It sounds like an odd question... However, in this episode, we flow through streams of thought about the dynamics of the famous/infamous relationship between multi-hyphenate Ye and actress Julia Fox - and how this could be mapped against a new and much larger approach to marketing and PR, ultimately fueling his multi-billion dollar enterprise.  As always we would love to hear from you about this and any of our other topics - feel free to reach out to us via Instagram @TheConversations.podcast. Please also subscribe and rate us (*****) - we always appreciate your support :)

Andre Leon Talley was a unique and giant figure in fashion. Subsisting on Vogues from a tender age, armed with an Ivy League education, Talley became a chronicler and arbiter of style and culture. And he navigated these two worlds more skilled and informed than most - landing positions at WWD, Ebony, and (most notably) Vogue magazines. As a writer, creative director, mentor, bon vivant, Talley occupied a singular space as a well-versed, towering Black figure prone to fantastical prognostications steeped in erudite references.  He knew his stuff and centered his world in one of pomp and circumstance as detailed in his recent memoir, The Chiffon Trenches. But Talley was a complicated figure whose legacy is rife with complexities. He championed many Black talents over decades but categorically ignored others, building his inner circle with white socialites, power brokers, and designers. He indulged in the excesses and riches of luxury but kept rooted in the humility of his faith. And in the end, while willing to expose the ills of the fashion world, one could say Talley was wholly defined by it. In this episode we discuss the many layers to Talley’s legacy, challenges being the only one, when your excellence outshines everyone else in the room, and again, why this is a cautionary tale. We would love to hear from you - contact us via @theccoversations.podcast on Instagram and as always, we ask that you support by subscribing and rating (*****) to our podcast x

Welcome back to our second episode this season! The on-trend dress sense for influencers, celebrities, millionaires, and the average consumer of fashion comprises a head-to-toe arsenal of high fashion labels with a preference for prominently displayed logos on all categories of products: caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts, shoes, even socks. The trend is largely driven by Black youth culture and has permeated fashion to the extent that it’s defining the current style zeitgeist.   In this episode, we unpack the cultural significance of conspicuous consumption and its steep history in Black identity and belonging. We interrogate Black spending power and how it shapes our sense of worth and social mobility. Questions are asked, including; is consumption a form of defying racism for this flex generation? And have the values in the Black community shifted from the church to money?  We want to hear from you on this! Feel free to reach out to us or comment via our Instagram @the.conversations.podcast. We hope you enjoy the episode and as always subscribe and rate us (*****) if you can :)

To start our new season and to mark our return to the the airwaves, in this episode, we first look back at what’s transpired in our personal and professional lives while on hiatus for the last a year and a half.   Henrietta talks about her personal journey with a serious illness, meanwhile Jason breaks down the subjects covered in his new Race Relations column for The Business of Fashion and the response to his The Cut feature, “They invented the Supermodel,” an anthology of Black American models. We touch on the state of Black organizations in fashion and the work they’ve shown with endowment support, and ask, ‘where is the money?’ We eulogized Virgil’ Abloh's wide-ranging, far reaching contributions to the industry and the chasm of hope he left behind for Black professionals. And finally we provide a general overview of how the industry is unfolding and what’s next.    We're so glad to be back - a massive thank you to all of you for your support over the last 4 years and we hope you enjoy this episode and season! As always, please rate and subscribe, follow us and keep in touch via @theconversations.podcast :)

PR and nightlife entrepreneur Natasha Slater is best known for producing Punks Wear Prada (PWP), the iconic weekly club night (that, along with Marcelo Burlon’s Pink is Punk), helped to define the early-mid aughts Milanese fashion party scene. Under the PWP umbrella, Slater drew on her British hipsters and international influencer network to collaborate with top-shelf brands, including Gucci, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana, to kick-off fashion week events, promote product launches and to generally bring the cult of cool to these Italian fashion houses.   But as much as this era was marked by celebration and fabulosity, this period was also rife with abuse of power, substance abuse, and toxic work culture. In this episode of our veteran talent series, Slater (who is five years sober as a result of this chaotic and painful period) joins Jason to discuss how it was for an outspoken English single mother to navigate the strong patriarchy in Italian culture, her complicity in promoting toxicity in the workplace, how she weathered the controversy of being called out and what life looks like now that her priorities are different. We hope you enjoy this conversation! Follow and DM us on Instagram @TheConversations.Podcast and let us know what you think. Please also subscribe and rate this podcast (*****), we love and appreciate all your support :)

