so good to me and, and I, I have so much love in my heart for it, but I want to build studios that bring in creative talents and grow them. And I think working with Virgil for such a long time.

[Interviewer 2]

I was going to ask you about that, you know, the, the collaboration with Virgil. What, what were you going to say about.

[Faye McLeod]

Well, Virgil for me was about. He was another for me. He's one of the greats, right? Like I got four years with him, working really closely with him and we got to do work that I'm extremely proud of and it's got so much heart energy in it that I watched him and I watched how he opened doors for others and he brought in youth into youth and heart and, and he kind of planted seeds and watched people grow. And I want to do that like, I want to do that like in the uk. I want to do it in Shanghai, I want to do it in Paris.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

I want it, you know, like New York.

[Faye McLeod]

I want to build studios that people want to come and work in.

[Interviewer 2]

That's the best thing about building your own company in a way, right? Which is, I Mean, it sounds like you have the best of both worlds because you can still do all the work that you love doing, but you're building your own organization and you're nurturing talent, you know, through. Through that process because you're having to find all these people on your own to kind of make all that work possible.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah. Like, the community you build is so important. For me, it's. It's one of the most important things for me is the talent and how that. How that love that you put into your studio, it allows other people to grow, you know, and good work comes from it. Like, I think for me, the elf, like, working with lvmh, like, I've just. I. I just. I pour so much love into it. And I get. I get the. Like, when they're. When any brand that they have wants to do windows or facades, like, they just pick up the phone and it's. It's a beautiful position to be.

[Interviewer 1]

So now, do you work across the group?

[Interviewer 2]

Like, not just Vuitton, or do you do other stuff as well?

[Faye McLeod]

I just. I just been. I've worked. So Ran, who was the. The. He was a CEO of Von in China. He's just gone to Fendi.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay.

[Faye McLeod]

So I just. I just did some windows for him. But, yeah, right now it's just Von at the moment.

[Interviewer 2]

And you're also working for brands outside of lvmh, which probably opens up your.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Kind of palette in terms of what you can do.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah, we just did. We did the. Skip the Nike and skims, and that was important for me to do that straight from when we first opened the company. And that was great because that was about a female form. And I'm really into wellness and fitness and things. So I really was excited about doing that collaboration because we created massive female sculptures and not retouched. So it was athletic female form. And very rarely do you see that. You always see everything and it's retouched and you don't see, you know, like, that form. So it was a bit like going into the Grand Canyon. I wanted it to be where, if you went in, you could get your content and it would just. You would feel like you were kind of going through kind of apertures of rocks and beautiful landscapes.

[Interviewer 2]

What's been the most challenging part of setting up your own company,

[Faye McLeod]

Being a founder, is it's challenging. And I've learned to be very disciplined. I've learned, like, to go to bed

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

at 8pm I've learned to become really

[Faye McLeod]

balanced in my life. I kind of. I'VE I'm probably quite strict. I don't really. I don't really socialize very much.

[Interviewer 1]

And that's responding to what?

[Interviewer 2]

Just the workload or the pressure or. What is it about just my energy

[Faye McLeod]

that's challenging for me? It's the energy. Like, I am loving it. Like, I love the freedom of building a studio. I love working with Mark, my partner, he built Spring Studios. So we're building something that I don't think has been done before because I look at how the world of creative is and I believe that our magic is like we build worlds together. And I've been building this studio, for example, like in London, and just bringing all these amazing talents into it. It's been so much fun, but it's also trying to find those talents. What's been really exciting is people that, that have worked for me for a long time before are now coming back. And I'm having lots of phone calls

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

from people saying, hey, I'd love to work in your studio.

[Faye McLeod]

And. And that's really exciting for me. And that's probably what I'm loving the most.

[Interviewer 1]

What do you think luxury brands most

[Interviewer 2]

consistently get wrong when they're trying to build experiences?

[Faye McLeod]

Maybe sometimes they forget that creative should be a feeling. You know, it's not just all what you see, it's how you feel. So I think sometimes you gotta put yourself as that person on the pavement or that person sitting on that seat.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

That's for throwback, you know, at a fashion show.

[Faye McLeod]

So I think maybe feeling.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah. It's funny you say that because I. When. When we're planning some of our events at BoF with our team, I'm always asking, like, how do we. Like how do we want people to feel? That feeling bit is really important because when you're.

[Interviewer 1]

When your world building isn't just about

[Interviewer 2]

the way it looks, world building is also about the way it feels.

