Podcast Summary: The Daphne Seybold Interview with Throwing Fits

Podcast: Throwing Fits
Episode: The Daphne Seybold Interview
Date: December 8, 2025
Guest: Daphne Seybold, Co-CEO and CMO of Sky High Farm Goods

Episode Overview

This engaging episode of Throwing Fits features Daphne Seybold, formerly of Comme des Garçons (CDG) and Dover Street Market, now the co-CEO and CMO of Sky High Farm Goods. The discussion explores Daphne's trajectory from high fashion to food systems activism, the operations and philosophy behind Sky High Farm, sustainable fashion, the beauty and challenges of agriculture, and insights into collaborations at the intersection of culture, style, and social good.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Daphne’s Transition: Fashion Icon to Food System Advocate

• Background: Daphne reflects on her 15 years at CDG/Dover Street Market and how she pivoted towards Sky High Farm Goods, merging her fashion expertise and passion for food justice.

• Motivation: The urge to enact real societal change, prompted by witnessing systemic inequalities during the pandemic and social justice movements (08:00–09:07).

  “I saw how woefully insufficient the system in place to combat these issues are. I wanted to do more.” — Daphne (08:42)

• Mission: Sky High Farm (founded by artist Dan Colen) donates 100% of its produce and proteins to underserved communities, while Sky High Farm Goods acts as a commercially-driven brand to fund and raise awareness for the farm's nonprofit work (10:23).

• Fashion to Farming: Daphne thrives on using pop culture and her fashion industry network for social good, shaping awareness campaigns while maintaining authentic values.

2. The Sky High Farm Universe & Model

• Structure: The farm and brand are legally and operationally distinct but serve the same cause (11:13).

• Learnings from Industry: Insights from talking to leaders at Patagonia, Newman's Own, etc., reinforced how good branding and authentic storytelling can amplify social impact.

• Bridging Fashion and Food:

  “In the industries that we’re in now—fashion, food & bev, beauty—it’s $11 trillion in spending.” — Daphne (12:42)

• Workwear to Real Work: Comparative analysis of “fashion people” vs. “farming people” entering each other's worlds; farming people bring expertise, style, and resilience (13:26–13:47).

  “They’re the most stylish but also the smartest people I know… that work is incredibly skilled labor.” — Daphne (13:31)

3. Fashion, Sustainability, and Consumption

• Sky High’s Sustainable Approach:

  • Clothing made from upcycled, deadstock, and vintage materials
  • Donations baked into pricing, turning every customer into a donor (68:43).

• The True Cost of Food:

  “Food should cost what it actually costs to produce, but equity in society should permit people to be able to afford that food.” — Daphne (16:02)

• Fast Fashion & Industry Critique:

  • Fast fashion named the “most evil” sector (63:31).
  • Larger luxury groups have resources to innovate, but fast fashion causes greatest damage.

  “A lot of it’s bullshit. Greenwashing fatigue is obviously very real.” — Daphne on sustainability claims (45:02)

• Market Realities:

  • Pace of newness, overproduction, and the myth of infinite growth threaten both environment and industry (60:19).

4. Memorable Moments & Quotes

Meeting Rei Kawakubo (CDG)

• The first time Daphne met Rei, she tripped on the stairs in Paris (17:25–17:54):

  “Looking at Rei is like looking at the sun. You need to avert your gaze… She’s got aura.” — Daphne (17:54)

Dover Street Market, PR & Community

• Her pride in giving independent designers a platform:

  “Ray and Adrian were amazing at fostering community and giving these emerging designers an opportunity.” — Daphne (23:53)

• Most valuable lesson from CDG: Subversion, questioning the status quo, and fearlessly testing hypotheses (35:11–35:56).

Real Talk on Fashion’s Environmental Impact:

• After attending a global climate/fashion summit:

  “We have not succeeded. In fact, we’re even falling behind.” — Daphne quoting sustainability leaders (54:00)

5. Collaborations, Brand Relationships, and Culture

• Partnership Selection: Careful vetting of collaborators; preference for meaningful partnerships over quick marketing wins (66:26–68:43).

  • Example: Levi’s partnership on transitional cotton; Converse upcycling (65:08).
  • Dover Street Market Incubator: A vital resource for manufacturing and scaling Sky High’s sustainable goods (47:11).

• Pop & Culture Influence:

  “I love that Bad Bunny might walk into Dover Street and buy Sky High not knowing what it’s about…once they look under the hood, there’s so much more.” — Daphne (62:14–62:34)

• Dream Collab: Would love to take a major luxury brand’s deadstock and showcase new ways to address fashion’s waste problem (83:27).

6. Life Upstate, Access, and Food Equity

• On Regenerative Agriculture:

  • Sky High Farm practices “regenerative agriculture”—food fit for Michelin-star restaurants is given to the underserved (72:14).
  • Crops chosen based on feedback from recipient communities for cultural appropriateness (73:51).

• On Urban Flight: The pandemic accelerated NYC-to-Hudson Valley pipeline, transforming property values and local economies (74:47).

• Local Engagement:

  • Deep commitment to working with local communities, including a farm expansion from 40 to 560 acres (75:44).

7. Lighthearted and Personal Moments

• What She Misses from Fashion: Not much; still deeply involved via partnerships but without the consumption treadmill (39:03).
• Consumer Confession: Occasional In-N-Out order; used to do animal style but preferences have changed (69:17).
• Favorite Ways to Spend Money: International travel with her family, especially to Southeast Asia (78:00).
• Forthcoming Projects & Drops:
  • New On Running collab in February
  • Upcoming Levi's project on transitional cotton
  • Spring Doublet collab with extravagant “fish shoes” (82:07–82:27)
  • Exclusive: Strawberry jam debut (45:38–46:44), with a potential “Throwing Fits” raspberry flavor teased (46:41–46:47; 63:02).

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Fashion Consumption:
  • “I realized I’d amassed so many things…I’d lost my capacity to value them in the same way.” (42:44)
• On Community:
  • “It’s a group of people with shared values… being able to galvanize a community around this work is something I’ve really enjoyed.” (37:05)
• On Sustainability Progress:
  • “We’re addicted to newness… The rate at which we’re consuming is like one person has the equivalent of 22 closets.” (56:05–56:25)
• On Equity:
  • “This quality of food shouldn’t be a luxury… It should be a universal thing everyone can access.” (71:58–72:14)

Important Timestamps

• Fit Check & Japanese Shopping: 01:20–03:34
• Births, Farming Anecdotes: 05:22–07:12
• Sky High/Charity Model Explainer: 07:25–10:41
• CDG/Dover Street Stories: 17:07–34:17
• Sustainability, Greenwashing: 45:02–55:59
• Industry Critique & Fast Fashion: 63:14–64:04
• Food Access & Farm Practices: 72:14–74:08
• Light Personal/Travel Q&A: 78:00–80:10
• Collaborations & Upcoming Releases: 82:07–84:50

Tone & Takeaways

The tone is candid, witty, and personal—equal parts honest critique, passionate advocacy, and insider storytelling. Daphne brings a balanced blend of reverent appreciation for her high fashion past and pragmatic optimism for systemic change through creativity, collaboration, and community-building.

For listeners: This episode is a must for fans of fashion, food, sustainability, and those who want to understand how culture and commerce can be repurposed for real-world impact.

Next Up:
Stay tuned for the anticipated Sky High Farm Goods x Throwing Fits raspberry jam collab! (63:06, 84:44)