Known for her fabulously bold prints, the iconic British designer, Dame Zandra Rhodes, launched her eponymous fashion brand 56 years ago. Nicknamed ‘The Princess of Punk’, Rhodes burst onto the fashion scene in the late 1960s and continues to work from her studio in London. Rhodes began as a printed textile designer and is renowned … Continued

Richard McVetis studied at Manchester School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art, where he now teaches. McVetis has been shortlisted for several distinguished prizes, including the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, UK, 2023; the Jerwood Drawing Prize, UK, 2011 and 2017, and the international Loewe Craft Prize, 2018. In addition, McVetis … Continued

Mark enjoyed a 25-year career in hospitality, developing and running some of London’s most successful restaurants and hotels including Moro Restaurant, Zetter Hotel, and the Grain Store in Kings Cross. In 2011 Mark co-founded the Sustainable Restaurant Association which with its brand Food Made Good is fast becoming the global standard for sustainable food service … Continued

Obsessed with the idea that clothing can transform your body, your mood and your confidence Maria experiments with innovative cutting always keeping the woman who wears the clothing front of mind. She is personally committed to preserving the craft of luxury fashion and is working with a technology partner to reimagine the future of fashion. … Continued

Geordie Willis is Creative Director for Berry Bros. & Rudd. One of the oldest wine and spirit merchants in the World. With their headquarters based on St James Street in London, Berry Bros. & Rudd has been the official wine supplier to the British royal family since the reign of King George III and received its first royal warrant of … Continued

Grant Gibson is one of the UK’s leading design, craft and architecture writers. His work has been published in The Observer, New Statesman, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, and House & Garden, to name just a few. During a long career in magazines, Grant has been editor of Blueprint, deputy editor of FX, and acting executive editor of the RIBA Journal. More recently he … Continued

Marc Chaya is CEO and co-founder of perfumery house Francis Kurkdjian. Marc was inspired by creativity as a child but his parents encouraged him to follow a career in business. Having started his career at EY a global consultancy, Marc made partner in record time, at the age of 32. It was during this time … Continued

Nadia Tuma-Weldon is Global Head of Thought Leadership at McCann Worldgroup, and Executive Vice President of Truth Central, the agency’s global intelligence unit. She was named to Luxury Daily’s Luxury Women to Watch in 2021 list. She has nearly 10 years of thought leadership experience, leading global pieces of research on topics as varied as globalization, sustainability, affluence, … Continued

Carl was born in the Austrian Alps surrounded by biodynamic and organic smallholder farmers. At 15, he started studies in graphic design and communications, and later specialized in brand strategy. He then did a year of volunteer work with street kids in Ecuador, where he met his wife. Social and environmental impact guides his work, … Continued

Adam Brand is the 4th generation co-owner of M&S Schmalberg the flower makers in New York. M&S Schmalberg, founded in 1916, is the last remaining manufacturer of artificial flowers in the New York City garment district. Using the same vintage manufacturing process since 1916, they provide exquisite quality and a level of artisanal customization that is … Continued

Philip Hanson is a young driver to watch, in the field of endurance sportscar racing. During his short career he has already smashed records and competed in prestigious races such as Le Mans 24 and Rolex 24 Hours, at Daytona, alongside two-time F1 champion, Fernando Alonso. Phil was crowned World Endurance Champion, the youngest driver … Continued

Kathryn started her career in the wonderful world of tailoring at Gieves & Hawkes in 1996, rising to the position of Head Cutter, the first woman to do so in the entire history of Savile Row. She founded her own tailoring house in 2012 and is the world’s only female Master Tailor. Breaking tradition, she … Continued

Kenya Hunt is the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK. Kenya’s career spans working for some of the most influential women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic. From her post-graduate days as an Assistant Editor at the seminal magazine, Jane, to her time as Deputy Editor of Grazia UK and ELLE UK. She has written for … Continued

T Michael is a bespoke tailor/ designer /artist with a conceptual approach to men’s tailoring inspired by his love of sartorial traditions and his passionate quest for a different narrative within tailoring, design and creativity, that celebrates stylistic and cultural diversities present in today’s zeitgeist. He is known for his meticulous attention to details and … Continued