[Faye McLeod]

I've always that. That I think that's what I bring to the table whenever I am working. I can't create without feeling. That's part of the process that I have to do is I've got to feel an idea. And I know if I present a creative idea and it's not right, I feel it. Like I remember the sun on Van Dome. Do you remember the sun on Vendome? We built a golden sun on Place Vendome. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Over the whole thing.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Yeah. Did you ever see that?

[Interviewer 2]

No, I didn't.

[Interviewer 1]

When was that?

[Faye McLeod]

So that's been back five times actually. But that was the opening of Place Vendome. And you only have the one chance to make a first impression is what

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Michael Burke always used to say to me.

[Faye McLeod]

And we had an idea for that, and it was the 29th of July, so before August holidays. And I presented an idea, and I knew it wasn't right. I just knew. I went to bed at night and I was like, that's not right. That idea is not right. And I went over before everyone was going on their holidays, and this was being installed in October, and I came back and I said, I've got the idea. And I basically, we studied Louis xiv, the Sun King, and then we came up with the idea of building the sun on Place Vendome. And it was 347 scaffolding poles. And I got the idea because I was in a gong bath.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And the gong bath, the sound bath,

[Faye McLeod]

and that was the sun. And when we installed, became the thing everyone always remembers about Place Van Dome.

[Interviewer 2]

I can't wait to go see the photos of that, because I don't think I got to see that in person. So, Faye, we're almost out of time and clearly in this phase of your career, after having worked at so many companies, after having dedicated a good portion of your life to Vuitton, after having set up your agency, clearly a big focus for you right now is talent, young talent, people who might not even know. Like, you didn't know that there was a. There is a career in this for

[Interviewer 1]

someone

[Interviewer 2]

for whom this conversation resonates, who's pressing up their face against the Vuitton windows or the Bergdorf windows or the Barney's windows. Oh, the Barney's windows no longer exist. So just the Bergdorf windows. But what advice do you have to offer for someone who wants to find a career in this very specified, specialized world of windows, the theater of windows.

[Faye McLeod]

For me, like, I trapped on doors, right? Like, I sent my resume and I send those DMS on Instagram. Send, like, play in. In windows in your local, like, villages and cities. You know, like, play like. Like get creative. Like, go to art school. Like, or even come in our studio. Like, I. I always reply to my DMs. I'm. I'm. That's.

[Interviewer 2]

You're gonna get a lot of DMs now.

[Faye McLeod]

That's all right. I don't mind.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay.

[Faye McLeod]

I sit. Yeah. Because it's important, right? Like, for me, that. That's. That's a channel that people can. Can tap into. Yeah. I always reply to my own DMs.

[Interviewer 2]

Faye dreams a lot.

[Faye McLeod]

Faye dreams a lot.

[Interviewer 2]

That's her. That's Faye's Instagram. Now, you might get. You might get quite a few following this chat. And. And I guess lastly, like, what do you know now that you wish you knew back when you were starting at V Town?

[Faye McLeod]

Oh, do I wish I knew. I wish I knew. You just had to pour love into everything you do. And not. Maybe I got too anxious, you know, Like, I let my anxiety get the best of me sometimes and I didn't trust myself. But now I just pour love. Like, I just get a big jar of love and I pour it right on top of everything. And that's how I come at all of it. So that. And I wish someone had told me it wasn't. It was about an orchestra of people. Like, when I went to Vuitton, I kind of came into this huge business. And the way that I look at it now is that is an orchestra, right? Like, you've got so many brilliant talents in that company. And it's not just about one person. It's about everybody. It's about all of the artisans, everybody in that company, and how you all orchestrate together. And that's kind of like, I'm probably

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

in the side with the tambourines or something, you know, like, are the triangle,

[Faye McLeod]

but probably a triangle, because I like triangles. But yeah, it's an orchestra. And. And you just find your place, you know, like, and you just have to just.

[Interviewer 2]

How do you find your place? Like, how do you know which instrument you have to play that you can contribute to this music making?