Susie Lau’s Style Bubble blog is one of the pioneering voices in the digital fashion space. Since 2006, the fashion journalist has remained a fixture on the global scene seemingly effortlessly adjusting roles from post collegiate digital marketer to blogging to commissioning editor at Dazed to independently publishing Style Bubble (pre-dating the social media space with a number of brand collaborations and special projects: Gap, Google and Selfridges) to emerging as one of today’s most visible influencers.  In this episode, in addition to discussing Lau’s evolving profile over nearly two decades in the industry, we also dive into how for some her personal cutting edge style conflicted with a strong command of the written word, when was she afraid to pivot, journalism vs influencing, and the state of Asian influence in fashion. And with a degree in history, why her sights are firmly steered ahead, not looking in the rear view mirror to what this industry once was. We hope you enjoy this conversation! Follow and DM us on Instagram @TheConversations.Podcast and let us know what you think. Please also subscribe and rate this podcast (*****), we appreciate all your support :)

Years in advance of the 2020 racial reckoning  in fashion, Giannie Couji was an already established and consistent voice in anti-racism advocacy in fashion on social media.  Model, long time iD Magazine stylist, and editor of Ubikwist Magazine, Couji cut her teeth in Europe working on editorials and campaigns with the likes of Jean Baptiste Mondino and Jean Paul Goude, but it’s her move stateside over a decade ago that has shaped her current profile as activist - spotlighting racist practices and generally intolerable behavior across the fashion industry. Couji is an outlier whose view on the industry has placed her squarely at the intersection of the tired old school practices and the deafening demand for change. In this episode Couji details her journey from Martinique to Paris, London and New York chronicling the discovery of the world of styling as career, Judy Blame as collaborator and mentor and her amplified voice in the age of Covid. We hope you enjoy this conversation! Follow and DM us on Instagram @TheConversations.Podcast and let us know what you think. Please also subscribe and rate this podcast (*****), we appreciate all your support :)

London-based creative director and stylist Karen Binns is also an uncredited historian, muse, and collaborator.  In this 3rd installment of our veteran talent series, the multi-hyphenated fashion original takes us on a bi-continental journey from New York nightlife and the downtown art scene, to the indie workspaces of Europe’s visionary and up and coming talents.  Names from Jean Michel Basquait and Warhol to Andre walker, Bianca Saunders and Wizkid pepper Binns’ resume but it’s her role as creative director to style queen Tori Amos for over 25 years that's arguably secured her place in the canon of style architects.  But why is so little known about this creative maverick? Listen up on why Karen Binns just might be the Viola Davis of fashion.   We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we enjoyed having it! Follow and DM us on Instagram @TheConversations.Podcast and let us know what you think. Please also subscribe and rate this podcast (*****), we appreciate all your support :)

Lysa Cooper is a fashion OG. Her rise from nightlife impresario to fashion stylist detail a long and storied resume bookended by influential cultural figures from Keith Haring, Basquiat and Beyonce, to Rihanna and Ashton Kutcher. Cooper’s influence runs deep but she is not to be mistaken for an “influencer,” a title of cultural critic is more suited to her. Long before Fashion was forced to confront a racial reckoning, Cooper was sounding the alarm on the industry’s transgressions. When stylists only stan-ed for their clients, Cooper spoke honestly of the behind the scenes shenanigans. Now that speaking out is en vogue, for the second installment of our veteran talent series, we went to the original outspoken voice to hear about her journey through the ranks of fashion, Black people, then and now and why is she so optimistic? We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we do! Follow and DM us on Instagram @TheConversations.Podcast and let us know what you think. Please also subscribe and rate this podcast (*****), we appreciate all your support :)

Stylist Memsor Kamarake kicks off our end of year talent series where Jason talks to fashion professionals to discuss their history and gather their take on the current, unprecedented state of affairs in the industry. Kamarake details his rise from retail at Ralph Lauren to fashion director at Vibe Magazine to stylist to Wendy Williams, journeying through the halcyon days in the late nineties and early naughts across the fashion capitals to the current racial uprising that’s shaking all corridors of the industry. In addition to his contribution, Kamarake speaks to Blacks’ long and often, unattributed contribution to the industry and in response to the racial reckoning, he weighs in on the Black community’s response in addressing the magnitude of the moment that demands us being seen and heard. Kamarake also break down his role in styling and co-producing a series of films for the organization INTHEBLK, a timely response showing Black creatives working in collaborating.  We hope you enjoy this kick off episode, continue to support by subscribing, rating us ***** and following us on @TheConversations.Podcast.