Jenny King has run an established embroidery studio for 20 years. Specialising in free hand satin stitch embroidery created on Irish machines the studio offers all aspects of design and development , production and bespoke.  Jenny King Embroidery now counts amongst its clients and ever-growing list of high profile designers including Erdem, Vivienne Westwood, Aspinal … Continued

Having been at the forefront of women’s’ fashion for almost three decades, Jo Hooper has worked as a buying director and design director for some of the largest retailers including Freemans Debenhams and John Lewis. Her newish venture, NRBY, focuses on women who more than ever are working from home or part-time and are not … Continued

Crombie was founded in 1805 on the River Don in Aberdeenshire and it has been the choice of royalty, presidents and popstars ever since. It ceased trading at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and was acquired by Gordon and his partners early in 2022. Gordon has a history with the company, he was … Continued

Stefan Sagmeister has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones and the Guggenheim Museum. He’s a two time Grammys winner and also earned practically every important international design award. While his work is steeped graphics, he has also directed a film, created furniture, made products, designed a watch and ventured into clothing. His books sell in the hundreds of thousands and … Continued

Stefan Sagmeister has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones and the Guggenheim Museum. He’s a two time Grammys winner and also earned practically every important international design award. While his work is steeped graphics, he has also directed a film, created furniture, made products, designed a watch and ventured into clothing. His books sell in the hundreds of thousands and … Continued

Stefan Sagmeister has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones and the Guggenheim Museum. He’s a two time Grammys winner and also earned practically every important international design award. While his work is steeped graphics, he has also directed a film, created furniture, made products, designed a watch and ventured into clothing. His books sell in the hundreds of thousands and … Continued

Ted Bradley is a lighting designer located in Boulder, Colorado. Not your traditional designer as he started, or rather ended a career as a Google product manager to focus on lighting design.  Having been told that it would be very difficult or impossible to design the porcelain lighting sculptures he envisioned, he took it upon … Continued

Brian Woodrow is a Senior Design Director at Tomas Pearce Interior Design. In his role, Brian leads a team of creatives and designers on projects that range from multi-million dollar homes and expansive retreats to luxurious residential high-rise towers and private condos.  Prior to assuming his role at Tomas Pearce, Brian was involved in the design and development … Continued

Ron Arad was born in Tel Aviv educated at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and later at the Architectural Association in London. He co-founded the design and production studio One Off with Caroline Thorman in 1981 and later, in 1989, Ron Arad Associates architecture and design practice and in 2008 he set up Ron Arad … Continued

Inspired by an old family photo album from the decades before her birth, Maya set out to capture, by way of scent, these moments in time, these tropes of familial life, set within their frames. ‘What did it smell like?’ The small Swedish summer house surrounded by mercurial forests or the visits to her grandparents’ … Continued

Clare Campbell, having found her inner rebel with a cause, founded the Prickly Thistle in 2015, a new purpose that would weave everything she cared about into a single passion. Clare’s rebel journey was clear to her despite the difficulties that she knew lay ahead. She had to restore a future for powerful story telling … Continued

Matteo is the founder and creative director of Mucca. His multidisciplinary background in architecture, graphic design, illustration, and typography facilitated his early business successes and inspired his decision to create a New York branding and design agency. Under his lead, Mucca has solved numerous design challenges and created uniquely successful work for global companies like … Continued

Natasha’s practice has been notable for crossing media genres, drawing on references from a diverse range of cultural, historical, aesthetic, and technological sources. Her work encompasses brand identities, environmental design, multi-scale exhibitions, signage systems, print, motion and interactive graphics, created in collaborations with global tech brands, consumer startups, cultural institutions and non-profit organizations. Her recent clients include … Continued

Ollie Dabbous is a Michelin starred chef famed for stripped back fine dining who has worked at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Hibiscus, Mugaritz, Noma, L’Astrance, The Fat Duck, WD-50 and Pierre Gagnaire, before returning to London to take the position of head chef at Texture and then opening his own restaurant, Dabbous in 2012. Since closing in 2017, he opened … Continued

Sam Bompas and Harry Parr first came to prominence through their expertise in jelly-making, but the business rapidly grew into a fully-fledged creative studio offering food and drink design, brand consultancy and immersive experiences across a diverse number of industries. Sam focuses on storytelling, and underlying narratives that define the experiences he and his team … Continued