[Faye McLeod]

Because I believe it's about how you feel, right? Like, I know that I'm in my happy place when I'm in a creative space creating. And I love learning. Like, I absolutely love it. Like, that's what Es Devlin and I share. Like, we're always learning, right? Like, we're always kind of taking it all in. So when you work in an organization like that, like, I'm always like, like, listening so intently to Pietro, right? Like, what does a C. CEO want from me? What. What do we. What does that creative have to do? Like, listen to the cmo, listening to the artistic director, listening to the. Like, I'm always listening and taking it all in and then trying to work out, how does this creative solve what they need me to solve? How does it solve it creatively? How does it solve it, like, financially, like.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And most people don't know, but the CFOs are usually my friends in companies

[Faye McLeod]

because I'm always trying to work out so we can come up with the idea, we have to produce the idea and we have to do it within budget. So I'm kind of like all encompassing. So I'm always thinking about everything as a whole. And maybe not a lot of people think that way, but that's how I come at it.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, I think a lot of people,

[Interviewer 2]

creative people, sometimes either feel intimidated or constrained by business cons. Business. Yeah, business. Right. And I think the way I always think about it is actually the business side of our industry, whether that be in designing clothes or creating window concepts. It's what sustains and makes that creativity possible. Right.

[Interviewer 1]

And like the things that you've been

[Interviewer 2]

able to do at Vuitton, this like, huge. The largest luxury goods brand in the world, none of that would have been possible without the business side of Vuitton working. So you need, you need that side. You need it to. You need that to make it work.

[Faye McLeod]

Absolutely. Like, for example, the ship in Shanghai.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, yeah, let's talk about the ship.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

I knew you like. I like, okay, let's go.

[Faye McLeod]

Ship.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, let's finish with this ship. Because I have to say, when I saw that ship, I was like, what? That's crazy. And I was like, ugh, it's so big. But like, why, why did. Why was that the right thing for Vuitton?

[Faye McLeod]

Okay, so the ship is polarizing, right?

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Faye McLeod]

You're either going to love it or you're going to hate it.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Faye McLeod]

And we knew that when we were doing it, but when we were designing it, so we. It was a function, right? It's a facade, it's covering a building. The building is going to be covered. It's what everyone does when they're doing a building. And when we were sitting with the idea of we'd just done the trunks on Fifth Avenue, we wanted to do the next one in Shanghai. And when you look at the building, the building is a ship.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

If you look at it.

[Faye McLeod]

Right.

[Interviewer 2]

You showed me outside and we were

[Faye McLeod]

going to put a box on top of it. Like, how lame is that?

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

You know?

[Faye McLeod]

So when we were designing it, and all of that comes in our studio and when we were designing it, designing it, I remember Ansel, like, Ansel was like, it's a boat. And we were like, oh my God, we're a travel company. This is so good. Shanghai is a port. Like then when we started to go into the archive, like, all the captains all lived on the same street. So this is in Taikuli. And what was beautiful about this whole idea was when we did it, like, we presented it was five ideas.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

I presented it and like got to

[Faye McLeod]

the fourth and the CEO, Ramon was

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

like, this is so boring.

[Faye McLeod]

And I was like, okay, we've got a wild card next.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

And then we showed the ship and he was like jumping up and down, right? Like, I've never seen him. Like, he was over on Zoom and he was like, this is it, this is it.

[Faye McLeod]

And. And then you've got to go in to build, right? So what the beautiful thing is we design it all here. We're like a service, right? So we like design the ship. We're design service. And everything we do, we make locally. So we got all the artisans from

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

all over Shanghai and then we made ship.

[Faye McLeod]

And it's 200 meters long. It's. It's incredible. And the savoir faire that went into that, right? Like everything, like the color, the rivets, the anchor, like everything. We poured that. See that big jug of love? We poured that right on top because it, it, it felt needed a big

[Interviewer 1]

jug of money to do that too.

[Interviewer 2]

Right. Because it's quite an ambitious.

[Faye McLeod]

It's there for a long time, Imran.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

It's now, I think it's the number one store in the world.

[Faye McLeod]

So basically for that one, the data on that Taikuli Mall had 30,000 people a day when we first launched that boat. 300,000 people a day. That became culture. That ship became culture.

[Interviewer 2]

Well, it's kind of like now when people visit Paris, they have to go to the Champs Elysees Vuitton store. Like these stores have become for good or for bad, they've become part of the cultural experience of a city.

[Faye McLeod]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Anyway, we've run out of time, Faye, but I'm really grateful to have spent this time with you and I want to spend some more time diving into some of your projects. Maybe one day we can do something together.

[Faye McLeod]

Thank you so much. I really respect everything you do and I'm really glad also to be in your.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Your BoF 500.

[Interviewer 2]

Well, it was well deserved. Well deserved. Congratulations.

[Faye's Partner/Colleague]

Thank you very much.

[Interviewer 2]

Thanks for your time today.

[Faye McLeod]

Pleasure.

[Imran Ahmed]

The BoF podcast is edited and produced by Olivia Davies and Eric Brea.

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