STYLE AS IDENTITY

Tala Barbotin Khalidy pieces aren’t just fashion - they change the lens through which we view Lebanon and Syria. They change our relationship with clothes. For her, collaborations are a way to practice self care through community, honor craft and preserve culture. Hear how she defines collaboration and the ways it manifests into partnerships with jewelry makers, illustrators, animators, and rappers.

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The best way for a brand to know how to create a successful collaboration is by listening to the people we collaborate with. Today we sit with Zipeng Zhu and get his perspective on how to bring a collaboration to life so everyone benefits - especially the consumer.

Like and subscribe to join hosts Lola Catero and Frankie Ikwuazom as they meet the founders building fashion brands within their values and vision.
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Most brands know who their ‘dream collab’ would be. But is it the right collab? Sometimes - but not always. Today we sit with Ksenia and Anton Schnaider, founders of Ukraine-based brand KSENIASCHNAIDER to hear about when their dream collab - with Adidas Originals - was also the right collab, and what made it a success. 

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Most designers have a dream collab. But would they be the right collab? What defines success and how do we measure it? Today we learn from Dinner Service NY - a brand that views collabs as their primary marketing engine to fuel demand for their sustainably-minded pieces.

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If size is the rubric, fit is what affirms us. Fit determines whether we buy - or bypass. Join Lola & Frankie as they talk about what they learned about fit from the last four episodes with guests Sene, Naito, 2wo+1ne=2 and Wide the Brand.

Like and subscribe to join hosts Lola Catero and Frankie Ikwuazom as they meet the founders building fashion brands within their values and vision.

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“Inclusive sizing is one of the biggest trends in retail” reporters proclaimed in 2022. Hmm. We had questions. Why is this a ‘trend’? Like really which part. And why do conversations typically start and stop at womenswear? We scoured, and there aren’t many brands solving for the male figure. This episode with Mahrzad Lari, co-founder of Quebec-based, Wide the Brand starts to unpack why. Meet Mahrzad with us and find ou...

Standard sizes aren’t a shortcut for convenience, rather a conundrum for customers. What is a Small? A size 6? A size 30? The standard leaves us in a headspin. Enter 2wo+1ne=2, a brand from Athens, Greece that is solving for this – their pieces come with a ‘fit to size’ option. Their garments are literally made to fit our distinct measurements. The result? Unsurprisingly, customers so loyal they send the brand gifts li...

Sandal size guides now go beyond your foot length to include your personal ‘active vs relaxed’ preference thanks to Naito, a 150 year-old, sandal maker in Gion, Japan producing one of the most modern sandal designs of today.
Let’s meet Seiji Naito, the 5th generation shoemaker, and learn how an earthquake inspired his new type of sandal using innovative materials that provide comfort, water resistance, and fit preference without...

How are ‘size’ and ‘fit’ different? Meet Mark Zheng, co-founder of Sene, to get his take on the difference, and learn what it means to run a sizeless brand at scale. We talk about what going sizeless means for inventory, marketing and supply chain — and about how Sene’s AI-enabled SmartFit quiz, informed by art and science, truly fits their consumers’ preferences.

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Amanda Lapham and the Wolven team build for a consumer with an ethos of care. So it’s fitting that they allocated their brand resources early on to building a community of people that are still engaged with the brand today. Sit with us as Amanda gives a behind-the-scenes tour of Wolven’s working model with climate partners, their Wolven Pre-Loved program, and everything in between that resulted in a climate-positive brand.

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How do you put a price on a garment that protects what is priceless? Capable Design uses fashion styled with the boldest patterns to protect our biometric data from facial recognition technology – enabling us to protect that which defines us. Rachele Didero walks us through her vision for giving us a choice in when we share our data, and how Capable’s creative approach makes the result a little fun too. 

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 Naomi Nomi defines success of their brand based on their ability to create financial, emotional and creative value. Making a business that is profitable (and therefore sustainable) in order to keep making creative things. Learn how Naomi Nomi’s mission is to help people feel capable of anything - and about their big swings that ended up paying off.

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Sustainability of self, identity and longevity. That’s how Nia Thomas defines the success of her namesake brand. Learn how she went from wanting to be in Vogue and being accepted by the industry - to getting it - and realizing that being cool? It’s death. So we had to ask her the question of questions: how DID she shed superficial cues for a sustainability of self?

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Use materials to showcase Loved getting to go deeper with Yevu, Been London, Maydi and Fatra as they use materials to showcase their values and literally embody the impact (or change) they want to see in the world. Next episode - you know what it is. Reflection time. Frankie and I reflect on the last four conversations and discuss how our perspectives have expanded, and what questions we now have. See you there.

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When designing clothes, deciding which materials to use and where to source them are choices that impact all aspects of our lives. Hear from Akilah Stewart, founder of FATRA, a creative waste management company, as we discuss how we’ve been collectively trained to view waste as an output, and how we can re-train ourselves to utilize it as a resource - especially in fashion. 

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Yevu’s vibrant Ghanian wax print fits are the result of efforts by Anna Robertson and Felicia (Fili) Asetsiwah and their team of seamstresses, tailors, procurement officers, and textile vendors. Hear from Anna and Fili as we learn why their business is structured both as a brand and a foundation, and why wax is their print-of-choice and how they use it to create iconic, ethical and undeniably Yevu pieces.  

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Dubbed 'One of the most innovative fashion companies in the world' by British VOGUE, BEEN London’s founder Genia Mineeva is on a mission to shift perspectives on waste. Hear about why she forwent VC funding and built BEEN off of community investment, and focused on scaling a brand where waste isn’t a taboo topic - it’s the focus.  

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Text “BEENLondon” to (833) 495-4773 for a visual guide 

PS. The documentary...