On this episode of the IPOL podcast I am speaking with Simon Erlanger, Managing Director of Isle of Harris Distillers. As an expert in the international development of premium spirits brands, Simon has worked for amongst others, Diageo and for over a decade he was Commercial Director of Glenmorangie. After the sale and integration of … Continued

Coinneach is from the Isle of Lewis, the furthest north of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. There is no doubt he loves baking and the Hebrides, both of which led him to launch the Hebridean Baker in 2020 – to share his love of food and the island, foraging, and motivating his followers to learn … Continued

Paul is a ground-breaking and inspirational chocolatier who is at the forefront of British chocolate innovation. Never the conformist, and as an alchemist, he continues to push the boundaries of taste by combining what may seem to be unusual ingredients. His passion for his craft and his cutting edge creativity has won him numerous awards … Continued

Paul is a ground-breaking and inspirational chocolatier who is at the forefront of British chocolate innovation. Never the conformist, and as an alchemist, he continues to push the boundaries of taste by combining what may seem to be unusual ingredients. His passion for his craft and his cutting edge creativity has won him numerous awards … Continued

Right from the start, Jim McMillan knew that finding the best Mānuka bush and having access to remote locations meant building great relationships with landowners throughout the country’s best Mānuka honey-producing regions. As it’s always been, a big part of Jim’s job is working closely with farmers, local Iwi and the Department of Conservation. He’s … Continued

Taro Asano is one of only a handful of practicing ‘Kajiya’, the art of swordsmithing, in Japan. He started smithing knives and swords in 1997 as an apprentice, and continues to master his craft through continued practice at his workshop in Hashima-city near Nagoya in Japan. We discuss all things Katana, how he became a Kajiya, his … Continued

The Revd Dr Richard Sudworth was appointed as the new Secretary for Inter-Religious Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury and National Inter-Religious Affairs Adviser for the Church of England in 2018. The post resources the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England in relating to the great world faiths – nationally and internationally, as … Continued

Kresse Wesling is one half of Elvis & Kresse a circular company set up in 2005 to solve the problem of material ending up in landfill. They started with London’s decommissioned fire hose. None go to landfill anymore. They also reclaim parachute silk, auction banners, and printing blankets to name a few of the other … Continued

Lanificio Leo, founded in 1873, is the oldest textile factory in Calabria. The company represents a perfect mix between the enhancement of traditional know-how and a strong propensity for craftsmanship and innovation. The history is as important as the future and they still use machinery dating back to the 1890s. Now in the hands of … Continued

Luxury to me is always grounded in heritage and provenance. My guest on this episode evokes exactly both those qualities. Andile Dyalvane is one of South Africa’s foremost ceramic artists. Guided by a deep spiritual connection to his Xhosa ancestors, Andile’s complex, large-scale ceramic artworks are a metaphorical vessel through which he seeks to honour … Continued

It is safe to say that my guest on this episode of the IPOL podcast is fanatical about globes. Peter Bellerby started Bellerby & Co Globemakers the artisan globemakers based in London in 2008. The company has its roots in his search for a globe for his father’s 80th birthday. Fortunate for us he was unhappy with everything he found on the market so he set out to make one himself. And more than a decade later Peter employs a team of 20 that include cartographers, illustrators, engravers, woodworkers, painters, and makers. His journey is inspiring, and one that epitomises the drive to preserve dying craft and craftsmanship.

If you have ever travelled in a premium cabin on an aircraft it is more than likely that Adam White’s company, Factory Design has been responsible for its design. Adam is a leading product designer specialising in aircraft cabin and product design. He has worked with amongst others, Etihad, Aer Lingus, Four Seasons and Virgin Atlantic and won numerous design awards for his work.

Bobby C. Martin Jr. sets the relentless standard of design and vision for Champion Design, the agency he founded, with Jennifer Kinon, in 2010. He has partnered with a wide range of clients such as Amazon, Apple, MTV and The Studio Museum in Harlem. He recently illustrated his first children’s book “Have I Ever Told … Continued

Casey Campbell is the Managing Director, North America at Gameloft one of the world’s top mobile games publishers. He focuses on connecting brands with a highly-engaged audience through mobile games and compelling rich media. He manages all Sales and Business Development activities in the U.S. & Canada. By turns disruptor and disrupted, Casey has unique … Continued

Kathryn Sargent started her career in the wonderful world of tailoring at Gieves & Hawkes in 1996, rising to the position of Head Cutter, the first woman to do so in the entire history of Savile Row. She founded her own tailoring house in 2012 and is the world’s only female Master Tailor. Breaking tradition, … Continued

This week’s episode of the IPOL Podcast is the second of our Special Visionary Women discussion panels recorded live at the IPOL conference. The panel, made up of 4 of our 8 Visionary Women have shaped our future in a creative and imaginative way, championing new ides that are both bold and empowering. Joining us … Continued

Rosy Greenlees OBE, is Executive Director of the Crafts Council, a national charity in the UK promoting the value of craft and making to society through its research and advocacy, support to craft businesses, public projects and craft education in schools. The Crafts Council has supported thousands of makers through its talent development programmes and … Continued

Roger Smith is a master craftsman. He is one of very few watchmakers who makes a watch from start to finish. He set up his studio in 2001 with an unswerving ethos to craft watches to a peerless standard of horological excellence. His journey has been one of continual discovery and he has spent the … Continued

Join Lydia Slater – Editor in Chief Harpers Bazaar, Catherine Scorey – Chief Operating Officer at All Saints and John Varvatos, Bijou Abiola – Director of Strategy and Consumer Insights at L’Oreal Luxe and the designer Maria Grachvogel for this, the first of two Special Issues of the Visionary Women Live podcasts recorded at the … Continued

As a child Raffaella spent a lot of time watching her father preparing the embroidery, organizing all the materials for the embroiderers, making technical artworks and checking the finished work for some of the biggest fashion houses in the world. She was well prepared for the world of fashion despite this not being her initial … Continued

Stephen started his career during the late 1970s. He has become one of the most acclaimed milliners making millinery seem modern and compelling in materials that are often radical in design and range from refined to whimsical. He is always at the forefront of fashion where his hats routinely grace the most celebrated magazine covers, enliven … Continued

Theo started designing jewellery in the 1970s and opened his first studio on Fulham Road in 1980. For over 40 years he has been designing and making his own original, beautiful jewellery and silverware by hand in his workshop and studio in London’s Fulham Road. His attention to detail is what sets him apart from other … Continued

In this, the final episode of season two we meet Kyre Chenven one half of the duo who set up Pretziada a creative practice on the southwest corner of Sardinia. Kyre and her partner, Ivano Atzori, work with artisans on resuscitating local craft.  Together they work symbiotically as cultural translators: writing and photographing the particularities … Continued

Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo (CL-Q) is a creative entrepreneur, awarding-winning director of ‘Hertz’ (BFI Future Film Festival: Best Documentary currently on BFI Player) and writer. Operating on the axis of design, politics & film he is the director of THE ADV_™ an immersive forum, developing; empathy, insight and foresight through weaponised empathy. Christopher is also the founder of the research archive Unmaterialised™, which uses design … Continued

Sonya Walger is an actor and author, she stared on Broadway in the original production of Frost/Nixon, and she has been in way too many films and TV series to name all of them. Here are a few, Lost, Sleeper Cell, CSI: NY, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. , FlashForward. Parenthood and most recently For all Mankind where she plays … Continued

Theodore Diehl, horologist at Richard Mille. Theo has had a varied and exciting career. He was originally conservatory trained as a harpsichordist and Early music specialist and worked many years as an A&R manager and producer. In the 1990’s, he made a change to watch journalism, and worked with all the major watch magazines and … Continued

Sacha is 3rd generation Rose leading Derek Rose, a leisurewear company specialized in Feel-good Living. Sacha joined in 2003 and has transformed the business into one of the UKs leading leisurewear companies. It is refreshing to speak with someone who is so open about business, his passion for technology and how his business is about … Continued

Margaret is the Sales Director for Harris Tweed Hebrides and has over 20-years experience working in textile manufacturing, retail, rural economic development, and community sustainability. As a proud Hebridean and a native Gaelic speaker, she has spent her life surrounded by the Harris Tweed Hebrides® industry which forms the backbone of the fragile island economy … Continued

Kevin Bethune – An accomplished designer and innovator, Kevin started his career as a mechanical engineer working in the world of nuclear power plants. He then turned to work in a different kind of engineering, that is design engineering. Although quite different fields the thinking is much the same. Be innovative and come up with … Continued

Father Andrew More O’Connor is a Roman Catholic Diocesan priest ordained by the Archdiocese of New York in 1996 and is currently the pastor at Saint Mary Grand on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In addition to his service of the Archdiocese, he is a visual artist and feels that church and art must … Continued

Catherine is the Chief Operating Officer at Allsaints where she has overall responsibility for all product, men and women. There are many entrepreneurial women in the world of fashion, but very few make it to the highest level of management in publicly listed companies. Fewer still have contributed so much to the success of a British brand in the competitive world of the international fashion industry.

Lydia is the Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK, overseeing it’s print, digital and experiential offering. She has expanded the Bazaar at Work programme and launched the Bazaar Summit, an annual conference that champions the career woman, bringing together Bazaar’s high-net worth readership with women leaders from around the world; an initiative that has become a pillar of the brand.

Jessica is internationally acclaimed in her area of work as a designer, writer, and educator. She received both her BA in graphic design and architectural theory in 1982 and her MFA in graphic design in 1989 from Yale University. With William Drenttel, she co-founded The Winterhouse Institute and with Michael Bierut, Design Observer. She has written for many national publications, including The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Aperture and The New Republic. She is the author of numerous books on design and cultural criticism, including Paul Rand: American Modernist (1998), Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media and Visual Culture (2001) and Reinventing the Wheel (2002). Her critically acclaimed Scrapbooks: An American History (Yale University Press, 2008) was named that year’s best visual book by the New York Times. Her most recent publications include Design: The Invention of Desire (2016), Culture is not Always Popular: Fifteen Years of Design Observer and Face; A Visual Odyssey (2019).

Effie Kanyua – Director of PR & Comms – Hearst UK.
Effie has a wealth of PR and communication experience having worked at some of the world’s leading agencies including: Shine, Weber Shandwick, Splendid Communications and M&C Saatchi on accounts for global brands in all sectors from drinks to tech including Diageo and Samsung.

Alison Lloyd, designer – Ally Capellino
Ally started Ally Capellino in 1979 at the time when British Fashion was probably at its most edgy and ground-breaking. She was also one of the first British designers to break Japan. Famous for her understated style, she moved from clothing to bags almost 20 years ago continuing to design practical, long lasting pieces that are as discreet as they are functional and durable. Ally is and has always been a visionary and still one of the few successful women in fashion leading her own business

Helen Brocklebank – CEO Walpole
Helen is the CEO of Walpole the official sector body for UK luxury. Founded in 1992 as a not-for-profit organisation, it counts more than 250 British brands in its membership and is recognised as the voice of British luxury. Walpole’s purpose is to promote, protect and develop a sector worth £48 billion to the UK economy and the jewel in the crown of UK business.
Helen is prolific in her support for all things British and all things luxury. In addition to supporting and promoting some of the most internationally recognisable British brands she is also a champion for education and the role of women in the board room.

Maria Grachvogel, designer.
Obsessed with the idea that clothing can transform your body, your mood and your confidence Maria experiments with innovative cutting always keeping the woman who wears the clothing front of mind.
She is personally committed to preserving the craft of luxury fashion and is working with a technology partner to reimagine the future of fashion. One could easily describe Maria is a fashion architect instinctively interested in materials, shape, form and flow. Today we talk to Maria not only about her clothes but about embracing change in a changing world…

Bijou Abiola – Director of Consumer Insights L’Oreal Luxe
Bijou is a proven innovator with over 10 years of driving growth in customer-centric businesses through creative strategies and compelling storytelling. Developing omni channel businesses for brands like Dior, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, Ralph Lauren and DVF, her collective experience across multiple retail categories produced a differentiation strategy that delivered over $220M in sales for a major department store in the U.S. In her current role, she partners with business leaders within L’Oréal’s Luxe division to convert data-driven insights into actionable customer acquisition and retention strategies.